First free agent frenzy I didn’t track live in quite awhile (stupid WORK), my thoughts that you all totally want:
- Honestly, pretty darn good job rebuilding the D. Excited to have Ghost back and excited to see what Walker can do in this system. Good players at good contracts. We weren’t going to get a Skjei-Pesce level pairing, instead we got an above average 3rd pairing (or the equivalent, depending on how we do the pairings) for the cost of just Skjei.
- Really still waiting for that final move at forward to feel like this team is “complete”. Martinook’s number surprised me though perhaps it shouldn’t have. I don’t hate locking in a guy like Carrier but he’s certainly not filling much of a team need. Jost is a nothingburger of a signing. I do like what Tulsky is saying about leaving room for a kid or two to make a difference, but this team, just like at this same time last year, is a Bunting-esque signing away from feeling like it’s a complete forward group (hopefully a Bunting-esque signing that works out better than Bunting did).
- I’m indifferent to keeping Necas or trading him, but I think it would be a mistake to come out of this without either Necas or a forward with commensurate production and skill. Earlier in the offseason when more things were on the table I would’ve entertained a wide range of outcomes there, but now that fewer options are on the table, it feels like weakening the top-end talent of the forward group even further would be a mistake.
- Ultimately, I would’ve loved to come out of the day with a top 6-9 forward, but there’s still time, and the moves we made the rest of the day proved that this front office isn’t quite dead yet, even if this offseason is screaming “Plan C” instead of “Plan A”.