Quoting: capsfan2121
Who should we target. We need a center imo and help defensive defensively. Who should our guys be. Rentals or not
I honestly think that we are fine going into the year. There are 16 legitimate NHL forwards and 8 legitimate NHL defenseman on the roster already, including 5 centers plus three guys in oshie, mojo, and protas who could fill in games there as needed. Like you, my biggest concerns are the second line and whether any of the LD behind Orlov can step into a bigger role. Strome and Fehervary especially need to build off of solid seasons last year.
Barring any truly insane injury crisis, I would let the current squad play out around half of the season and see how Strome, Mantha, and McMichael are doing at forward and how Fehervary is doing at defense. If its clear they need to make an upgrade there, they should go for a big established name that will guarantee to be that top 6 forward / top pair d. Miller is I think the most obvious name with one year left on an already cheap deal that can be brought down even more. Meier is another guy I would consider at forward on an expiring deal. We'll see whether a new coach in winnipeg actually does something, but if they still look horrible PLD, Scheifle, and Wheeler are all intriguing. Tarasenko still has his trade request. On defense there are similarly quite a few guys on expiring deals or on the market already. Chychrun would be the big prize but Sanheim, Dumba, Severson are all expiring.
All of these guys bar Wheeler will almost certainly require a 1st+, and I'm fine with that to go all in on this year. If they're going to do so, however, it really needs to be on someone who can come in and instantly play at the top of the lineup. Brown, Strome, Sheary, McMichael, Mojo, Mantha all to one degree or another are very solid middle 6 guys that have the potential to be top 6 guys -- no need to bring in any more.