Would like to understand your rationale on the above...isn't that basically the lineup we've used in an abysmal season that has landed us in last place? How does that show the fan base that they are looking to improve, lol
Trades are difficult to make(look around the league), and not being in Blake's office, I tend toward conservative estimates on what can be done with the reality of a hard cap. Would anyone here trade for Carter between now and the draft? He's got the 3 years left, already 34, career worst season, who knows what the injury did to him, who knows if he retires. Would you do it at 100%? How much retention would you need? How much would the Kings retain for 3 years? What would you give up? A young asset with any potential whatsoever? An equal contract? Do the Kings want an equal contract? Would you add a pick/prospect to get rid of him? I go with, if I can't think of a trade that I would make for ____, I'm not going to assume that Blake can make another GM make the trade either.
Is there one player on this team that people want to see gone before next year that has any pros that outweigh their cons? Clifford is one of the few actually having a good individual season, but does anyone need him in October? He's a perfect 2020 deadline guy, but another team can pick up a Clifford type without giving up an asset in the summer.
If they end up with a top 2 pick, and one of those guys is ready to go next year, that will likely force a roster move somewhere. If Vilardi can skate, that can change things. If Kupari is ready, same thing. The younger you are, and the fewer years you have on your contract, the easier it is to trade you. The Rangers had that rebuild letter, and did nothing between the 2018 and 2019 deadline's toward the rebuild though. Their UFA's this year were all still there until Feb 23rd.
We'll see what happens, if Blake can do it, that'll be great, but I'm not banking on some huge transformation this summer. I'm thinking it'll be a slow process, where they chip off a guy here, then there, UFA's at the deadline, ride out some of the bigger contracts. A clean sweep of the roster would be great, but the cap doesn't lend itself to that. Not with the guaranteed contracts anyway. Unless you're a ruthless GM, with enough guts and backing of ownership to trade anyone and everyone a year too early, you're going to get stuck. Blake, sometimes through his own actions, sometimes having to deal with Lombardi's emotional moves, is stuck.
