Tommy Wingels trade: Four questions with Fear the Fin
We asked another blog to get a better idea of what to expect with Wingels
The problem with trading with a Western Conference team like the Sharks is that most of us as Senators fans watch them play a couple times a year. All we have to go by are stats and outdated news stories about how a player has been performing. For a little more insight, we asked some questions to Jake Sundstrom, managing editor of Fear the Fin, about what we can expect after the trade.
Q: Tommy Wingels was a decent depth winger a couple years ago, but has fallen out of favour this season for the Sharks. What is he capable of at this point in his career?
JS: I think he can still be a depth winger in the NHL, just not for a team as deep as the Sharks. He's certainly declined substantially in the past couple of years and he's not worth the kind of money he was getting paid in San Jose, but Wingels can still pot a few goals.
Q: Is Wingels more of a centre or a winger?
JS: You'll want to play him at winger unless the Senators' center depth is more dire than I'm aware. He has played a bit of center for the Sharks this season, but that has been more out of necessity than design.
Q: He's in the last year of his contract. Were you expecting the Sharks to re-sign Wingels, did you think he'd get a shot somewhere else, or were his NHL days nearing the end?
JS: At no point were the Sharks going to bring Wingels back next season. It was always a matter of "when" not "if" the Sharks were going to cut him loose. I figured he'd get a shot somewhere else, albeit at NHL minimum.
Q: Do you think Buddy Robinson or Zack Stortini have futures in San Jose, or was this move purely a salary dump by the Sharks?
JS: Robinson will get offered another two-way deal, but that's the extent of it. This is as clear a salary dump as there could be.
