Here's how you build a contender:
Structure the Team
- Top Six Forwards: 2 elite players, 4 solid contributors.
- Bottom Six Forwards: Focus on defensive reliability, penalty killing, and cheap contracts.
- Top Four Defensemen: At least one elite two-way defenseman and two reliable shutdown defenders.
- Third-Pair Defensemen: Affordable, defensively solid players.
- Goaltending: 1 top-tier starter, 1 affordable backup.
You can decide what we have, what we need. I personally consider Larkin an elite forward since he is NOT a contributor; he's a line driver. Raymond = elite.
Contributors:
That's it! Only 2.
Bottom six = everyone else including Kasper (for now).
TWO really good top dmen; Seider, Edvinsson. The rest are 3rd pairing at best.
Goalies = good enough placeholders for where we are at.
Adding to the future:
- *ASP
- *Cossa/Augustine
- MBN
- Buch
- Danielsson
- Kiiskinen
- +/- everyone else
( * possible elite)
So in my mind DRWs have the major pieces to become contenders in a few years. Yzerman and pro scouts will need to do a better job, and Yzerman will need to replace bad contracts with good contracts.