My hot take for a best possible scenario in 2024-25 (outside of winning the cup):
1) Win the draft lottery (Panther's pick in the late 20s goes to MTL) and bundle the Devils' pick with a few other picks to move up into the top 10 in order to walk out of the draft with two high skilled Cs.
2) Wolf and Vladar have an excellent development year (but not so good as to impact (1).
3) Kuzmenko and Mantha play themselves into trades to contenders, hopefully Kuzmenko brings back a 1st but either way these picks give us the volume of draft capital to make the trade in 1).
4) Huberdeau plays himself back into form and helps Pelletier break out
5) **Stretch goal** - Kadri continues to produce and earns himself a 'hockey trade' to a contender for a bad contract and, most importantly, a haul of high value prospects and/or picks (quality, not quantity).
6) Everyone stays healthy so that development and trade value stays in track.
|