Blueger gone and Kappy not qualified?
GCR
Marchment-Malkin-Rust
Zucker-Carter-Heinen
Fine, I'll spill.
I woulda accepted Philly's offer for Zuck (1st to PHI) and let Kapanen go.
That'd clear 8.7 mil. Then Marchment 4 x 4.5 just like Dallas did, and use the remaining 4.2 on Niederreiter or another good value to cap Forward that fits with Carter better. Or maybe a 3 mil Forward, allowing us to have a little leftover to reach a 23-man roster.
I think this would give us the best chance to win in our remaining window.
We looked at the stats in the summer. I'm less and less enamoured with keeping late 1sts. 50% of the time they don't reach 200 games. And of the 50% who do, how many become impact players which justify the investment?
The odds are just shit. I'd rather roll the dice and deal it, with our remaining year or 2 of possible contention.
I'd like to keep Blue for this year as an injury failsafe down the middle, and to boost the 4th line. I don't agree at all with some here that Poehling's a worthy replacement for him.
I mean I hope I end up with egg on my face for saying this, with Zuck and Kap having great seasons. I would just trust Marchment and Niederreiter to outplay them is all.
Marchment had elite defensive analytics last year. Even when not scoring he'd help L2 a ton with zone time and high danger chances, like Rakell does for L1. Niederreiter is just a straight up better player than Kap.