Agreed that two-way forwards and goalies could be targets too.I think our goals against is more of a team thing, not a D specific issue. It's our not super responsible forwards and D. And it's our goalies. And it's the team's aggressive playstyle.
I'm all for making an upgrade to the D, but it should be a big upgrade, when the price is right. And that might not be soon. I don't think getting the #5 D out of Arizona is going to help us. Rasmus Andersson, Adam Pelech, those are some of the most appealing names so far. Kovacevic has supposedly been great defensively, and is about to become a UFA.
It's hard to really say right now, a lot of it hinges on what the plans are with Provorov and Fabbro. I think conventional wisdom is that Fabbro is kept while Provorov isn't (whether thats via deadline trade or walk at the end of the year). They may keep both. They may keep neither. But I think Fabbro is a fit and they could use him regardless of his future is next to Werenski or not.
Obviously JJ is a one year thing. Either deadline deal or walk. I'm not sure Harris gets qualified (and I very much doubt it) with the young D in the pipeline pushing (Svozil, Hunt, etc)
Werenski is entrenched into the 1D spot.
Mateychuk is the future, and he's going to have a spot either on 2nd or 3rd pairing.
Other than that, its completely up for grabs.
Werenski-Fabbro
Mateychuk-Severson
Christiansen-Gudbranson
Hunt
That's how next years D looks currently (to me) factoring in what I said above.
Its pretty good, but could use more defensive presence. A shut down guy, which may push a guy like Christiansen or Gudbranson off the team.
Ideally, we get a 2nd pair shutdown RD to push Severson down to the third pairing. But I don't see that happening with Gudbranson still around.
Is it worth it to throw assets at a dman who isn't going to make the difference? Pettersson is good just not really what we need, all offense and minimal defense. 1 year rentals don't make sense for many reasons for this team.As a rental, Brian Dumoulin? Apparently he's been surprisingly decent this year.
Off season target because Pittsburgh wouldn't trade him to Columbus and I wouldn't want to give them assets. Marcus Petterson? Although no idea if he's a defensive defenseman or not.
Why would the Jets trade him in the middle of a playoff race?I know nothing about him except what his stats tell me but what about Neal Pionk in FA? Currently at AAV of 5.875. 5 years at 7ish? I dunno just looking for opinions.
There's a few guys that jump out that could probably be had for not that much, one that comes to mind is Lauzon. A good stay a home defenseman, making only 2 million per on a bad Preds team. He'd be nice to stick Severson with and wouldn't cost much.
Another player that would make an impact at a higher level would be Pelech, good defender, not going to light it up offensively, but big and will play shutdown minutes. I'd say this is probably more of a mid tier option.
Lastly, my perfect candidate would be Dobson. #1 dman, young, good at both ends of the ice, could easily run his own pairing and would make our top 4 very solid.
That last option is more of the "dream" option as I doubt the Isles give him up easily, they'd want an overpayment most likely.
Someone mentioned Andersson, that's the better version of Provorov but a whole lot more expensive. Very good defensively and can eat big minutes, only issue is he's got one year left on his contract after this and will want big money. He'll also be 29 soon, the rumored price is a 1st, young player and prospect, that's probably too much for a potential 1 year rental based on where this team is now. I think any big trade will need to have some years under control, I rather try and go after someone like Dobson who would give the team more guaranteed years.
I know nothing about him except what his stats tell me but what about Neal Pionk in FA? Currently at AAV of 5.875. 5 years at 7ish? I dunno just looking for opinions.
Why would the Jets trade him in the middle of a playoff race?
I know nothing about him except what his stats tell me but what about Neal Pionk in FA? Currently at AAV of 5.875. 5 years at 7ish? I dunno just looking for opinions.
Rasmus Andersson would be the safest upgrade we could get, we know how he would fit. I like the comparison to Provorov - being a better defensive version of that...
...I'd be much more eager to get him in the summer when we can talk to the player about an extension as part of the deal.
Putting it mildly. OTOH, there was a similar attitude about Carrier and he seems to be doing acceptably in Montreal. I still would be loath to take the risk here tho.Hard to get excited about Lauzon when Preds fans want to shoot him into the moon.
Not for his current contractSeth Jones
Checks off all the boxes
Seth Jones
Checks off all the boxes