I would try to begin to build the bottom 6 slowly but surely if not they will need to do everything at the same time in a couple of years. We need to target players who are hard to play against, good on board and who can play some hockey. At the moment, we have player with commitment but not the size or the strength, they are nothing special!
Watching the playoffs, I can't figure how people think we will became a contender with Newhook-Beck-Roy has a third line, good hockey players but way too soft for playoff hockey and we already have RHP, Evans and Pezzetta! Thing will need to change a lot on that part!
My main target would be Martin Pospisil to became a full-time winger, I like the edge he have on his game, a kind of a mean streak and with Slaf they will fight like Spartan to achieve what they want. With the numbers of picks we have and young defenseman like Harris, Struble or Barron, it can be pretty easy to find a deal with Calgary. My other target would be Olivier, can skate, can fight, can play some hockey, good shot! It would be a very nice upgrade on Pezzetta!
3rd line : Players like Pospisil, Voronkov, Marchment, Amadio etc...
4th line : Players like Kolesar, Olivier, Stenlund, Carrier etc...
In 2 years, my bottom 6 lineup would look at something like that!
Pospisil-Beck-Roy
???-Evans-???
Xhekaj/Heineman/Tuch/Olivier/RHP to fullfill the roster!
PS : Probably Kapanen, not Evans and I doubt RHP would still be here ...
Like Colorado, I'm not sold on Newhook but I'm ready to give him the chance to become a valuable part of this team but 1 year ago he was not good enough for a center role, they have obtain Johansen, Colton, Mittelstadt and Trenin over the year and Drouin, Tatar, Parise and Duhaime has wingers because they bring something Newhook can't; size, strength, experience, offensive mind, energy, special unit PP/PK!
When was the last time a contender team have let go a young valuable asset with no money issue in the window they compete? I can't remember one ... You have two kind of players, those who are good in season and those who are good in playoffs! I don't even know if he fit the first category but if not the guy you wanted on your third line on a playoff run at the moment!
A mix between Chris Higgins and Andrew Cogliano, speed like demon, very nice skill but like the others 2, the puck seem to fumble on his stick, thing always seem to go too fast for him. He need to bring something more becoming a beast on 200 feeths or a great penalty killer because he will never be a good offensive player enough to compensate what he can't do. If he still the same, a good player who skates like the wind, we would have the same issues with him then Colorado have in the past! In win mode, he is not a keeper at the moment and they will target players with more specific attributes on the bottom 6 like Colorado have do!
And dont be fool by his numbers last year, without a lot of injury or a plane crash, he will never play on the top 6 or the 1st PP unit on a good team! The only valuable production we have from last year was Slaf, Suzuki, Caufield and Guhle, all the others one has been used in the wrong chair over the year way too many times to put some values in these numbers like the 14 goals of RHP 2 years ago.