Focus is on improving the on-ice product. I obviously didn't have a lot of quality on the blueline and in the net, so improving there was something that I made a priority for this summer. I also entered this offseason with a ton of picks yet again, but wanted to go a different route this year ... after hoarding picks and using a scattergun approach in the draft for the past two summers, I decided to try to turn my picks into roster players that can help both in the short and in the long term. And lastly, I wanted to do business early and through the trade route rather than waiting for UFA season.
So with all these things in mind, so far I have brought in Mark Giordano, Andy Greene, Boyd Gordon, Viktor Stalberg, Antoine Roussel and Al Montoya through trade, while giving away Alex Killorn, Michael Hutchinson and a plethora of picks. Plus I had already added James Reimer and Barret Jackman at the deadline.
So right now, that leaves me with
Jiri Hudler - Tyler Johnson - Lee Stempniak
Carl Hagelin - Craig Smith - Michael Grabner
Antoine Roussel - Boyd Gordon - Viktor Stalberg
Matt Martin - Luke Glendening - Stephen Gionta
Jarnkrok, Khokhlachev, Deslauriers, Cracknell
Mark Giordano - Andy Greene
Barret Jackman - Andrew MacDonald
Kyle Quincey - Kevan Miller
Fraser, Almquist, Korobov
James Reimer - Al Montoya
that looks considerably better than some time ago, especially since guys like Johnson and Smith are due for some nice rating bumps. Was able to add some quality players to the blueline, and goaltending is about a million years younger than last season and has some potential. Can't wait for re-rates to finalize my plans. Probably done with trading away picks now, I still want to keep a few of them ... just because the draft is so much fun and I don't want to miss it completely.
So offseason has been a success so far. Still open for trades of course!
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