Quoting: vmach
I wouldn't get my hopes to high about Wennberg, you probably be paying someone to take him off your hands. Panarin is going to 2-3 places, so there will not be a feeding frenzy to get his rights. Bob, maybe a 5th rounder for the rights.
Yeah, they better make that 3rd round pick count
Anything other than Cup is a failure, so pressure is definitely on the GM and coaching stuff. Early exit will likely mean that no UFA will sign with Columbus either. So pressure is high....
Personally i don't think not winning the cup is a failure.
1. The organization is very well stocked at the prospect level at every position for the next 3 years already.
F: Robinson, Stenlund, Fix-Wolensky, Texier, Fortier, Marchenko, Karlberg, Foudy, Bemstrom, & Sherwood
D: Kukan, Collins, Gavrikov, Peeke, Berni
G: Merzlikens, Vehvilainen, Kivlenieks, Tarasov
The Jackets have done a phenomenal job in scouting & developing compared to where they were pre-Davidson/Kekkalainen era.
The goal, obviously, is to make the playoffs.
Advancing to at least 2nd round would be minimum acceptable goal given the moves that were made & draft assets that were expended.
That being said, just showing the players on the roster (both signed & UFA/RFA) that the team is committed to winning and the fans of Columbus, will go a long way with credibility and re-signing many of the UFAs. Anything short of not re-signing 2 of the 4 UFAs would be failure, but the moves may also help attract a top UFA from another team come 7/1 as well.
Not winning the CUP would put the Jackets in the same boat as 30 other teams, short of the ultimate goal.
Not having the full compliment of draft picks does suck, but we will ultimately have more at the draft table than the current compliment that we have.