Walman trade - not great. I liked Walman and thought he was a serviceable defenseman, not any worse than some of our alternatives that's for sure. I also don't even want to fathom what the cost to move Holl's contract would be if Yzerman is being genuine in his statement that he tried to move the contract, and I don't think he has any reason to lie.
Big fish free agents - I really wanted Stamkos. I also saw the deal that Stamkos got from Nashville and that contract is going to to be a boat anchor in two years max. Can you LTIR him? Sure. Stamkos is also a competitor and I think he'll fight an LTIR kicking and screaming. I have no idea what Yzerman offered if it even got to that point, but I can't imagine he offered more than 3x7 or 2x8.. I like Montour, but 7x7+ for another right shot defenseman on the wrong side of 30 that has one season over 40 points is.. steep.
Signings - Love the Kane signing, especially with the incentivized 1 year deal. I think this was a fantastic deal and that seems pretty unanimous. Talbot signing seems odd given that we have Husso and Lyon. One of those guys has to be moving or we roll with all 3 like we did Husso, Reimer, Lyon. Gustaffson I have no opinion on because I have no knowledge of his game, but it seems Yzerman was pretty adamant about not giving term to Ghost so this is who we got.
Trades that didn't happen - Chychrun trade. We were never going to get Chychrun for what the Capitals got him for just based on the fact that we are in division. We got Debrincat for cheap because he was holding Ottawa hostage.
Rest of summer - I think a Necas trade could still materialize. If that doesn't work out and Tarasenko would take a short term deal, I think he'd be a solid option in the 2LW spot for a year or so. Play him with Kane and on the PP and I think he's a 30 goal scorer again. We'll also see how the rest of the d corps shakes out as I don't think we're done there.
At the end of the day, we have a few contracts that aren't great(Copp, Holl) and a few holes to fill but the doom and gloom "it's so over" shit is getting ridiculous. We bottomed out in 2020 with a barren prospect pool and a glorified AHL roster. We now have an elite pipeline and an NHL roster that missed the playoffs on a technicality. Do we make the playoffs this year? I'm not sure. Are we better off today than we were 4 years ago? Yes, without question.