Question: What is so bad about Colin White?

The opposite is also true.

Because of the nature of a defensive defenseman, his mistakes will be much more obvious than his ‘great plays’.

Congratulations! You managed to get a few points correct. Would you like a cookie?

I argued over two months ago the Devils should be and would be looking to move White. As it happens, this was exactly what was going on, Lou was shopping him.

Any general manager worth his title will touch base with his colleagues frequently to gauge the value of all his players. Usually, that sort of information doesn’t trickle out to the media or the general public, but such actions are a fact of life in professional sports. It’s the bad GM who doesn’t participate in such a “feeling out” process and then doesn’t have the information handy about how other teams view his players, their own players, their own needs, etc.

So Lou Lamorello was actively trying to trade Colin White and there were no takers. The former surprises me (and a number of others) because we feel he is still a solid #3 defenseman. That there were no takers does not surprise me, because his injury and his no-trade clause combined with his cap hit depresses his value. You bring up points that “he is overpaid” and “he is overrated” as if those are qualities unique to Colin White. Here’s a newsflash for you: there are a ton of overpaid players in this League, and there are a ton of overrated players in this League.

I can tell you’re gleeful that Colin White is gone. Just remember that when a point comes during this season where Mark Fayne or Mark Fraser or some other “kid” botches a play that Colin White would handle cleanly and routinely and it costs the Devils a game.

When you have an actual argument or are willing to aknowledge that you were wrongheaded about White two months ago, try writing again.

Did you even bother reading my remarks in other threads and my comment above that has been rec’ed enough times to turn green? Is that not a good enough argument for you, or should I have lowered myself to your level and gone with the ad hominem attacks in lieu of actual facts?

My opinion is that Colin White should have been kept and allowed to play out the last year of his deal. There is very little in the way of financial/cap savings — after you factor in the dead cap space for next season and the cash/cap required to fill White’s spot on defense, you’re looking at net savings of less than half a million. There will be a drop in talent and play as well, because a rookie isn’t going to step in and be the steady defensive defenseman that Colin White is. You’re going to end up with other players taking on increased minutes and tougher roles because any rookie brought up to replace White is going to be protected to some degree (or exploited to death by opposing forwards).

Did you watch this team during the first half of last season when there were a pile of injuries and a revolving door between Albany and Newark to provide healthy bodies for the blue line? During John MacLean’s tenure, the Devils played 12 different guys on defense — including 6 rookies and 2 near-rookies (Salmela and Fraser). When you’re running that many unproven kids out there and always changing up your personnel, it’s hard to generate any chemistry and consistency and the whole team suffers from a lack of continuity. You’re asking an awful lot out of players who haven’t adjusted to the NHL level and who may not be (or may never be) as good as you’d like them to be.

If Bryce Salvador isn’t healthy enough to be a consistent presence on defense next season, you’ll be asking rookies and otherwise (relatively) unproven talent to fill three of the six spots on a regular basis. The Ducks of 2007 made it work to the tune of Stanley Cup Champions because their Top 3 on “D” was good enough that each could eat close to 30 minutes per night at a very high level. The Devils of 2011 won’t have that luxury: Greene and Tallinder and Volchenkov are not nearly as good, nor are they capable of handling that heavy a playing load.

Finally, if Colin White sucks as much as you’d like to believe, a legitimate Stanley Cup contender wouldn’t have signed him to a deal worth double the League minimum hours after he cleared waivers…. especially when there are many other veteran defensemen out there who likely would have taken less to put their signature on the dotted line. The Sharks believe he has something left…. and considering they’ve won more playoff rounds than almost everybody the last two years, they’re doing something right.