Edit: Someone mentioned a Myers to ANA trade was realistic after his bonus was paid. Exploring what that could do.
I've only become a Vancouver fan in the past couple years since my fiancé and her family are originally from the area. Might be a little skewed on some of these as a result, but I'm tying to give it all a fair shake.
Vancouver does not want to do a scorched Earth rebuild, which is too bad since they for sure need it. They have virtually no grade-A prospects to trade or rely on to make the jump and play big roles, so a lot is done through FA. Since it's done through FA, these will likely never pan out but let's at least think about it, eh?
Issues:
1. Our defense is pretty weak, just like basically every other team in the league. I like Bear and Hronek, but they both kinda feel like top-4 rather than top pairing Dmen, y'know? I put Bear with Hughes so Hughes can have a bit more of a stable presence and Hronek can be offensive-minded on his own line. As a result, he gets paired with Hirose since OEL is trash. If it is too much for Hirose, OEL can step in but I'd rather keep OEL in the minors to get some relief from his cap hit - same with Myers. They will be IMPOSSIBLE to trade, so I'm not even going to bother. Signed Stecher as 3RD as a major improvement on Myers to play with Rathbone and hopefully be a good mentor. If Rathbone doesn't pan out, then we have Brisebois or Wolanin who can step in, but for the love of all that is holy OEL and Myers need to have their vehicles stolen so they're stuck in Abbotsford (and with the Fraser Valley being the way it is, that just may happen).
EDIT: Traded Myers and signed Gavrikov with that cap space. Really boosts our LD.
2. Goaltending. We have one of the best goalie coaches in Ian Clarke, but only he can do so much. I'm not high on any goalie in the system other than Demko, but hoping we can buy low on a Nedeljkovic hoping to revitalize his career. Traded for Kallgren to get a great goalie prospect and contingency plan in case Ned doesn't pan out.
3. Centre. I know Miller is able to play centre, but I like him more as a winger. Tried finding a good centre to be a 2C and toyed with a few ideas such as Stephenson from VGK or Schmaltz from ARI, but figured they'd be way to expensive to get. Landed on Domi in FA since he did well on CHI and with DAL. Concerned since he dropped off while playing in MTL, but hoping this recent scoring streak is sustainable for him. Also got J.T. Compher to get great centre depth and an option in case Domi doesn't pan out. Might be low balling 'em both but the options are there. If only one works, then I'd vote Domi since Compher's stats may be inflated by playing on COL for so long. Hoping Domi takes a bit of a lower offer in exchange for term and maybe a M-NTC (10 team no trade list?) on his contract since he has bounced around so often the past few years.
4. Cap space. Unfortunately Beauvillier and Garland are too expensive for the roles we'd need them to play. Both get shipped out for pennies in order to remove all cap hit from their contracts. Signed Watson and Motte to FA contracts which may seem counter productive, but is done to improve out bottom-6 at a more reasonable cap hit and to account for issue #5. Stecher is also signed at a reasonable hit for short term to try and account for issue #1. I liked him in CGY and this may not be enough to get him on board, but if we can get some one for this price point (De Haan? Mayfield?) then I think we should consider it. In the event that we need more to sign Domi or Compher, I would advocate for not signing Watson since Domi can provide the grit with more skill.
EDIT: Signed Gavrikov as a FA. A bit of an overpay, but we need to lure in a solid defenseman and I think he could really help. Also, really hoping the cap jumps up in 2024-25.
5. Grit. VAN can be pretty easy to play against at times and beyond Myers, there's no one to really push back and fight, but Myers is shipped to the minors. Signing Watson to a 1-yr deal is meant to be an insurance against folks who take too many liberties with the team (Domi can help with that too) but short enough that if he turns out to be a defensive liability it won't hamstring the team long-term.
Kallgren is likely to odd man out for TOR. Samsonov and Murray played really well when healthy and Woll has passed Kallgren in the depth chart. I could see Kallgren becoming expendable. VAN could use a solid goaltending prospect and while Kallgren isn't spectacular, he is better than Martin.
Leafs get an option on LW for when Bunting walks. Dubious hates term, so an expiring contract is right up his alley.
Got this idea from a different ACGM. Didn't put too much thought into if this is a BUF need, but I can see why they'd need a bit of a pest with their young core coming up. Plus, they can easily afford it with cap room to spare.
3.
VAN
Future considerations. Anaheim needs RD and have the cap space for this.
I agree with you both, Buffalo is loaded with potential top six talent.
I was merely musing that DeBrincat would be the more likely candidate and not Boeser.
TBH, I would try to get Pittsburgh to pay me to take Petry to play as Power's partner and sign Orlov for two years as my 4th defenseman:
Samuelson-Dahlin
Power-Petry
Orlov-Jokiharju
Less ice time could make Dahlin and Power more efective.
My forward lines would be:
Skinner - Mittelstadt - Tuch Casey certainly produced well on this line
Thompson - Cozens - Quinn Thompson's output was fine eventhough he played hurt This gives Buffalo essential two top scoring lines
Peterka - Krebs - Jost Not the best of all combinations but as a third line they would provide a good mix of offense and defense
Olofsson - Girgensons- Okposo Playing the fourth line may be the best place for Victor giving us an offensive threat on every line.
Greenway is the odd man out.
Again DeBrincat was more a jest than fact, but it does make good rumor fodder, LOL!
It does make for a good rumour haha! I don't see DeBrincat staying in Ottawa so I'm open to any potential trades, even if they're outside the realm of possibility!
Thompson - Cozens - DeBrincat would be an absolutely INSANE line if BUF were to grab him from OTT, but OTT would likely ask for Levi as part of the return which would be a disaster.
I agree with you both, Buffalo is loaded with potential top six talent.
I was merely musing that DeBrincat would be the more likely candidate and not Boeser.
TBH, I would try to get Pittsburgh to pay me to take Petry to play as Power's partner and sign Orlov for two years as my 4th defenseman:
Samuelson-Dahlin
Power-Petry
Orlov-Jokiharju
Less ice time could make Dahlin and Power more efective.
My forward lines would be:
Skinner - Mittelstadt - Tuch Casey certainly produced well on this line
Thompson - Cozens - Quinn Thompson's output was fine eventhough he played hurt This gives Buffalo essential two top scoring lines
Peterka - Krebs - Jost Not the best of all combinations but as a third line they would provide a good mix of offense and defense
Olofsson - Girgensons- Okposo Playing the fourth line may be the best place for Victor giving us an offensive threat on every line.
Greenway is the odd man out.
Again DeBrincat was more a jest than fact, but it does make good rumor fodder, LOL!
The future lines fascinate me. The top 9 will be so interesting
Petry a decent older player who’s a dump because of his salary but not what team needs imo.
KA has said hed take longer term players that want to play here and players get better playing together longer term so temps not great unless unavoidable
There are few great d in this draft but lucky if we get one in first round. Think Reinbacher goes early. ASP before our pick too. I like Willander and Simasev but any of these gems two plus years away so we need to fill slots. Hope we find couple d that can fit in to program longer term yet not overpriced to allow Power and Dahlin get raises
Gavrikov and Mayfield fill this. Both around 4.5m
Johnson not signing would really mess things up more. Oh well.
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