I’m really curious to know what the plan is for our forward group over the next couple of years. Obviously Eiserman is on the way, but his realistic production if he pans out is most likely going to just replace what Nelson was in his best years. That’d be great of course, but it’s not enough to elevate the team. Also, Palmieri and Lee are probably gone after next season which results in us losing another ~40-50 goals. After Eiserman, we really don’t have much help on the way and we all know that we can’t attract high end free agents either. If the expectation is for us to solve that issue with more Horvat types like Ehlers or Boeser, I’m afraid the offense is going to be in for more struggles. And considering all of this is a big reason why I’d prefer taking Misa over Schaefer. Going into 2026-‘27 with a top six of Misa-Horvat-Barzal + Eiserman-Ritchie-Holmstrom is really hard to pass on. The defense is good enough right now and we do have some guys coming up, and it’s also easier to find top four defenders than it is high end forwards. I know the whole “don’t draft for need” thing, but in a draft like this where many believe it’s a 1A and 1B situation, I can’t help but think the smarter option for building a team would be taking the forward.
