Not that depth hurts, and he's obviously a good young player, but seems to be a log jam up front already in acquiring Athanasiou. And with left wing especially as Gaudreau and Tkachuk (if staying on that side) it's not a huge concern.
I see 10 NHL locks in Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, Neal, Lindholm, Backlund, Frolik, Jankowski, Bennett, Ryan.
Then Brouwer, Czarnik, Lazar, and friends fighting for those last spots on the fourth line.
Defense after Giordano, Hanifin, Hamonic, Brodie, Stone actually has some NHL holes if none of the young guys jump up (not a huge fan of Kulak).
So moving a defense prospect for him doesn't quite make sense in my opinion. At least the defense prospects that Detroit would want.
Unless the deal ends up being centered around Bennett and Athanasiou...Natural left winger for a suppose-to-be-center who's logjammed behind Monahan, Backlund, Lindholm, Jankowski, Ryan
|