Here's the situation:
We don't need a top-6 forward, but Hughes/Gorton/Players have all said they want to look to take a step next year. As a fan, I want to see them do that as well. Does that mean playoffs? No. But I don't want to be a Sabres/Blue Jackets/etc where we continually lose and develop a losing culture. Being a bubble team and playing some meaningful games late would be great.
We've floated a couple of names out this summer: Necas, Zegras, McGroarty, etc. But the common theme that comes up with all of those guys is either we're going to have to pay way too much to get these guys, and once we do get them, we're going to have to pay them a lot for a long time to keep them.
Fair enough. Enter Patrick Laine.
He comes here for two years, and even on his full salary, we're fine. He is another reclamation project and an expensive one, but it's a risk that we, as a rebuilding team, are in a position to take.
- He doesn't block Demidov long-term.
- If he gets back to even sort of good form, it's great. If not, Demidov is coming next year.
- We've seen what he can do. There's some sort of a track record there.
- The cap is going up and we're losing a ton of money off the books next year.
- Columbus wants picks and prospects back. We have tons of those.
For me, it just makes too much sense. He may not want anything to do with coming here, but I doubt he gets a better opportunity in another team's top 6 than he does with us.