As for Tom Preissing, I simply asked “what happened”? Lombardi took a long time to answer and simply stated, “I don’t know”. He explained that they knew Preissing’s numbers in Ottawa were inflated and he never considered him a top 4 but as a “bridge” player, he certainly worked.
“In the first year he was pretty decent and this year I think he lost his confidence. We had guys go right by him. He’s a better player than that and I do have some interest in him but right now its clear were staring to move beyond that. We didn’t have Quincey at the time, Doughty comes in and plays, now you got Jack and maybe Drewiskie and a couple of kids in the minors are going to be nibbling his tail very shortly. The other thing is, Doughty comes in and does the job. Now we have our right shot puck mover, lets get another type guy in the mix.”
“But he’s a better player than that. I do have interest in him like people know. Obviously, we’ve already told him we’re going to try and move him.”
I highlighted the “right shot puck mover” comment because I always find it remarkable just how specific Lombardi’s “boxes” are. I like it. In a left-brain chess-master evil genius sort of way.
via HockeyBuzz.com – Matthew Barry – Dean Lombardi Interview – PART 2 – Luc to the HHOF.