I agree with whoever said we need to pick up 2-3 legit top 4 defensmen this offeason (hard to keep track when the thread blows up). We can’t go the way of Chicago…
To me, that remains true even if we are lucky enough to grab Schaefer in the draft (
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), since I imagine it’s unlikely he makes the jump next year.
I think we should be able to sign one for free (Kovacevic, Gavrikov, Ekblad, etc), outbid better teams if you have to but we have the cap space to do it.
But that still leaves us with just 2 top 4 guys. Here’s one crazy idea to get us closer to 4: Dickinson + Bystedt + Dal 1st for Dobson
Do you think NYI would go for that? Would you?
I didn’t like the idea when people were throwing around Dickinson‘s name and Dobson first hit the market, but with Schaefer on the way, that would change things for me. Also, I think Lou would be able to sell the idea of three first for Dobson to the fan base pretty well and Dickinson seems like the kind of guy Lou would love.
If you were able to swing something like that, that gives you 3 top 4 D going into next year and maybe even 4 if Schaeffer surprises or Ferraro looks like his old self around a big, offensively oriented D partner again. That could really change things for us.
I know we preach patience a lot on here, but seeing the images of sad Bedard and hearing Jones‘s comments really has me thinking. There is such a thing as being too patient…