Joined: Aug. 2020
Posts: 9,527
Likes: 8,968
If Tkachuk was gonna leave then coming back better be Panarin or at least 2 of Laf/Kakko/Shesty. He's an elite player, one of the best agitators in the league, draws a lot of penalties, leader of the team, and very skilled at creating offense, despite playing with meh linemates (Backlund's pretty average, Frolik was just bad, Mangiapane was good, but perspective is important, he was good for a rookie). Trouba's deal is a hindrance, he's good but not 8mil for 6 more years good, I'd rather keep Hanifin and his good contract for a top 4 D (plus we already have 2 top 4 RD and we'll need Hanifin to still fill a top 4 LD hole with Valimaki when Gio slows down). Kravtsov has kinda fallen off honestly, he hasn't been impressive for the last year and a half or so. A late 1st isn't tipping the scales at all.