This offseason, the Minnesota Swarm traded Tyler Hass along with Dane Stevens to the Vancouver Stealth for Mike Grimes. In his four years with the Swarm, if Hass brought anything, it was consistency. A look back at his records for the last four years show, no matter how many games played, he was good for eight goals and a couple assists. Watching him play the last four years, he’s not flashy; he’s not the guy you’re really going to notice out on the turf.
However, you do notice when he’s not there. He’s reliable, consistent, and brings a steadying force to a team in transition. So, how do you replace him?
He’s not someone you can likely replace with a rookie. Granted Hass came in this way. You can replace his goals with a rookie, but not his presence. The Swarm traded him for Mike Grimes, so they’re obviously hoping there’s a little bit of Tyler Hass in Grimes in terms of the intangibles. They may be hoping that other players step up and provide the reliability Hass does. Their only other option is through trades for another veteran or free agency. This doesn’t have to be now. They can wait and see when the season starts and reassess their needs then.
It’s going to be fairly easy to replace Hass on the stat sheet. It’s not going to be so easy to replace the player.
