No, you have to see what’s going on. We are terrible. If we swap out even Mantha, Cholo, and a second for Laine, assuming Winnipeg would even do that (I strongly believe they wouldn’t), we would still be terrible. We would still need a shit ton of luck and time to build out the roster and we would still be lacking an actual top line C and a legit, all situations top pairing D.
We would be using assets to turn a 26 year old strength on our roster (Mantha as a wing) into a more expensive bigger strength (Laine as a wing)
Laine is fantastic, but he doesn’t improve the Wings enough for what he’d cost. Instead of having to pony up big assets and big dollars for Laine, I’d rather spend my time trying to pry Zach Werenski out of CBJ or Aleksander Barkov out of Florida. Shit, let me see a huge package put together for Barzal out of NYI or even use Stevie’s relationship with Briesbois and the Lightning and their shitty cap situation to spirit away Stamkos or Sergachev or Cirelli.
Acquiring Laine would be a luxury. It would improve us because he’s an elite talent, but it would be like the Lions adding Jeff Okudah or TJ Hockenson. Even though they have elite talent, they’re at lower value positions. A wing that can’t drive a line by himself like Kane or Panarin is of lower value than a top C or a top pairing D.
If we are going to ask for an aggressive move to add a young, elite piece, I’m interested in going whole f***ing hog and say Larkin + Mantha or Zadina + another high value asset and let’s get Barkov. Top 3 protected 1st and maybe something else and welcome Werenski home.