Whoever they pick up needs to be cheap and have that "he's a gamer" reputation. Mitch an elite skilled player but not a gamer. Matthews an elite skilled player but not a gamer. Willie an elite skilled player but not a gamer. Rielly not a gamer, Kampft, Robertson, McMann, Tavaraes, Timmins, Holmberg, OEL all not gamers. There needs to be some red meat intensity coming back. I was watching some highlights last year, FLA was simply a bully on the school yard, if they weren't putting offensive pressure on you, they were bullying you out of the school yard, they never gave you a shift to rest, there was always some sort of stress/chaos they were sending your way.. We have the talent, I would argue we have more talent than the Cup winners last year, what we dont have is the intensity and bully factor. Shock and awe works for a reason.
If you play the way you need to play, there will be lots of injured players, the problem is we dont have a Cup winning roster, let alone the depth to get us through the inevitable injuries. For me it makes no sense to spend assets on a team that is this imperfect and has some risk to lose 2 of their top players next season. Some will say that this is the year, Boston, Fla, Tampa all look human, possibly the East has never looked so weak. I think there is a good argument for that case. For me the long term future is at stake if we gamble away too much, Dubas did a good job of emptying the cupboards before he left. I think it's time to make smart inexpensive moves and build for the future. To trade away assets when there is a chance Tavares and Mitch are gone after this season, seems irresponsible to me. For me, Cowan and Mitien are off limits due to the fact we might be losing JT and MM.