Armchair GM Thread

[Porter Stoutheart]

Wouldn't surprise me that over the next few years Vegas' lack of prospects due to all of the trading doesn't start showing up. Trading like they have is great, as long as they end up being good trades and you don't start losing those guys to injuries, age, etc.

I could be completely wrong, but I expect them to be a 1st/2nd round exit team for several years until they either get some picks/prospects back or they just decide they need to completely reload.

Being aggressive/borderline-insane on handling players/Bold Trades/Cap/LTIR/UFA has certainly been something that worked for them in the past. I'm not sure that will hold up, since now more teams have more Cap, so the UFA market will diminish, and "hijinx" types of moves might become more difficult since everybody has more flexibility? I don't know, but anyway, still -very grudgingly- "kudos to them" I guess for making it work while it lasted. And f-them at the same time.

If they have to keep signing their 3rd pair guys like Hague for $5M, I guess that could help hasten their demise. I'm all for that too. Plus some of the big guys they went after are getting older. Stone, Pietrangelo, Hertl are just going to keep drifting to the right on the age scale, it's not always going to be the same on those big gets as it was in the early days.

 

[Scoresberg]

Yeah, they COULD for sure match Hague but he would still be their number 5 defenseman. At 5 mil, they could take the 2nd rounder (a high one) and just walk away.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Yeah, they COULD for sure match Hague but he would still be their number 5 defenseman. At 5 mil, they could take the 2nd rounder (a high one) and just walk away.

They're also an attractive destination for UFAs, so they probably have a better shot at signing an equivalent replacement cheaper than we could. It's not a great slate of UFA D this summer, but for example they could probably give themselves some long-term Cap flexibility by just patching in veteran 3rd-pair guys (like a Brian Dumoulin this year, say) on cheaper short-term contracts. And pocket that 2nd round pick in the process. Without losing anything at all in terms of competitive edge. So yeah.

 

[Armourboy]

They're also an attractive destination for UFAs, so they probably have a better shot at signing an equivalent replacement cheaper than we could. It's not a great slate of UFA D this summer, but for example they could probably give themselves some long-term Cap flexibility by just patching in veteran 3rd-pair guys (like a Brian Dumoulin this year, say) on cheaper short-term contracts. And pocket that 2nd round pick in the process. Without losing anything at all in terms of competitive edge. So yeah.

I figure after this post season Vegas will be looking to make some changes. They made it to the 2nd round but really shouldn't have, and frankly just felt out matched by the Oilers.

Frankly the Oilers just blow my mind in the post season. When you look at that team they don't appear to have the Dcorp, Forward depth, nor Goalie to beat anyone, but once they get going it seems to work. Now part of that may be that LA and Vegas have major flaws and they may run headlong into Dallas and suddenly get stomped but I guess we will be finding that out soon too.

 

[Kat Predator]

I figure after this post season Vegas will be looking to make some changes. They made it to the 2nd round but really shouldn't have, and frankly just felt out matched by the Oilers.

Frankly the Oilers just blow my mind in the post season. When you look at that team they don't appear to have the Dcorp, Forward depth, nor Goalie to beat anyone, but once they get going it seems to work. Now part of that may be that LA and Vegas have major flaws and they may run headlong into Dallas and suddenly get stomped but I guess we will be finding that out soon too.

I suspect some of the same. That entire division looks pretty cooked top to bottom. Like you said, Vegas struggled a good bit to get past the 5th best team in our division.

 

[GeauxPreds1]

The old schoolers lol let's do it

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

The old schoolers lol let's do it

It’s not the worst idea. Whomever we draft this year is unlikely to be much help in short term and there are still tickets to sell.

 

[BigFatCat999]

The old schoolers lol let's do it

I won’t lie to you. I’m not gonna complain about that.

 

[Scoresberg]

Do you even want Marner as a UFA after all that?

 

[Soundgarden]

Do you even want Marner as a UFA after all that?

Do we as in the Preds? No, we need to be going after McKenna. In a different season probably, he's a 100 point player and he's still 27 and we'll have the cap space.

 

[NSH615]

I question how much the pressure created by the media and fans influence these bad performances in the playoffs. It just feels like no matter who is on that team, they will never win with the expectations and pressure put on them.

 

[herzausstein]

would Marner want to go from a middle aged team with cup aspirations to an almost aged out team just hoping to luck into a wildcard spots?

Tavares is more our style. Old by NHL standards, slowing down with age, and can play center. We will lock him up for 5 years

 

[jumb0]

Tavares is more our style. Old by NHL standards, slowing down with age, and can play center. We will lock him up for 5 years

Can't wait for Trotz to give him 5 years $8 million with a full NMC/NTC

 

[ShagDaddy]

Mariner’s playoff performance is irrelevant. This team ain’t making the playoffs or past the first round so why not get someone exciting to watch during the regular season?

 

[Kat Predator]

Do you even want Marner as a UFA after all that?

No.

Someone will look at his stats and make him an eyepopping offer, but he's got a bunch of Taylor Hall to him.

 

[glenngineer]

Let's see, 28 year old kid who's got more offensive skill than anyone we've ever had on this team outside of maybe Kariya, who can play ES, PP and PK all at exceptional levels, yeah, why wouldn't we want him. Sometimes players need to move to get to the next level.

If we can improve the talent on the team without having to give up any assets, not like we have any, you do it in a heartbeat. You have to build a team that can make a push for the playoffs and adding him starts us trending in the right direction again. You worry about how to build a Cup contender later on.

I'll say this again about his ability to play in all three situations, it's an invaluable skill set and outside of O'Reilly, who else does that on our team within our forwards? Svech and ZLH would be the other two as they further develop.

 

[Armourboy]

Let's see, 28 year old kid who's got more offensive skill than anyone we've ever had on this team outside of maybe Kariya, who can play ES, PP and PK all at exceptional levels, yeah, why wouldn't we want him. Sometimes players need to move to get to the next level.

If we can improve the talent on the team without having to give up any assets, not like we have any, you do it in a heartbeat. You have to build a team that can make a push for the playoffs and adding him starts us trending in the right direction again. You worry about how to build a Cup contender later on.

I'll say this again about his ability to play in all three situations, it's an invaluable skill set and outside of O'Reilly, who else does that on our team within our forwards? Svech and ZLH would be the other two as they further develop.

Only reason I hesitate is because this is a team that honestly needs to be completely rebuilt, not make a push for the playoffs. Making this team better now just hurts us in the long run because it puts you picking mid pack instead of at the top, which frankly we need.

Now had this been the team coming out off the 2017 season I'd absolutely agree with you. Bring him in, you've proven you have other players that can pull weight in the playoffs. Maybe he figures it out being around them. However this group of " winners " couldn't figure out how to win themselves, let alone show someone else how to do it.

 

[herzausstein]

Does marner make the team better? Yes

Does marner ever live up to whatever contract he ends up here? Probably not since we don't have a 1C but maybe

Is there any reason he would sign here? I don't see why he would but if his only goal is to get lots of cash we have the space.

 

[herzausstein]

Is there anyone worth offersheeting and risking our 2026 1st round pick for?

 

[Soundgarden]

Is there anyone worth offersheeting and risking our 2026 1st round pick for?

Hell no, we're going all in for McKenna.

 

[nullednumbed]

Does marner make the team better? Yes

Does marner ever live up to whatever contract he ends up here? Probably not since we don't have a 1C but maybe

Is there any reason he would sign here? I don't see why he would but if his only goal is to get lots of cash we have the space.

Agreed he doesn't sign here unless Trotz vastly overpays on a max-year deal. Which means there is a chance actually since, you know, its is Trotz.

 

[Armourboy]

Hell no, we're going all in for McKenna.

Agreed you gotta save it just in case if for no other reason. This team hasn't proven it can even win a month let along enough to get near the playoffs.

 

[ShagDaddy]

Why not add Marner and try to snag Tavares too. Is it going to make this roster any worse? The Nashville scorers curse would drag him down to about 75-80 points a year but that’s still be pretty dang fun to watch.

 

[Scoresberg]

Hell no, we're going all in for McKenna.

That might be what ultimately ends up happening, but no way in hell is that the organization's mindset going into the off-season and next year.

 

[Armourboy]

That might be what ultimately ends up happening, but no way in hell is that the organization's mindset going into the off-season and next year.

Oh it won't be, but it should be. Honestly it doesn't really matter. Trotz screwed the future of this team over the next 5 years when he signed Saros to that deal and dumped Askarov.

Odds are he keeps overpaying old UFA's and crossing his fingers hoping something good happens. In 3 years when it doesn't maybe he gets fired and we can do the rebuild Poile set us up for.