WaukeeBlues wrote:The fact that you guys are honestly arguing about the Blues possibly trading for the top 1 or 2 picks in this years draft is... I can't even...
No offense but not worthy of a rational response.
Obviously this a hypothetical situation, rooted in a very serious short and long term situation.
Facts are some big contracts will come due soon, namely Tarasenko this offseason and then Schwartz and Lehtera next offseason. Lost in all this is that the other 2/3rds of that line aren't exactly locked up on 8 year deals and none of them will come cheap next time around.
Also factual is that there are guys who are getting older and a deep pipeline. I mean honestly, we have a frikkin Russian center who's pacing about 2 points per game, granted at a significantly lower level of competition but undeniably talented. To even suggest that the roster, as it stands today, will be the roster for the next 5 or 6 or 7 years is insane. Financially, it's unsustainable regardless of how much money the team makes or how many Cups they win because Cups don't make the cap go higher. In terms of roster space, it's also unsustainable. Bodies will have to be moved. Whether those bodies can be moved for really great draft picks or for good prospects or whatever, who knows? It's more than just dumping Berglund and Ott because we don't like them and they make a lot of money. That clears space for Fabbri and Barbashev and frees up SOME money. Then what?
Dumping Leopold for a crappy draft pick is actually very foretelling of this teams situation. We have a solid NHL roster, a deep AHL roster and very good prospects. So the only thing this team really needs, at the moment, is cap space and in the near future, roster space. We don't need NHL ready bodies and it really wouldn't make a bit of sense to trade one NHL body for another NHL body if the point is to get the prospects promoted and playing. There's no pressing need for any particular position that doesn't already exist somewhere within the organization other than, maybe, some depth at wing. So the most logical thing to do is trade excess players for draft picks to keep the pipeline flowing. And yes, that may or may not involve trading guys like Bouwmeester, Oshie, Steen, Backes, etc...sometime in the next few seasons. Stockpiling draft picks is a telltale sign of a team in rebuild mode, yes. But it can just as easily be a sign of a team that refuses to put their fans through a rebuild by having a steady flow and a staggered approach to player replacement.
Look at the Blackhawks. That's the blueprint. As much as everyone wants to crap on them because we hate them, they've got it figured out. They identified their core: Kane, Toews, Hossa, Seabrook, Keith, Crawford. Signed them. Everyone else is expendable. Lather, rinse, repeat every year. That's what the Blues have to do, it's that simple.
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The haul that you'd have to provide to get the Sabres' GM to even answer the phone isn't worth discussing. It'd be outrageous.
Exactly-specifically: Forsberg, Hextall, Simon, Ricci, Simon, Duchesne, 2 1sts and $15M-level outrageous. They'd probably start by asking for Tarasenko and expand from there. Not worth it. For all we know, some relatively-obscure Russian kid will go at #16 this year and be better than anyone else...
Ok, obviously we're not landing the #1 or the #2 pick, but the points remain the same. Clearing roster space for guys in the pipeline has to occur otherwise we won't be able to afford anyone or have room for anyone. The only sensible way to keep the pipeline providing quality bodies is the have quality drafts and the only way to maximize the likelihood of that is to eventually trade bodies for the best possible draft picks before they become washed up and not worth it. Either that or trade aging bodies for prospects and let some other team do all the scouting. Trading for NHL ready players, at this juncture, is silly. One, they cost money which is an issue on this team, two they'd be replacing someone else who was already NHL ready, and three I don't think there really are any "pieces of the puzzle" missing that can't be solved by guys already in the system and well thought out "additions by subtraction".
Really the only guys on our roster that are in my "can't touch" column are Tarasenko, Schwartz, Allen, Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk. Close second's are Bouwmeester and Steen.
Everyone else... meh. We'll live. I can't make a comment about Stastny because we haven't seen enough of him in the 'note to make an educated comment on him yet but management has already pegged him as a franchise guy just given the contract alone so that is what it is.
dmiles is totally right and that was my point: You identify your big name guys, your core, and you build around that. For Penguins it's Letang, Crosby, Malkin and to an increasingly lesser extent Fleury. Blackhawks it's the guys dmiles mentioned but so on and so forth. To succeed in this league you HAVE to be able to have leaders up front to fill the first two big lines and enough young talent/cheap depth that can contribute to fill out the rest. Smart contracts, watching where every dollar goes. The Kings and Hawks have won cups on the concept so I'm satisfied it's the way to do it.
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I could live without Steen. Last season was a fluke and he wasn't even "on" for the whole season. He's as pedestrian and interchangeable as a lot of other guys.
At this point in time my untouchables are the entire STL line, any two of Pie, Bouw and Shattenkirk but not all 3 and that's it. Not even Allen because Binnington is supposed to be even better.
