Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
If you are chucking the year, why trade for Smith? Why trade for Hamonic? And your range for Oduya/Morrow/Stajan is pretty generous. I don't think you get higher than a fifth for any (Oduya couldn't get anything and was waived, Stajan wasn't even offered up).
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You trade for smith so you can be halfway decent, but sure, were it my team, you don't trade for smith, you sign a goalie in free agency.
Sure, maybe you get no additional picks for those players.
You still draft at least twice in the first and twice in the second.
You still have a top defensive defender to help out your rookies instead of the tire fire that is Brodie.
You've shed cap space allowing you to be in on retention-for-picks deals like Vegas completed.
You give Bennett a full year with better linemates to see if you can drag him into being a top 6 player.
You have spots available for any one of your defensive prospects to accelerate into, and you don't have another problematic NTC on the roster. Maybe you even get a 6th or 7th rounder for Stone's rights prior to free agency.
The frame work is you go into the season expecting a down year so you aren't tempted to do something stupid to make the playoffs. The pressure is off so you can see what some of your prospects and young players can do in different situations, and you've accumulated assets to draft that hope to be impact players with this core group in the next 1-3 years.