No to Kane.
Who knows what Drury has up his sleeve. My gut says he has one or two shock moves in him this summer. One we may expect (Kakko or Lindgren) and another out of left field (Kreider or Zibanejad).
Whatever is done, he needs to look at players that can play 5 v 5. That's been the backbreaker for this core group of players for years. The 2014 and 2015 teams didn't have much star power but were tops in the league playing at even strength both years and had very good depth.
Panarin, Fox, and Lafreniere are your top offensive guys. Trochek and Chytil if healthy are good secondary pieces that can thrive in the right situations. Trochek sure did this year.
Sign three guys that can play at 5 v 5 over the star player making $9 million or more that's feast or famine and racks up points on the power play.
No Stamkos. No Marner. This roster needs a culture change. Those are moves of the Rangers of yesteryear.
Move on from Lindgren before a 5 or 6 year mistake is made. Give Miller a year with Fox and strap a rocket to him. If he swims, sign him long term. If he continues to flounder at times, consider moving on from him too.
Promote from within. Berard, Sykora, Edstrom are good young players that should all get significant time to make their mark. Othmann too, though I'm more skeptical of him being a good 5 v 5 player at this level even if his offensive ceiling is higher.
Get younger, faster, and tougher to play against 5 v 5. That should be the MO moving forward. Someone needs to step up at training camp on the first day in September and say "we came up short 2 of the past 3 years to a chance at the Cup. That isn't happening this year. You're in or GTFO".
Your move, Chris.
