If you want to be in the same exact position next year, a first round playoff team with plenty of holes, then by all means they should spend the limited assets that they have to get pending UFAs (Edmundson or Duhaime when they were available, Zucker, Toffoli, Dumba, that sort). Some would be happy. Some wouldn’t. But first round playoff purgatory is not a place I want them to be stuck. I think this team needs more drastic changes that just aren’t as available to them at this time.
For starters, they are sorely missing a 1C and lacking better quality defense. As others have pointed out, next year’s UFA class at 1C isn’t going to help, meaning you will need to make a trade to address that hole. And while Zacha and Coyle have filled in very well, they are being asked too much. They are gonna have to make a legit effort to bring in a Hertl or a Draisatl or that sort of big impact change. It pushes Zacha and Coyle into positions in the lineup where they are better built to succeed. But they need more assets to make that happen. Lohrei, Poitras, Frederic, extra picks, some combination of those pieces addresses those core needs.
Trading a guy like DeBrusk and Gryz (or both) doesn’t suddenly make the B’s not a playoff team. And with all due respect to them, keeping them doesn’t make them much better equipped for a deeper playoff run. I’d like to see them explore what they could get for either of them 50% retained and then really gear up in the offseason with the extra cap space.
Might look like throwing in the towel on this season when they’re a top 5 team in the standings. But I think it helps them stabilize in the long term with deeper playoff runs. Just my 2 cents.
