How available would one of your 1sts be? Sounded a while back like Texier may be available? and or Bean?
Depending on your targets, I think there are some pieces to get things done.
I think you may have overlooked that last sentence. Our biggest need by far is defensive RD. Sound familiar?
Those two guys being "available" is more in the "if you
really want to pay stupid prices, we won't stop you" sense. They're not being shopped. The guys who are being shopped are the names everybody's heard already - Korpisalo, Domi, and so on.
As for targets, I would assume the most likely one would be Garland; we're overfull on wingers, but he's attractive enough to override that consideration. Horvat's the obvious other one, but with how Jenner's playing it's not quite as dire as we might have assumed a couple months ago. Definitely not on the list is Boeser - not with his contract situation (we're going to be busy enough with Laine). Essentially, to the extent that Kekalainen makes any acquisitions, they're going to be with an eye to the future - so either pure futures, or roster players that fit the rebuild timeline.
The "it is not productive to ask" category would include the usual suspects - Werenski, Laine, Bjorkstrand, Sillinger, KJ, Elvis, and so on - but also includes Peeke, Boqvist, and Cuelemans. Not so much because those three guys are such high value as it is that they represent literally the entirety of our organization's right-handed shots with any real hope of an NHL career, past, present, or future. There's literally nobody else.
So, frankly, the only thing I see happening is if we somehow happen to be the high bidder for Garland. I'd be surprised if that was the case, tho; we can't possibly be the only folks who recognize his quality.
