Quote:
Originally Posted by IliketoPuck
I look at it a little differently.
If I was Carolina, I'd be extremely concerned that my former coach was plucking players from my roster to bring with him to his new team. He's not plucking the under performers. He's plucking the one's with untapped potential. I'm not saying Lindholm is this year's Karlsson, but remember that was something that Treliving was focused on at the end of the year. Finding those players that just haven't had quite the right opportunity yet.
What are the consistent themes of the one (two) forwards brought in?
1. Good on face offs
2. Responsible defensively
3. Reasonable offensive output given role
4. Right hand shot (a massive need for the flames)
And as far as Hanifin goes, we have a 5th overall defense draft pick that skates exceptionally well, leads rushes, is responsible defensively, and has more to give on the offensive side. And he's only 21.
The more I've looked at this trade the more and more I come around to it being a really shrewd move by Treliving.
We move out a player that didn't fit into the locker room. We move out a player in Ferland who is due a big raise, but is plagued by inconsistency. Treliving got burnt by the Bouma deal once. He then avoided the same mistake with Colborne, and I think he's making a similar decision here. We also move out a player who wasn't going to sign here instead of losing him for nothing; John Gilmour was given the same treatment. Treliving is acting consistently across the board here.
We get two young, high upside players with pedigree and NHL experience who are already familiar with the system our new coach is going to run. We get cost and contract control on Hanifin and Lindholm as well.
As far as Ryan goes, I'm not concerned with him being utilized too much. Look at our center depth. Monahan is going to get 18-20 mins a night. Backlund will get 15-20 as well. That leaves 20-25 minutes a night to be split between the third and fourth line centers.
And between those two centers (Jankowski and Ryan), we have guys who scored ~35 goals last year. Ryan is a big upgrade on Stajan, Hathaway, and Lazar.
Lots to like about the moves so far. If Treliving can land a legit top line winger via free agency, we are going to have an enjoyable season as fans next year.
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We legitimately have one of those guys who was on the third line and got little to no opportunity to grow and thrive over extended periods of time under the previous coach. Sam Bennett...
Maybe we don't actually need to overspend on a top forward to actually do alright offensively.
I wouldn't be opposed to bringing in another top forward but not at the expense of seeing our young players grow. Remember how excited we were for brouwer to come in and become our top line RW? I would hate to watch that happen with a Neal or Perron.
Trading stone and a pick for grabner would be my ideal situation but I doubt that is even slightly possible