Id rather have Laine for 2 years than Debrusk at 5.5-6 million for 5-6 years and Toffoli for 4.5-5 million for 4-5 years. But only if Laine was cheap to acquire.
Laine is on a short contract. With his recent issues the King's might actually have enough assets to land him. It's not like the Kings are going to be a desirable location after this last year for any player that has a choice.
Right there. That’s where you should stop and think, “We just went through this.” No way we should be comfortable taking ANOTHER gamble on player that’s a maybe and giving up more assets.
It's the only play left before burning off 11 & 8's contracts & rebuilding.
I respectfully disagree. There shouldn’t be any “play” whatsoever. This current roster make up is not built for a long playoff run. It’s time to accept that. Adding Laine alone will not take them to that next level.It's the only play left before burning off 11 & 8's contracts & rebuilding.
Edit: Yes, they did just move a forward that probably would have been fine at wing for an overpriced goalie & will need to add a forward after losing bothe 33 & 80.
Dont they already?
Yea we all know that. But Blake is on the hot seat and will gamble here to get some playoff success.
Inside the mind of a mad man:
I think the chances of Laine rediscovering his game in LA is approximately 0.0% but if we’re gonna do something stupid anyway (likely) I’d prefer his contract over long term deals for Toffoli and Roy, and it comes with the added bonus of depleting Blake’s extra cap space for more bad moves. In a twisted way, if the trade price is cheap then acquiring Laine could be the perfect Goldilocks deal that is bad enough to get management fired but not so horrible that it handcuffs the next GM for almost a decade.
Yes, until the Caps came along and said "Hold my beer".
What does it say about this organizations ownership, management, coaching and on-ice leadership that they allowed this situation to happen again and again? So many players careers go south here.
I'd bite. He shouldn't cost much asset wise to acquire. Put him on the 4th line and it allows you to go cheap/young with Thomas at 4C (no Liz) and Turc/Grundy (or some very cheap veteran brut). I'd rather Turc be given a shot on lines 1-3, but i know that's unlikely to happen.
Agreed -- either way we're f***ed. So it comes down to, would you rather be a team that:
The soft defense needs to be fixed. Too many guys get to and stay in front of the net without being affected.
if he was given a qualifying offer it had to be a raise
