Sweeney looooooves depth. I understand why he loves it. The problem that I have with this approach is that if you have "depth", that implies you have something above it. The bruins have one great forward. You can't add "depth" to that.
The Elias Lindholm contract I'm not a fan of, however if nothing else is available, why not take it? The concern people have with this is it blocks the 1c spot/cap space if a true 1c did happen to become available via trade or UFA down the road. The problem with this mindset is if that actually happens, holy **** that is a GOOD problem to have. If we have to pay to dump Lindholm, who cares!!!They'd finally be able to have the piece that can bring them out of non-contender mode.
The contracts I take issue with are:
- Heinen
- Dillon
- Korpisalo
Heinen is great. But for a team that lacks any form of offensive talent (2 goals or less scored in 8 of their final 9 playoff games!!!!) he's just redundant. He would be a great fit as a depth piece on a contender, where the term "depth" actually makes sense. No point in loading up on depth when there's nothing above it to deepen. Give a rookie a shot, or a league min veteran.
Dillon, same exact concept as Heinen. He'd have more value, but again, why go so hard at building a good d core to protect a lead you can't get? This is a perfect time to let Lohrei and Wotherspoon prove themselves, and you save so much money in the meantime, since they're both under 1m.
Korpisalo I might give a slight pass to. There are pros and cons. If he ends up playing well, cool, it is what it is. If he doesn't, not good. If he makes the team, Bussi is guaranteed gone on waivers, and now you're stuck with Korpi. Oh and I'd say it's more likely Bussi makes the team over Korpi, but even then, Korpi's still an over 2m cap hit at the NHL level even if he's playing in the AHL, add Bussi's 775 to that, now you're guaranteed to be spending 3m on a backup, with likely an 8.5m starter, and no top six center. Siiiick. It's a lose-lose.
Now the pros for Korpisalo. There are two scenarios here, but we don't know which is true.
Scenario A: Don Sweeney was being blackmailed by Staios, or just straight up got cucked by having to take on Korpisalo's deal because he was afraid to hold onto Ullmark.
Scenario B: Don Sweeney has his eye on a center in this draft, and he did whatever it took to get a pick in his projected range. This is entirety possible, and seems more likely than option A. I hope this is true. The one problem here is I've heard he's very much actively shopping the pick, which to me says he probably isn't overly attached to a center prospect.
My guess is this is the roster, Dillon idk about, but insert X Dillon comp here instead.
I will also guess he does trade that first rounder and then some for a winger, possibly the first + Lysell for Ehlers or someone like that, which would of course change the outlook of the roster a little.
Either way, just find a way to get a center. My main point is it's a complete waste of time to build everything else aside from a center. Every cup winning team in the cap era has had a high end 1c, and none over age 30. Every cap era cup winning team has also had a top 3 draft pick on their roster, and all but once it was a top 2 pick, and more often a first overall. So, maybe this is all for nothing, and the rebuild is inevitable. But it's still entertaining!
The Heinen contract is OK, but this team needs a more prominent scorer and I think he might be more of a luxury than a need. In reality, I think this puts pressure on Brazeau, Lysell, or Merkulov to develop into a top 6 RW.
I am curious to see whether he prioritizes a RW vs a LD.
The Heinen contract is OK, but this team needs a more prominent scorer and I think he might be more of a luxury than a need. In reality, I think this puts pressure on Brazeau, Lysell, or Merkulov to develop into a top 6 RW.
I am curious to see whether he prioritizes a RW vs a LD.
Yeah the money is definitely better spent elsewhere. Value wise, Heinen is a 2-3m guy, just not the fit for this team imo.
RW is the second biggest glaring need, after center of course.
If they get Lindholm for interim 1c, then Zacha and pasta are 1rw/lw. Marchand is 2lw, and 2rw is wide open. One sneaky move that just might work is putting one of Poitras or Coyle there, now you have your only top 6 upside prospect in the top 6, and you have coyle, who imo is not a top 6 guy, but does have top 6 experience up there.
Now guys like Brazeau, geekie, Frederic, etc. can round out the bottom 6.
Something like Frederic - Geekie - Brazeau and then Beecher - Kastelic - Lauko/X 4th liner seems fine.
I'm not optimistic on Merkulov at all, I don't think he's an NHL caliber guy. Lysell has a glimmer of hope, but still a longshot, especially to play second line, I'd love to be wrong though. I'd say his odds aren't terrible of making a 3rw push though, I'd give him a 25% chance to make the team this year, and a 90% chance of getting called up at some point.
i doubt heinen leaves u guys unless someone offered 3m+. if u have him a few years of term (4 years 1.5m) i think he would take it. hes had little stability over his career and has always dropped in production after leaving boston. its clearly a good fit and would be a dirt cheap depth player. lindholm deal is great not sure why u would think to "dump" or pay assets to move him. hes a top line guy whos proven to play great #2c and even had an elite year on Clg playing 1C. pairing him with pasta and zacha would easily give u guys a great top line + coyle march and whoever on the wing is a solid second. dont think u guys spend more then 2m on a LD i think quantity is better then quality there. 2 vets at min u take a shot to just eat games would be far better then paying a big price like that and have little depth if someone gets hurt (which will happen its the NHL)
I think ur also overpaying sway a bit (750k). most players in boston tend to sign for a bit under there market and i doubt boston would have traded ullmark if he was asking for that much. he would have been in far more rumors to be moved if he was asking to take like 9% of the cap himself.
McDavid, Connor
$250,000)
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