I absolutely agree with
@Dirty Dog that finding a top 4 RD to play with Power is now an obvious task.
So I've been studying RDs market for some time now and there aren't many options, especially when the season is underway and TDL is still far away, but all the options are there. You can break them down into two sections:
1. Experienced and proven players.
2. Find your Forsling, like they did in Florida.
First option:
There are players like
Colton Parayko and
Ryan Pulock, but I don't like Parayko because of his contract, age, and his game is just going downhill. Pulock probably looks better to me, although he's sometimes been injured in recent seasons, he's a similar age and contract, and has trade protection. Not a fan of those two options, but if I had to choose between the two, I would choose Pulock.
Mackenzie Weegar. Experienced, reliable, does not get injured, I think everyone knows this player well. Will he be available? I'm not sure, although for the overpayment, probably yes, do we want to overpay a lot for him, without trading Byram? I'm not sure either. Weegar is right-handed, but he constantly plays at LD, both in Florida and in Calgary, and I don't know for sure whether he is forced to do this or it is simply more convenient for him to play at LD, maybe this is a small thing (although for Ruff it is probably not), but such a strange fact. You can put him next to Parayko and Pulock in terms of age, contract and trade protection, but of these three, I will certainly choose Weegar.
Connor Murphy. This one is a no brainer. Chicago is rebuilding, Murphy has two years left on his contract (4.5M), and is coming off a solid season. I can't say for sure if he's a good fit with Power specifically, but I do know he's a veteran second pair RD who plays 19-20 minutes, can play physical, and can play the PK. It might be a bit of a premium given his contract and that Chicago could just retain 50% and trade him at TDL and get him a nice return. If Adams, Ruff, and the analytics department agree he's a good fit, then Murphy seems like a great fit for a few years until guys like Strbak, Komarov and Kleber come along and take that spot for themselves.
Brandon Carlo. The last player on my list in this category. I think getting Carlo will be tough, division rival, Boston, but there may be some chance. On paper Carlo seems like a perfect fit, but also what will be cost? Probably Boston will be looking for help on offense, maybe one of our fancy prospects. Also, we must remember that Carlo has a history of concussions, like Byram, which also carries some risk. Overall I think the option is not the most realistic, especially in the middle of the season.
Second options:
Finding a second Forsling is already more difficult than the first option, many factors must come together here: the work of our management, and the coaches’ playing system, and analytics, and even then no one will give guarantees that it will work. But we can try.
Zach Whitecloud. I've heard about this player on these boards before. Whitecloud is not flashy, but he is reliable, has a good contract, has already won a cup, seems like what we need. Right now he is stuck on the third pair and will have a hard time moving up as long as guys like Pietro and Theodore are in the lineup on the right side. Although Whitecloud has experience playing in the top 4 in earlier seasons for Vegas. Here I see one serious obstacle, finding motivation for Vegas to trade Zach. Maybe one of our offensive prospects as a main part of the deal, but there is also no guarantee that Vegas will want to do it during the season. But overall Whitecloud seems like a very interesting option to improve our top 4.
Alexandre Carrier. I would also consider Dante Fabbro, but he was already taken by Columbus and they will be testing his suitability. Carrier also seems like an interesting option and Nashville is in a weird spot right now. Trotz's announcement, Fabbro's waiver, poor play and last place in the conference. I don't know much about Carrier so it's hard to assess whether he's a good fit or not, but at least he's been a regular for Nashville for years and seems like a versatile defenseman. Whether he'll be available is also a question mark considering they just waived Fabbro and their depth at RD doesn't seem deep. Sure, we could include Jokiharju in a deal.
Jonathan Kovacevic. This guy came out of nowhere and is playing top 4 minutes for the Devils and seems to be doing very well. New Jersey hasn't had any problems with defensemen lately, especially finding them for dirt cheap. I've talked a lot about Marino and his trade before and now Kovacevic is coming in. Looking at the Devils' depth on the right side, they have Hamilton, they just signed Pesce and he's already back from injury, and they have Nemec who is in the AHL, maybe the Devils don't think Nemec is ready right now, plus Kovacevic's play is keeping him from the NHL, but Kovacevic could potentially be an interesting option, although the Devils probably don't have the motivation to sell him right now.
These are my options, of course, it is not so easy to make a deal in November-December, but I think it is possible with one of these teams, especially since we have interesting assets. I can also mention an old friend William Borgen, although now he is stuck in the third pair and his game seems to have dropped a little, he could also be considered.
