Detroit goes 5-15-0 to finish the season. St Louis, Montreal and Philadelphia all go 10-10-0. Islanders just miss, Red Wings trade 2 of their seconds to move up into the late first round and end up with picks #7, #14, #25, and #37. Yzerman pulls off a blockbuster at the draft, a la Drouin-Sergachev.
Edvinsson, Kasper, and Johansson come into camp and force their way onto the roster. Overpay Kane for 2 years so we don't embarrass ourselves until the kids are ready. Trade Kubalik, Perron, and Zadina at the 24 deadline for more picks. Kane, Maatta, Fabbri, and Husso at the 25 deadline for more picks. Killorn, Walman and Chairot at the 26 deadline for more picks.
Moore and Wallinder come up for the 24-25 season, Cossa comes up after the 25 deadline, Buchelnikov, Mazur, and Honzek for the 25-26 season, and Reinbacher and But for the 26-27 season.
By the 26-27 season, the roster should look something like this:
Berggren - Larkin - Rasmussen
Buchelnikov - Kasper - Soderblom
Honzek - Moore - Copp
Mazur - Veleno - But
Edvinsson - Seider
Wallinder - Jiricek
Johansson - Reinbacher
Cossa
Jarry
That's a scary roster; HUGE, talented, deep, and most importantly, cost controlled. Not to mention the 3 firsts in 24 and 25, plus all the draft capital from trading the 10 vet stop gaps. Larkin will win a cup by the age of 30 FOR SURE.
Jiricek set the AHL points for an 18 year old defenseman with like 20 games left in the season. Probably the best defensive prospect not in the NHL right now. He’s as untouchable as they come. Raymond is very good but the jackets already have laine, gaudreau, Kent Johnson, and marchenko so wingers are the last thing the jackets need right now