Again, we have plenty of fing skill.
Yeah, again, we don't have it where we need it. We need at least one (more) skilled center of the future. Doesn't have to be Eichel-level, but it still needs to be a skilled center who is capable of 1C production.
Top forwards, a Norris trophy winning Dman, and a top young goalie. Mika, Panarin, Kakko, Laf, Kravs, Chytil, Kreider, Fox, Shesty. The biggest question mark for this team is a bona fide 2C and there are still options out there to upgrade. Who said the moves were done? Mika is 29 but is still a legit 1C when healthy.
Mika is a bonafide 1C "NOW," but yes he's 29 and there is obvious consternation inside the organization about giving him the dollars and term he wants.
But "the letter," indicated we were tearing it down to create a long term contender. Mika is not going to be an elite 1C for the long term. His analytics indicate he's already probably reached his peak and is going to start trending down. On top of that he's proven to be a bit fragile and susceptible to being out of the lineup or less than effective for stretches. If we are throwing all our eggs in that basket then we are failing Kakko and Lafreniere long term.
Chytil has shown growth and is 22 and can be a fine 3c, maybe 2c if given the opportunity. There is still time and options for the continued building of the roster but right now this team is a playoff team.
I 100% agree that right now this is a playoff team, I just am not sure it has established that it's a bonafide contender. And the biggest issue is, yes, we can add things as we go, but it only gets harder and harder to find 1C types when you are drafting outside the lottery as we will now be doing. It becomes harder and harder as your prospects age out and are traded at the deadline for other things. It gets harder and harder as you use your cap space on other players to trade for an established 1C, etc. It would have been relatively easy to do already... now it's going to be difficult.
People keep throwing out comps like the Knights (who haven't won shit) or the Blues (who went on one miracle run) as examples of why you don't need your cupboard to be overflowing with centers to win.
Who the hell aspires to be the Blues or Knights? I want to be the Penguins, the Blackhawks, the Kings or the Bruins.
They all had elite, young centers when they began their runs. Not 29 year olds that forced them to go 1C shopping mid-dynasty.
Not getting a center to grow with Kakko and Lafreniere yet has been, and will continue to be, in my opinion, an organizational complete failure. The rebuild is not done until one is in hand.
Chytil is a very nice player and is a good step. If we had two Chytils I would say we are relatively insulated, as we might lack elite talent but at least we'd have very quality depth, but we do not have two Chytils, we only have one.
