Hopefully this is true & the recent memories of AZ & SJ were flukes. Timo? Seriously?
Brown hasn't been fumbling the puck as much lately, but Brown on a line with a rookie center making unforced errors isn't helping.
Internal replacements? Vilardi. You could replace AA with Vilardi, but lack of speed on wings with Brown & Vilardi on the same line could be an issue.
Right now teams that are out of the playoffs & may be looking to trade someone young with upside? Florida adding Sam Reinhart comes to mind.
Pettersson out of Van: bad year & new gm may see him as an expensive wing & not a 1 or 2C.
Laine: needs a long term deal, arbitration eligible. Can force 1 year deal to UFA.
Keller: too expensive for a 5,000 seat arena.
WPG: seems like they may want to cut some costs & restructure. Have some useful pieces.
More options in free agency after the season. Forsberg & Gaudreau. With this type of acquisition it's waiting for the right opportunity & the player to become available. Going to take some luck.
Vilardi will get another shot, and he deserves one too. At this point though I think the better plan for him would be to come along on the third line to start and ease up the ice time as he earns it. He was one of our worst forwards to start the season and we were 1-5-1 with him in the lineup, 22-11-6 since. Obviously he's not the only reason for the poor start but I think he's going to need sheltered minutes when he gets back up and placed in a position to succeed and grow. So 10-12 minutes a night, likely not part of a main scoring line. Not what people want but they should be looking at the long term picture with him, not just next season, especially if he's going to move to the wing.
I doubt Vancouver moves Pettersson. He keeps this up 12 months from now though and we could be singing a different tune. Hard to trade one of the faces of the franchise just a few weeks after the new GM comes in. If he lights it up after the trade, not a great way to start off your tenure and get the fanbase on your side.
Laine would intrigue me very much. He seems to lack motivation but when he's on he's really on. Seems to be doing better under a coach not named John Tortorella which seems to jive with the type of personality he seems to have. Can't see CLB moving him unless the tires fall off again.
Keller I doubt moves until just before 24-25. That's the year his NTC kicks in and it's also the year his salary goes north of $7 mill permanently. He's playing for below his cap hit until then, Arizona will need to hit the cap floor as well so makes sense if they hold him and he's not a UFA anytime soon so no need to look at a deal early unlike Chychrun.
For Winnipeg, I'm not sure I see a fit, at least upfront. I can't see them dealing any key pieces other than possibly Wheeler and his cap hit is to much for us. Lowry interests me but the cap hit is to high for a 3rd line role. Copp also interests me but he's a UFA to be and would be to costly to resign.
Forsberg and Gaudreau are also going to cost a pretty penny. A trade seems like a much more likely option.
The problem with bringing back Brown in any capacity, is do you trust McLellan to not give him extra chances and PP time?
To not give extra chances? Yes. To not give PP time? Nope.
