Quote:
Originally Posted by SeanCharles
As I explained in my posts that followed the original my whole argument was essentially that I wasn't going to worry about having 3 x 30 year old defenceman coming off the books at the same time in the sense that I wouldn't want it to hinder us from buying out Brouwer. If there are other reasons to not buy him out so be it but that would not be one for me.
- Stone likely won't be here in two years time
- Hamonic wants to play in western Canada and has limited offensive upside so I don't think re-signing him would break the bank
- Everyone wanted to trade Brodie before we dealt Hamilton. I get that things have changed and now we need to keep him but I originally said IF the young guys all meet their potential we SHOULD be able to move him as well
- Kulak was never really part of the discussion as the first post I responded to specifically talked about our top 5 defenceman
If Brouwer needs to go I don't think the fact those three guys are coming off the books in two years time is the reason you don't do it. There are a number of other legitimate reasons not to but that isn't one IMO.
I also explained in following posts the pairings I outlined were mearly to illustrate how I saw their potential not necessarily how things would look in two years time - Treliving is not one who is afraid to make trades so there is also the possibility of that.
IMO Andersson and Valimaki will be NHL regulars within the next 2 seasons which is why I'm not worried about Stone, Brodie and Hamonic coming off the books at the same time.
I get that we could end up being disappointed if they fail to meet their potential but my whole point was I don't think the 1.5 million cap hit penalty, if we decide to buy out Brouwer, is going to disrupt our ability to remain competitive, even if 3 of our current top 5 dmen need a new contract in 2 years time.
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I don't even disagree with you, for the most part, just saying it's prudent to put the brakes on the expectations a bit. As management, you have to prepare for the worst possible outcome.
I do think that Stone is blocking the promotion of Andersson, and the time has come to trade him, perhaps for a promising forward prospect, as that pool is getting a bit shallow as demonstrated in CP's rankings this year. If Andersson proves he's ready, hopefully Treliving can pull the trigger on something to make room for him. It would be great if he could move Stone and his salary in the off-season to avoid buying out Brouwer, but the problem is that the buy-out window is open this week, so Treliving has to ask himself whether he is ready to roll the dice now with Andersson. My guess is that he will probably buy out Brouwer now in order to keep his D options open into training camp this year, then make a move with Stone if Andersson has a strong training camp and everyone is healthy.
My dream D pairings in 2 years, if everything went perfectly, would be:
Hanifin-Andersson (two young defenders just starting to enter their prime, with ability to work the PP)
Gio-Kylington (slightly fewer minutes and slightly easier match-ups to extend the career of very capable 36 y.o. defenseman, and putting a young speedy Kylington on the off side but allowing him to learn with a great mentor, much as Brodie did)
Valimaki-Hamonic (assuming Hamonic would re-sign here for a reasonable term and cap hit, and keeping in mind that Valimaki, although having perhaps the highest ceiling of any of our D prospects, will still only be 21 at that time).
You will notice that Stone and Brodie are not in these pairings, but they assume that all of Andersson, Kylington and Valimaki will meet or exceed the team's projections for them at that point in their development, and also no injuries. The failure of any of these three to meet or exceed expectations or the failure of Hanifin to become a first pairing D will mean that nobody is slotted properly, while an injury to any of the starters on the right side will mean that you need to play Kulak on the wrong side (which is a stretch because he doesn't have Brodie's speed or vision) or need to trade assets to acquire someone, since there is literally nobody else in the pipeline now. So this scenario only works if absolutely everything goes right. I'm pretty sure Treliving is going to want at least some insurance, which means that he will need to retain one of Stone or Brodie (and Brodie offers more flexibility because he can play either side if someone goes down).
Personally, I wouldn't mind trading Stone now (eliminating the need for a buyout and the dead cap space consequences) and rolling the dice on Andersson, but I'm not the GM and don't have to face the consequences if someone gets hurt or Andersson doesn't live up to expectations.
Down the road, in 4 years, if everyone lives up to expectations, I would love to see:
Hanifin-Andersson
Valimaki-Kylington
??-Hamonic (the pairings just don't look right without Gio, do they?)
For the record, I have no objections to buying out Brouwer if it allows a very team-friendly and long-term deal with Hanifin to be signed.