Quoting: littlejerryseinfeld
Or just pay reinhart and don't do that other stuff
I mean why Skinner yourself into a bad position?
Reinhart , Huberdeau, Trochek, Smith, Marchesault , ext are all replaceable
Granted this is a bad trade 100%
But CAR is looking to move Kotkanemi , LAK is looking to move PLD, TML is looking to move Marner,
I mean DAL has Benn then Seguins contracts coming up sooner then last , same with Kopitar and many other Vet's worth targeting if they take the youth approach.
But they also didnt find Carter Verhaeghe by taking the road most traveled. IMO FLA is already looking at Isaac Lundestrom, Rasmus Kupari , Alex Turcotte, Marco Rossi and players like that who like Carter or Frank Vatrano or Mason Marchment , ext are found either.
FLA has their style , its very unique.
Pay the Top 2 Forwards and #1 D bank to lead so you can pay the best Goalie in the league the most to be #1 when it counts.(and he is as losses rarely are Bobo's fault come playoffs). They learned from TBL after years of trying to find balance overpaying anyone to play for them just to sell tickets. Then they invested in a core 3 + a Goalie but when that Core 3 failed too often 1/3 was traded away with valuable pieces to upgrade that position to a True Playoff Competitor at the highest levels.TBL had Kuch-Stammer and Hedman then everyone else taking similar middling deals with Contract protection and shorter term to stay on the team building a Multi Cup winning team. FLA has done the same and has seen a similar rise in Conference and league Finals since.
Its much more likely they take advantage of Utah's Owner having far difference expectations of his new team then ARZ's Owners acceptance of a never ending rebuild.
Utah is looking to make a splash early and that has a domino effect that will change the landscape possibly in FLA favor depending how early Utah makes a splash.
IF they go hunting at the draft with all these picks used to Weaponize their Roster like VGK did , then year anything is possible including a world where someone unexpected becomes expendable and FLA has the chance to grab them, like lets say Johnny Gaudreau on the cheap if new management brings in new assets that Utah or other teams are moving.
The next month is going to be exciting as the playoffs will impact a lot of jobs and there for create opportunity like it does every year for Kent Hughes, just bigger this time