There is a reason Yotes fans who actually understand the game, a large but no so vocal minority, were not sad to see Danny go. That trade looks more lopsided by the hour.

We weren’t going to resign Upshall so I think it’s a moot point. I am sorry to see the draft pick go, though.

Let all of our UFAs go except for Nitty. Use the money to get a new starting goalie and a big-time D-Man (JBouw / Komisarek). Maybe trade one or two people for draft pick. Use the extra money to get Upshall.

You wouldn’t want Knuble back? I like him and I think he’s an undervalued veteran.

I would say the first game Yotes got from Upshall is equal to anything you’ll ever get from Carcillo. Right now I’d rather have Upshall in my lineup for these playoffs as well. He could give Pens D fits instead of Danny who will just throw a fit.

im honestly not upset by this. Sure you dont want to see one of your guys suspended, but Carcillo sucks. ive given him a chance, ive given him an opportunity to prove his worth, and he hasnt done that. he hasnt scored a single goal since the trade, all hes done is take bad penalties. he sucks. even if he wasnt suspended I wouldnt want him getting more then 2 minutes of ice time. sit his ass on the bench and use Sbisa. atleast he has some skill.

For the value I view Carcillo, he does his job well enough. That said, he’s still rotate-able (go with me on this), and we probably should have though about doing so much earlier. If, you know, we had the cap room… Digressing, rotating him out is fine – it’ll allow Sbiza to jump in and maybe his energy spark will be the one we need. We’re at the “The only way to go is up” stage of team building. Just have to work on our timing next time.

As for our suspended friend, I still think Carcillo is stuck in this strange transition mode – trying to reign in the free-wheeling energy he ran around with in Phoenix, to become a more “complete” player for the Orange and Black. Until he figures it all out, he’ll have more really bad games, with a hint of worth thrown around here and there.

To summarize, he’ll suck for now, could develop into something worthwhile next season, but until then, we can rotate him in and out of the lineup freely.

What I don’t like is the way that fans of opposing teams toss around the word goon to describe any physical player that doesn’t play on their team. I don’t use that word toward any other players, but they call Hartnell, Carcillo, Cote, and Asham goons. Downey was a goon. Hartnell is a pest, but most definitely not a goon. Asham and Carcillo have some skill, so I don’t think you can just blindly label them goons…at least not Asham…Carcillo might take stupid penalties and lose his mind from time to time…

Long story short, they have players like these on their team but they don’t refer to them as “goons”. It just p*sses me off.