Nashville Predators claim Brian McGrattan, place Zack Stortini on waivers

wtf?

This McGrattan fellow must be a heck of a nice guy to keep getting an NHL job.

I don’t get it.

So, we ditch a guy who can fight as well as skate and maybe score a goal or two… and we replace him with a guy that fight and can keep vertical on his skates for short stretches of time. Hell, if the Flames don’t want him than why would anyone else. On top of that we’re taking on more salary in this pick up, sure not a ton of salary though.

I can’t wait to see the explanation for this move. I’m sure it will be both lucid and ingenious.

I think we need a Shanahan video to explain this one…

Poile confuses the hell out of me sometimes.

As soon as Stortini got knocked on his a$$ with one punch on Saturday, I turned to my wife and said, “he’ll be looking for a new job next week.”

You don’t have an enforcer to lose fights and occasionally “skate” with some energy. You have an enforcer to win fights. Otherwise, Hordichuk would still be on this team.

This is not mysterious, at all.

Is it possible that it was Stortini and not SK74 who hit AJ in the face with the puck?

It’s just Poile picking through the “Enforcers as low as …” bargain bin since he’s not happy with the one he has.

Should have just kept SOB around as a part time enforcer.

either on the roster. I was really hoping we had moved beyond carrying players with the skill-set of Stortini and McGrattan.

Look for a lot of healthy scratches for sure.

He’s got to be bound for Milwaukee, too, right? I mean why in the world do you waste a roster spot on someone who’s only going to play at most 3 or 4 minutes? We don’t need an “enforcer.” We need guys who can play. At least Zack could play a little.

Why not just waive Stortini when Fisher’s healthy and forget McGrattan altogether? Hmm.

AND OH MY GOD HE’S A DAMN DIRTY DUCK, TOO!

Devil’s advocate…I don’t really know what to make of it, but I’ll throw this thought out there….

Stortini was a more servicable player than Belak was. And because of that, he could play every night. Meanwhile, Bergfors, the big free agent signing, is watching from the stands.

This move may make it so that Bergfors can jump into the lineup on a more regular basis, and the tough guy can just be a tough guy as needed.

I don’t know.

But in Milwaukee, we hope he makes it up here. We’ll be delighted to have him. I envisiion a line of him, Latta, and Flynn.

Tonight at the Meet The Team Party, will he be sitting at a table or going through the lines?

i just added Storts as a facebook friend last week…

But I don’t see this working out well. Please, Poile, give us a bit of explanation….

Maybe she’s dating McGrattan?

WTF is going on w/ the NHL? Rich Peverly just got 3.25m per season 3 year contract w/ the Bruins. Why do I feel like this is the NBA on ice?

TSN blurb

If you’re gonna have an enforcer, go big. I remember him beating the crap outta Belak multiple times, which was no small task. Legit #1 badass.

Sides, he’s on a 2-way contract…..means nothing financially.

DON"T YOU PEOPLE WANNA WATCH PUGILISM???

Why waste a roster spot on a guy that will play less than 5 minutes a game? Besides, I doubt Trotz opts to suit him up more than 20 times this season.

If we were going to have an enforcer, I’d rather have one that I A: already like and B: has a decent ability as a 4th liner.

But I’m ok with this move. Stortini couldn’t really handle anyone that couldn’t be handled by Tootoo, whereas McGrattan is a beast of a man that they can send to fight anyone without feeling bad.

If the Preds foresee a game where some roughing up is to occur, McGrattan is the choice over Stortini any day, in my opinion.

Still, I’m not 100% convinced either of them was or is necessary.

McGrattan is better than Stortini offensively by a decent margin and is better at keeping his linemates upright by being at the very LEAST, a deterrent from keeping the Preds from leading the NHL again as the team who has had the most decapitated players.

Does Trotz always play the enforcer? No. But ever since I can remember, Poile and Trotz have always had one on the team. Why people are not happy about paying a guy 1/10th of what Suter is gonna make next year to patrol the ice, and put his blood and sweat on the line is beyond me.

Everyone wants Tootoo to be the forward he can be without having to play the very physical game that he did before, now he can do it.

Everyone wants Weber to be the captain without spending 5 in the box for standing up for his mates and not get Moen’ed, now he can do it!

Cubes can come back knowing he doesn’t have to worry about being concussed in a fight…again.

Hell, maybe even Erat can skate easier knowing he may not get his head lifted off his shoulders everytime he goes near the net.

600k is not gonna break this team in the least. You guys wanna bitch, bitch about signing some serious offensive or defensive depth when they had the chance.

an enforcer on the front line instead of dressing a 7th d man for it.

It’s like Christmas…

An enforcer is one of the worst forms of insurance going. A guy who can stand up for teammates when necessary is one thing, but we have those, just like every other team does. Injuries still happen. Dirty hits still happen. Guys still push the line. If enforcers prevented any of those things, we wouldn’t need Shanahan. I don’t see the deterrent effect you claim actually existing. In addition, there is zero proof that an enforcer allows other players to be more offensively productive.

Until you can prove to me that there is some sort of correlation between the presence of a guy who does nothing but fight—whether dressed or not, whether on the ice or not, whether taken up on his challenges or not—and a decrease in the incidence of penalties, suspensions, dirty hits, etc., I am coming down on the side of using the roster space on a productive player.

I’m not against a spontaneous drubbing of someone who is taking liberties, but I just don’t think the enforcer is necessary to do that job. Shea and Klein and O’Brien and Tootoo took just fine care the pests in Anaheim with no enforcer on the roster. Give me versatility and depth instead.