Doing Deals: What Order?
Lou Lamoriello has his hands full. He needs a coach that the players will respect and to whom they’ll respond. He needs to sign a line or two of free agents, and shore up the blue line with more speed and less size. What’s a GM to do first?
Here’s my guess: build a base, then sign Elias. Prediction: we see Scott Gomez with a deal done soon, maybe by the end of the month. How do I know? A trick taught to me by a former McKinsey consultant: look at the cars in the parking lot. Speculate about a deal, people in town, or who’s at work in a particular building by checking out the rides. There were cars at South Mountain this week, parked in the players’ lot. That’s someone on the path to a permanent exit or an extended stay in New Jersey. While trying to survey the situation and not overshoot Dunkin’ Donuts, I can’t lay claim to specific information, but I’d lay even money that I spotted the Gomez-mobile (yes, I do know what it is, and yes, it is unique among the players).
If I’m right, it would be a good deal.