Kind of wishful thinking here, but I'm assuming that the organization knows Cullen is returning, as there's been no depth signings at center. And I honestly don't believe that GMJR prefers to have Rowney as the 4C once the season starts, regardless of what he tells the media.
Well, we did sign Greg McKegg, who is a very good AHL center and a 4C candidate. And we already had guys like Blueger, Simon, Dea, Di Pauli. So if we are going to bring in more 4C candidates, I suspect they may be coming via PTO's.
Ok, heres my C big board.
Available to probably most available list:
ANA - Vermette - 1.75Mx1yr
CGY - Stajan - 3.125Mx1yr
COL - Soderberg - 4.75Mx3yrs but with Duchene on the way out, maybe they keep him.
COL - Duchene - 6Mx2yrs
DET - Helm - 3.85Mx4yrs
DET - Sheahan - 2.075Mx1yr
DET - Glendening - 1.8Mx4yrs - 4C material
PHI - Filppula - 5Mx1yr
SJ - Tierney - RFA Not signed. With Marleau gone, they can use some speedy production on the wing.
TBL - Johnson - RFA Not Signed.
VAN - Sutter - Nope.
VGK - Eakin - 3.85Mx3yrs
VGK - Karlsson - 1Mx1yr
WSH - Eller - 3.5Mx1yr
Maybe to doubtful they are available list:
BOS - Spooner - RFA not signed. Purely offensive C at this point.
CAR - Staal - 6Mx6yrs
CAR - Teravainen - 2.86Mx2yrs
CAR - Ryan - 1.425Mx1yr
DAL - Faksa - RFA Not signed.
DAL - Shore - 870kx1yr
EDM - RNH - 6Mx4yrs - may not be available right now but EDM likely to move before the 18-19 cap crunch.
FLA - Bjugstad - 4.1Mx4yrs - FLA likely moves Demers and not Bjug.
MTL - Galchyenuk - RFA Not Signed. Not a proven NHL C.
NJ - Henrique - 4Mx2yrs
NJ - Zajac - 5.75Mx4yrs
OTT - Smith - 3.25x4yrs
STL - Sobotka - 3.5Mx3yrs
STL - Berglund - 3.85Mx5yrs
TOR - Bozak - 4.3Mx1yr - same thing as RNH. Can keep him this year then likely goes/is let go before the cap crunch.
WPG - Lowry - 1.125Mx1yr
WPG - Perreault - 4.125Mx4yrs - Not exactly a true C now. More of a winger.
Don't believe a guy like Haula or Marchessault are available. If they aren't on my big board^, i feel the same way about them.
Marchessault is one of those guys who is listed as a C but never plays there.
Of your first list, the only guy I really like is Tyler Johnson, and there's no way Yzerman deals him to us. It would be his funeral if he did.
The second list is more interesting. Spooner is definitely on the block, rumored to be headed to Arizona. I like Spooner but again, Boston is probably not dealing with us.
Staal and RNH I would take, as long as at least Hagelin's contract is going the other way (and preferably a bigger contract like Maatta or Hornqvist).
Teravainen and Galchenyuk are still my top two targets.
I'm lukewarm on Henrique, and again Shero may not want to help us. Bjugstad is a gamble with that contract and his injury history scares me.
Not a big fan of Z. Smith as a center, prefer him on the wing. Sobotka is going nowhere. Berglund will miss at least 2 months after shoulder surgery. And Bozak will cost too much in trade to be worth it.
Winnipeg is underrated in this center discussion. Not a Perreault fan because of the money, but Lowry is interesting, Nic Petan is interesting, Andrew Copp is interesting and their top prospect Jack Roslovic is interesting.
And on that note...Sheary hit 53 playing 3/4 of a season.
Yeah, Sheary could easily ask for more than Burakovsky, healthy scratches or not. Production is production and it usually = dollars.
We'll see what happens now, but I don't think Sheary will be as cheap as we think. Maybe he'll accept a one-year deal, hopefully.
Size is a waste if they are not fast for this team. If he surrounds this team with huge slow players he needs to be fired asap for changing what's kept the Pens amazing...speed+skill.
are those guys slow? And are they ever going to see the NHL?
Also, Guerin is not the GM. Let's relax. Those defensemen acquired are rather solid AHL players, and they still have some NHL aspirations/ability.
Czuczman, Tinordi, Trotman and Summers...it's hard to collect a better group for your AHL team tbh.