Whose development were we rushing? Broberg has needed NHL games, Peru actually started looking better and he is not spring chicken of prospects, Joseph has experience and Kessel played a good chunk of last year. Playing through growing pains isn’t necessarily a death knell for these guys.
If we did play PO what’s the downside?
He’s an AHL quality defenseman so who cares. Kessel has been a disappointment and I never really saw the upside that others saw in him. Peru I agree was coming on but the odds he becomes a really solid piece on a contending team on a bottom pair are fairly low at this point. Anaheim fans are pretty unanimous that he’s still a solid 3 who can skate and eat minutes and that’s a sizable short term improvement at minimal cost while not blocking the Lindsteins down the road cause his deal will be up.
I agree but I don’t see the positive in Peru ever being a factor in the playoffs when they start playing real hockey and hit. Just a liability unless you can dress an extra skater as a DH on the powerplay.
Perunovich and Joseph are fodder at this point while I still have some hope Kessel can be a bottom pairing defenseman. My bigger concern would be rushing Lindstein’s development to atone for depth guys not being good.
Right. It would be one thing if this deal was made and Fowler still had 3.5 years of term left and Lindstein was in his first year in the AHL tearing it up and poised to be penciled into the lineup in 2025-26 but that’s not where we sit. Armstrong wants to compete now while not sacrificing the future and I’d say he’s been rather successful at this aim over the last 12 months.
