Oh man. You had me until the last sentence, which is really just glossing over the loss of Staal. Which, IMO, would be a huge problem that "a cheap veteran" wouldnt be able to solve.
Not glossing it over. Staal is a very good defender in a different system, IMO. If the Rangers are going with more mobility then Staal doesn't fit. It showed in the Final and Conference Final. It wasn't as much of an issue against the Canadiens, who weren't a heavy team, but against LA who had size and speed, the inability to get the puck up quicker was an issue for Staal.
However, if it were possible to keep both, I'd love it. But the reality of the situation is Staal will be seeking 6+ million on his next contract, and he is not worth it. If Stralman is seeking between 4 and 5 million, i'd much rather keep Stralman at about a million less than it will cost to keep Staal. And Staal holds a lot of trade value right now because he could potentially play a full season plus playoffs for the team that acquires him, they would have a year to negotiate a new contract.
Can't allow it to become a Callahan situation.
Its a tough situation. But decisions need to be made. If we are looking for more speed and mobility to contribute to our transition, i personally feel Stralman is the way to go.
But, i agree with your concern about any old cheap veteran filling Staal's shoes. It isn't what I meant. I'm not expecting the replacement to be Staal when Staal was great. But i also don't expect Staal to be the way he once was moving forward, either. I personally feel his eye is an issue. I worry about future injuries, because the history is there. But, yes, it won't be easy to replace him.
If we can find a guy to play steady in his own end and bring mobility, we could manage, IMO.
We knew eventually this would happen. Can't keep everyone unfortunately. It's how it goes in the salary capped NHL.
