Treliving will not be able to do anything meaningful at the deadline unless he knows for sure if Gaudreau and Tkachuk want to stay. Everything else falls out of that. If Markstrom continues to play well, this team can go deep in the playoffs. Our defense is built for playoffs for the first time in 15-16 seasons. Our top line is in its top shape. Our 2nd line needs to improve but has the potential to improve. And our 3rd and 4th lines are decent but need to be beefed up a bit.
If G&T are willing to stay and if Treliving is willing to pay what it takes to keep them, then his decisions at the deadline will be crippled by cap space constraints and limited to cheap bits and pieces.
If G&T are keeping their cards to their chests, then Treliving has to gamble:
- No trading them now, means zero return on our best assets.
- Trading them now would bring great returns, but no shot at the Cup when the team is playing well. All hypothesis aside, we all know they are not gonna be traded now (unless their agents come forward and suggest that to him).
I am guessing, Tre will do his usual thing and add a couple of depth players none of us can even think of... We won't like it, but what else can he do in this situation, really?
Which brings me to the point: he should go all-in, because we may not have a legitimate shot at the Cup for a while.