The stone situation was completely different, he wanted to stay, but was conflicted because he didn't want to spend his best years going through a tear down.
In terms of the roster, we have 4 top 6 pieces locked in with term, including an elite center, a high end 2nd line center, a stud everything winger, and an offensive winger on a team friendly deal, all 24 or younger
DeBrincat fits the long term puzzle in terms of his age, we'll have to wait and see but if he signs it's 5 legit top 6 players 25 or younger.
Giroux is an Alfie type, I can see him playing till he's 40, just had a heck of a season, once the current contract is up, he could continue to give us quality top 9 mins.
Pinto and Greig both have top 6 potential, should be quality 3rd liners next year, again young at 22 and under.
There's nothing wrong with our top 9 for the next 5+ years,
Backend is looking like among the best weve had in years.
Chychrun (25), Chabot (26), Sanderson (20), Zub (27) and Brannstrom (23), that's a lot of talent and very young. Kleven, JBD, Guinette and Thomson in the pipeline gives us some good prospect depth on the verge of being ready.
The important roles are all accounted for, complaining about the bottom 6 misrepresents not liking Kelly or maybe Guathier and Kastelic on the 4th line as a bigger issue than it is.
This team is absolutely ready to take a big step,
The Stone situation was different, you're right. He had roots here. He had developed into an NHL star and leader, and if he had stayed, would have been named captain. He had tons of reasons, from a personal perspective, to stay. Debrincat doesn't have nearly as many. He has no ties here. He's coming off an underwhelming season. He struggled to carve out a role and really mesh with anyone.
Unless we give him an offer he can't refuse (i.e. 8x9M, which would significantly limit our ability to upgrade the bottom 6 or goaltending), why would he sign before testing the market?
I agree we should be thrilled about Tkachuk, Stützle and Sanderson.
I have confidence that Norris, Zub and Chychrun will bounce back from injuries and be good next year.
I have questions about Chabot and Batherson. They need to do some soul-searching. If they're going to be on the ice as much as they were this year, they can't play close to the same way.
I think Pinto will be an excellent 3rd liner next season.
I don't think Debrincat will be back and that's a big hole in the top 6.
I don't know if Greig is ready to play 82 games at the NHL level. He's averaged 43 per year over the last 5 seasons.
I think Joseph, at his contract, is an anchor. Counting him, we have $8M of dead cap next season. We can't afford the 2nd round pick it'd take to ship him to Arizona or San Jose.
So going into the next season, the questions we have:
1. Can we find a goalie who can give us 40 games of .910% or better goaltending
2. What kind of return can we get for Debrincat (it has to include a player who can step in and score 20+ goals next season. Who's giving that up for a pending UFA who, himself, only scored 27 this season?)
3. Can we find two additional quality bottom 6 players (bringing back Formenton would make this easier)
4. Can we find a steady bottom-pairing defenseman to play with Brannstrom?
5. Can we do this all and stay under, effectively, ~$77M in salary?
That's a lot of questions. Plus that's ignoring the "is DJ Smith the right guy to take this to the next level" elephant in the room.
And even if we get all that right, which team is falling out in the East? Are we leap-frogging Toronto, Tampa or Boston? If not, will we make bigger strides than Buffalo? Or can we pass Florida?
You can't just look at the team in a vacuum. Is the team better than the teams we'll be competing with?
