When a team signals rebuild coming (the captain bailing counts) - the vultures with near term hopes and Cup contenders absolutely come knocking. Thats how the rebuild game works.
I’ve bled Teal since 1991. Been through all those years with Marleau and Thornton, remaining loyal to them as very very good players. In the end, for almost two decades they were competitive and a threat for conference Championships, but Pittsburgh buzzsawed them the one time the got into the final. Two decades of hope.
Don’t think of this so much as being vultured. Get your haul of assets and build for the future. Take it as a compliment that I’m making a bigger deal of Seider when Larkin says “bail!!!”. Larkin has put Seider in a crappy spot, the whole team in a tough spot. But reality is, he knows he’s not going to win a Cup in Detroit. But Det can say, OK, Seider can help another team now, which won’t be winning years anyways, and give us a shot at being a monster in 4-5 years. The assets SJ can offer will be young and top level. The salary cap will be higher then and $ to resign those guys available. With the cap going up, trades will likely be fewer as most teams can hold onto more guys. The oven of Seider is hot, grabbing that cash for 2031 isnt the worst strategy. But yes, it will hurt and be weird to see him Chase the cup in another jersey.