Well, if the plan was to create interest in the upcoming season — mission accomplished. Regardless of the cost, we have two young players with a clean slate and a new coach they are both familiar with.
Re Ferland becoming a UFA next year: I see two possible scenarios:
1) he continues to improve his consistency and puts up another 20-25 goal season.
2) he struggles in Carolina with lesser teammates and only scores 10.
What are the odds we sign him back as a UFA next July? Scenario 1 seems less likely as either Carolina would re-sign him or someone else overpays on July 1. Scenario 2 seems much more intriguing as I could see him wanting to come back to where he’s had success in the past (hometown discount might be asking too much but Treliving is certainly saying all the right things, and probably means them too).
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