Neither expecting AA to be traded nor do I want to see it happen. I'd rather keep him here and go for a Cup one or two more times than get a 1st or 2nd+ for him. Trade off the expendables for mid-round picks and go from there.
Agree with this. I think the best strategy is to wait until the offseason to make any significant moves.
That way they'll know the following.
Where they will be drafting, so if they get a blue chip prospect that can help immediately then this is thought process-> if they get a top 5 pick and select one of Dahlin, Tkachuk, Svechnikov, Zadina, Boqvist -> draft D, keep Anisimov , draft C/W, trade Anisimov for D.
Also, they'll know what the cap ceiling will be and what they might be able to spend on a top 4 defenseman. I'd be in favor of targeting John Carlson with the intention of buying out Seabrook the following season with a compliance buyout, so the cap hit difference should be mostly negligible long term.
And Anisimov's NMC will be up, so then they should have more leverage as they can talk to more teams and take the best offer.
Point is in the summer they'll have more clarity on a lot of variables that are important to addressing the team's needs.
