Hayes would have been fine if he was in the lineup. But when the coach scratches Hayes, Puljujarvi and Graves and keeps the likes of Beauvillier, Nieto and Shea in the lineup, that is when you know the GM's job is nigh impossible with this head coach. Dubas has acquired assets that have grossly depreciated under Sullivan. That is a problem. Hayes was the one that was easy to see, though. It was clear and obvious that he could not play anymore in this league last season in St. Louis. That is worth a first-round pick in 2026 or you hang up the phone and say good luck to Armstrong. Instead, we get a second and a third and are now stuck with a guy FROM MASSACHUSETTS that even Mike Sullivan does not like. Hard to do, folks.
So now what? We keep Hayes as the 13th forward and Graves as the 7th defenseman through NEXT SEASON (and beyond in the case of Graves)? Puljujarvi is easy. we can probably move him after the break for a seventh. That would be a mercy trade that I think we could all get behind (because Puljujarvi looks like a good dude and deserves to play in this league, somewhere).
I was behind Dubas with his dual plan of contending while rebuilding. In theory, it is what you SHOULD be doing, always. Tanking is a blatant disrespect to the fans that pay to see your team, and to the sport in general. That said, you have almost zero margin for error. And errors he has made. There are the blatant ones, but also those that are more arguable. Guentzel falls into that category in my opinion. I would have re-signed him, personally. The deal was not terrible in a vacuum, but what was Plan B after losing him? That is where Dubas loses me. Anthony Beauvillier has proven over and over again that he is AT BEST a fourth-liner at the NHL level. But we use him in the top 9 and have even wasted time with him on the first line. And this coach never scratches him. We are probably two top-six forwards away from doing any damage, so where are those two players going to come from? By the time Sullivan can trust a McGroarty or a Tomasino or someone else, we will probably need two more top-six forwards by then.
Dubas has done nothing to help this team contend during the rebuild, and that is the problem. Organically, we can hang around the fringes of contention just based on the quality of our top 5-6 players. But beyond that, we need more help.
If it were me faced with this daunting task, I would (taking into account that I know going in that I cannot fire the coaching staff):
- try to re-sign Pettersson and try to cash in on Grz's recent run. I think I can probably get a second-round pick in 2025 for Grz if dealt immediately. If not, I can either wait until the deadline (because of the current injury situation) or take a little less. If I cannot get a good deal to keep Pettersson, then and only then would I start looking to move him. But we need a solid left defender in return, plus a pick/prospect or two.
- trade Jarry A S A P. Ask Detroit to make me an offer. I would accept just about any deal that does not deplete the salary cap further. IF not Detroit, then maybe there is another team that might have interest somewhere. If there is not, and if you cannot come to an agreement with Detroit, then try to find a good deal for Ned.
- place Beauvillier and Nieto on waivers, assign them to W-B/S when they clear and call up two forwards. There are options. I would probably lean toward Koivunen and Ponomarev, but it could be McGroarty and Poulin. Or others.
- Trade Puljujarvi for a similar player and see if the next guy is a better fit for this coach. I have no idea whom that could be at this point. Arthur Kaliyev? Alexander Holtz?
- the last one is the tough one: try to land Mitch Marner next summer. Maybe this has been Dubas's plan all along. Maybe he has intel here. I don't know, but all of his moves would make way more sense if that were the case. It is a long shot, but there is more than a zero % chance imo. Gotta try.
Rakell-Crosby-Marner
McGroarty-Malkin-Rust
Bunting-Glass-Tomasino
Ponomarev-Lizotte-Acciari
Hayes
Pettersson-Karlsson
Pickering-Letang
Joseph-Brunicke
Graves
Nedeljkovic
Blomqvist
If that were our opening-night lineup in 2025-26, or a reasonable facsimile, there would be hope. As it stands now, things are bleak.
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