I'm not sure it's possible for a team to be more ready for "accelerating the rebuild" than being the #1 offense in the league.
FIW ROR said almost the same thing this season with the Blues ("losing" the love for the game).
Vanek had a good talk about this. Basic theme was, at some point it is time.
For a playoff run, if lower cost (or one of the 2nds for a bigger name/term), sure.
I hope the fact that Biro was a Botterill signing isn't influencing whether or not they give him a shot here. Initially I thought Adams signed him.
This is true, but none are ready to do it this year, if they ever are. Remember a 2nd round pick only has a 17% chance of being an NHL player. Make good picks and develop them in hopes of finding core players, but don't overvalue prospects, as the majority will never become part of your team, and even less part of your core.
Why didn’t they build around the top 6 that didn’t exist a month a go? Its a mystery. They‘re a year behind and need to catch up? That word salad at the end is just……..
Kozak should be captain of his Junior team playing big minutes this season from my GM armchair.
Just think how good the present and future would look if Adams had gone out the last 2 offseasons and signed Ullmark (goalie), Forbot/Ian Cole/ruuta/larsson/schultz etc (top 4 D), and Danault (2nd/3rd line Center).
Rousek and Kozak are interesting as I haven't seen them play very much to really gauge what they bring. Maybe even a guy like Cederqvist could be that type of player, I seem to recall he scored a lot of goals in those greasy areas when he was in the SHL. Weissbach and Biro strike me as Hino type of players though.
Perhaps the close Rochester observers @Chainshot can chime in about Kozak's development this year so far (the numbers are not there), but I think the allure was him working with Peca in Rochester. Your point is valid though. I loved him in camp.
The problem here is that the pipeline is clogged. Krebs and Jost are both in development spots. Girgs and Okposo are solid 4th line vet leaders. So you have 2 spots being fumbled over by Hino, Aspland, Mitts, and Olofsson. All four of those players should have "some" trade value, and would likely be claimed if waived. I know KA wants to maximize trade value, but the four of them fighting over two spots is hurting all of their trade values. Sometimes making the move sooner for less return, gets you more in the long run when the remaining assets can thrive. Got to weed the garden!
We have a guy in our own organization, by the name of Biro, who could very well fill a role for us.
Yes, but he won't get a chance until there's some kind of forwards injury epidemic. There is also Kozak for the future. I think we have everything in order with the depth of attack in the future in all positions, which cannot be said about defense.
True
D should be the only priority at this point (unless someone is willing to gift us a #1 goalie). But we shouldn't be looking at pure rentals.
This is a very good point. As far as the logjam at forward goes - it could be possible that addition by subtraction is the best way forward (excuse the pun) .
