Let's talk seriously and specifically about next season.
1. Yzerman said his expectation going into this season was to compete for the wild card (not meeting that expectation was the reason he gave for firing Lalonde).
2. It could therefore be reasonably presumed that the progressive-expectation for next season is to at least make the playoffs, and to be competitive in our first Rd matchup, right?
GOAL:
I think we're all pretty happy w Talbot and Cossa here, right? Talbot's a great goalie...under contract...and seems like he'd be a great mentor for Cossa. I want to do well next yr. I want Cossa to progress. Those are my main reasons for not wanting to trade Talbot at the deadline...if we're not a playoff team.
DEFENSE:
Core? --- Seider
Edvinsson --- 1-2yr? (ASP at some point)
Chiarot --- Johansson
Any way you slice it, Gustafsson and Holl are not NHL defenders. If we can trade them (without giving up too much), great. If we can buy them out without hurting the next yr's cap, great. If they spend their last yr here in GR/as our 7th/call-up defensemen, great. ANYTHING but them being in our top-six again.
The #2 RHD spot is already spoken for. ASP. Does he start the yr off in Detroit? Does he get called up mid-yr? Does he need to spend the entire yr in GR? I don't know. But it would be smart to sign a RHD to a 3rd pair $$$ contract for 1-2yrs. I think Wallinder --- Johansson is our long-term 3rd pair (barring trades). Wallinder will spend all of next yr in GR. The next yr he will be ready for Detroit. So you don't want to sign this RHD to longer than a 2yr deal. Maybe it's a veteran you sign. Maybe it's an overlooked young Walman-type you sign or trade for.
Edvinsson---Seider, ???---ASP = of course means we still have a hole in our long-term top-4. Best of the FA market this summer is Chychrun, Pettersson or Provorov. Trade market I haven't heard a lot about. If we go the draft route...it'll probably be 2-3yrs before we have a player (maybe too long). The free agent market next summer doesn't look any better re: LHD's. Hopefully we make a move soon, and don't go into another season w Chiarot as our top pair LHD. That pretty severely limits our ceiling.
*****
That's enough for now. We can talk about forwards later.
