JiC Lajoie accused Jeff Gorton of having a machiavellian plan in mind
Jeff Gorton's words were all scrutinized Friday morning during his press briefing. He brought up some very interesting, even intriguing points.
JiC Lajoie went through everything Gorton had to say to the media from top to bottom. He is obviously not a big fan of him.
According to Lajoie, Gorton would voluntarily choose a rookie general manager, to keep full control of the club, after the appointment. For that, it's no surprise.
"Obviously, Gorton wants a young rookie that he's going to put in his hand and give him the broad guidelines."
However, what caught Lajoie's attention was when the CH might field a new general manager in its ranks. Gorton mentioned that the next GM may not be named until after the holidays. The catch? If Gorton waited until after the holidays, he'd have all the time in the world to get his pieces in place, before having a young GM under his watch, which really worries the TVA Sports host.
"When he says he could wait until after the holidays to name his GM, all my fears are realized. The holidays end on January 10. On January 10, we'll start asking him: "And the GM, is it coming?" And he'll finally name rookie Daniel Brière, probably in late January or early February. Maybe Price will already be gone by then.... "
Gorton will evaluate each piece of the puzzle before making a move. However, it could happen any day now, according to Lajoie.
"The next seven or eight weeks that Gorton will take are not going to stop him from looking after the day-to-day affairs of the organization, from acting as the general manager of a club in turmoil. There are a number of veterans who are likely to be of interest to other GMs, who will be lining up."
"In other words, when the rookie GM comes in, Gorton is going to have mark his territory and talked to other NHL GMs at least twice. He's going to be in direct contact with them and will certainly tell them not to hesitate to call him directly."
I look forward to seeing if Gorton will put the club in his image early. Remember that he has never been afraid to deal big names, as he once did in New York. Could the CH send long-time veterans to other countries to fill out its prospect bank? Who could go? Gallagher? Price? Petry?
To be continued...
