the reason why you need Hutson is because it's hard to win in the NHL if you suck on the PP, we have lacked a PP QB since Markov, based off the current roster, I don't see how they can become a contender if they don't have a PP QB, a true #1 D because they don't have a Barkov down the middle, they don't have impressive center depth, or high end goaltending like we saw with Price.
ROR Pietrangelo Binnington
Barkov Montour Bobrovsky
If you go back to when these players were U25, one could easily make the same case that a cup winning team would "need" more than what they were at that time.
Suzuki/Dach (& Hage for that matter) both have very much the potential to be in the range of Barkov/ROR in their prime years.
RB is not far off, and perhaps right on par, with Pietrangelo at his D2 season start... And far ahead of Montour (or Forsling) at same age.
Monty may well bump Binnington out of the Team Canada starter spot by next year, and Fowler is as good, if not a better prospect than Bob or Binnington were at the same age.
I don't get the rationale of forecasting the future from a pov that assumes a mediocre or worse development curve from our established U25 NHLers and top prospects.
It's one thing to say, accurately, that a cup winning team needs elite talent and quality depth that our current roster lacks (that's obvious)... But it's another to project 3-5 years into the future and assume no progress from the talent on hand. 5 years from now is a long time, and some players will inevitably exceed and fall short of projections.
Future is bright
