I'm not saying we get these players, but in theory we could sign Granlund on a short-term deal, maybe sign Bennett as a more similar replacement for Schenn. Dvorsky comes up, and we have Sunny slide into 4th line C role.
The issue with this line of thinking is it isn't July 1st yet. I was a bit less optimistic before about the potential of signing one due to being incorrect on the centers available for UFA next season.
Given the list of potential UFAs and this is prior to half of them likely never reaching UFA. The following will be UFAs.
Giroux 37
Granlund 32
Bennett 28
Evans 28
Roslovic 28
Tavares 34
Duchene 34
Donato 28
Nelson 33
Those are the guys at or above a .5ppg pace.
Theoretically we only need 1 and then a depth piece like Faksa could probably fill the void in a situation in which Dvorsky is not ready to break camp with the team for some reason.
Why would Giroux, Tavares, or Duchene sign in St. Louis? Money would be the only reason. Are we ready do do an 8m x 4 years for Tavares similar to what Stamkos signed last offseason? Or Duchene for that matter? Cost of a UFA is likely going up a good deal with the recent news of the cap rising exponentially.
I would safely take us out of this bin, it's a really hard sell that we're going to be competitive next season after trading Schenn this season.
2nd bin. Nelson and Granlund. I'm not sure what to estimate their UFA cost to be, but similar to the one before, are we going to pay them top dollar for a 4-5 year contract that they'll likely ask and get?
3rd Bin: Bennett. This would be preferred I'd imagine by most of us. This is going to cost likely north of 7m on a 7 year deal though. He has earned that type of contract. I'd imagine he could have the opportunity to sign in Florida if he were to take a discount, which i wouldn't rule out. I just don't know how they make the money work aside from shipping out Knight but that puts them at a really high risk after this year. That puts him pretty well in line with the Chandler Stephenson contract that he signed last offseason. It's certainly risky, and you're paying on the backend when we're probably going to open a window for production on the front end.
4th Bin: Probably where we'll have to go. Donato, Evans, Roslovic.
Donato is probably going to be able to ask for a bit more due to having a good season this season. I'm not sure he's worth it. He could fill the same void on our team next season though and may not be a bad option if he's a 2-3 year deal.
Evans is a bottom 6 center who's shooting percentage is through the roof this year. His percentage is all over the map throughout his career but it's comfortably double what his average is and over double what his average was prior to this season. He's been hammered in Zone start wise and had fairly good results. If we're looking for a solid 3C this is where I would shop. Unfortunately we're not though and I think he's going to be paid a decent chunk of change over 3-4 years due to his season this season assuming it stays consistent right now and he doesnt' taper off towards the end of the year.
Roslovic: I'm assuming he's playing wing in Carolina. His FO% is good this year but very limited attempts. Looks like last year he was a winger as well but prior to that he was a center. Wasn't very good at faceoffs when he was a center. Certainly not the end all be all. But he's pacing .5ppg which puts him at 41 points for the season. His other totals are around 40-50 prorated for games played, save a couple outliers early in his career on shortened seasons one better some worse. This is probably the cheapest option possible to fill the void. Not a bad option but certainly not something that would make me confident going in to next year that we are having another development year.
Now I understand that trades can occur. But I'm not really too comfortable going into next season saying Dvorsky has to be a 2C or we're absolutely screwed. I'm even less comfortable saying that Sunny is an option at 3C. He shouldn't be anymore. I'm perfectly fine with acquiring a guy to be a 2C short term and allow Dean and Dvorsky to fight out in camp for the 3C spot with alot of upwards mobility. I just don't see anyone that we could acquire being better suited for that role than Schenn, nor costing less than we would get in return for Schenn.
The only true benefit I see in the whole scenario would be allowing the motion of the leadership of the team to shift seamlessly without having to rip a letter off of someone's jersey to try another form of getting life out of the team.