Lots of good stuff over the last couple of pages. (ElectrocutedCat - welcome to the boards. Excellent contributions to the discussion already.) Here are my thoughts on the various points brought up over the last several posts (apologies in advance for the length):
1) Regarding Stralman having come off the scrapheap: it does happen. And don't forget that it takes defensemen the longest of all to learn their positions. At this point, I think what you see is what you get - he is a very solid defenseman who excels at the possession game and is worth the $4-5MM AAV that he's going to get. Furthermore, he stepped up in the POs and that is part of why management made Girardi the higher priority and why his salary expectations went from something in the $3MMs to something as high as the $5MMs - but that is a reason to value him more, not less.
2) Regarding whether Staal makes Stralman better or Stralman makes Staal better: I think Staal was instrumental in helping reclaim Stralman from the scrapheap; his fantastic defensive play, particularly in the old system - and before the injury - provided stability to anyone he was paired with and that helped Stralman find the confidence to develop his possession-based game. Now, however, I believe that Stralman has developed, while Staal has been somewhat diminished by his injuries - and the former is significantly better suited for AV's system than the latter. And so I think the roles are now reversed - Stralman now makes Staal better.
3) Regarding Klein's ability to step up: I agree with BRB that he showed very nice flashes during the POs. Again, that is something to be valued, rather than denigrated as "small sample size". If need be, I think he could do the job, although I do think there would be a marginal step down in performance on the second pair.
4) Regarding John Moore's ability to step up: he has fantastic physical gifts and shows flashes as well. However, his negative flashes can also be disturbing. As I mentioned above, defensemen take the longest to develop and I would like to give him the opportunity to maximize those impressive physical skills. However, I would like to keep him on the third pair until he shows that he has. Unlike Klein, he's not steady enough in his current play for me to trust the increase in responsibility until he's actually shown more stability in his current role.
5) Regarding trading Staal: We can't have another Callahan/Girardi situation. He doesn't fit the system as well as other guys (including Stralman). He has had terrible luck with injuries and he does appear to be somewhat diminished. He is going to get a $6MM AAV contract next year. His value is still high. We need to make improvements elsewhere. The net effect of all of these points is that it needs to be done - and sooner rather than later. As others have said, time to trade a guy while his value is high - we cannot let the fact that there is no one currently on the big league roster who is an obvious replacement prevent us from making that decision. Good teams find solutions - they uncover the next Stralman, they promote a kid who steps up and steps into the player's shoes, or they make a shrewd trade.
6) Regarding whom to target: It needs to be a center, but I don't like ANY of the big names that have been bandied about. No more aging stars, please. The only one that's at all appealing is O'Reilly, and frankly I didn't realize that footspeed was such an issue for him - whenever I've seen him, he's been a difference making player, but in retrospect, he would be the guy coming into the zone second, trailing one of the Avs' great centermen, and I wonder if his lack of speed wouldn't be much more exposed on this team, especially where he would be asked to revert to center and wouldn't have Duchesne/Mackinnon/Stastny to play with. I would still be in favor of getting him because he plays such a complete game and just strikes me as a winner, but all things being equal, I'd prefer an outside the box solution. Go get a kid on the cusp of breaking out or uncover a hidden gem, as I've said in the past and as ElectrocutedCat has suggested above. What would it take to get Bjugstad or Coyle? Huberdeau or Zibanejad? But maybe those guys are a little too obvious - what about one of Buffalo's young centers? Rakell in Anaheim? Or how about a guy who's never quite lived up to expectations like Backlund in Calgary? My preference would be to make a move of that kind and then let the new guy, Step, Brass, Miller and Lindberg duke it out in camp. (Unless of course a Brass/Step is added in a major deal to get a true, established first line center - but I don't see that happening.)
7) Regarding filling the inevitable hole(s) in our defense: However this plays out, whether they trade Staal, lose Stralman or both, the team is very likely going to need someone new to step in and pick up the slack on D. I have advocated getting a cheap vet coming off an injury or a down year as insurance, but I am more optimistic than most that we would have someone step up from within - IF we only have to replace one of the two (I think both would be too much to ask in one season). I think Allen would be excellent in AV's system - and fortunately, he can play both sides. If they sign Skjei, I'm also confident that he could step right in and play in his first year. McI I'm less sanguine about, but by the same token, if he takes a big step this offseason, he does bring something that no one else in the organization has. And that's without counting new guys like Zamorsky and Bodie.
To sum up, I do believe that the team can step forward - but I think it requires trading Staal. And as a result, I think it is a priority to sign Stralman. The resulting loss on defense can be mitigated - the real question is whether you get the right player in return...
