Quote:
Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent
Their positional need is what's keeping them from drafting right before or after the Flames this year and perennial contention.
Some prices are worth paying. You can't keep all your assets and young players and also have championships. Sacrifices have to be made. Look how aggressively Vegas has pursued the pieces they needed and how it's paid off. Tampa Bay's cupboards are still bare from pursuing championships, but those moves paid off for them too.
NJ is in that window of time where those are the moves they have to be making. Otherwise they'll just carry on indefinitely being a more talented Arizona Coyotes. Always sitting on a pile of good young players and assets, but never taking the next step. Locked in some kind of development hell.
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Or let's look at tampa bay in 2016-17. They had made the cup final and conference final in the previous 2 years. 3rd best odds to win the cup. But they were struggling, they were on the playoff bubble (in fact they were virtually identical to where NJD was around the deadline).
They had a surplus of goalies. Ben Bishop and Vasy. Vasy had been BAD that year (bottom 5 in the league in GSAx). They didn't trade away Vasy for a piece to fill a need and go in. They sold Bishop, not for a massive haul either. Sold rental brian Boyle as well.
They didn't sell a rookie by the name of Brayden Point who had 18 goals and 40 points in 70 games 3 years after being drafted (mercer 3 years after being drafted had 27 goals and 57 points), to fill a hole.
In fact they also had a surplus of Cs. They had Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson, and others in the pipeline like Cirelli
They had Palat and Killorn and Kucherov and Drouin. You would have thought, hey, this Brayden Point kid is expendable, no real place in the top 6 for him.
Stamkos had missed a bunch of time (like hamilton).
I'm seeing some parallels.
They then went in the offseason and went after 26 year old JT miller and 29 year old Ryan McDonagh (similar to the meier trade), while keeping their top young players. They did then flip young drouin for another young asset in Sergachev. Moves like these led to an EXTENDED window and is what won them their cups.
But yes, NJD should emulate the tampa model. If we're moving Holtz/Mercer, it should be for a YOUNG asset at a position of need.
Go after guys in their mid 20s, not 30s. Use picks/non nhl prospects not ELC/RFA roster players on moves like these.