COLUMBUS GENIUS

The Bluejackets are a real sleeper

PLD is going to be great.
The blueline is top 3 in the league.
Zero cap or immovable contract issues.

I predict they'll win the cup, the year they fire Torts mid-season

blue line is not top 3. outside of jones and werenski, they have nothing that special

Having Werenski and Jones squared away is huge. If they play 30 minutes a night, everyone else only needs to put forward their best 15 minutes. Pittsburg oughta know that hustle makes up for a lot, where mediocre players can shine with limited deployments.

Murray is a bust for a former 2nd overall, but can fill a spot on the bottom pairing.
Carlsson and Collins are 2 D prospects coming up.

It's not a deep pipeline, but mostly I expect Panarin will be traded at his request, and Jarmo will spend the return on bolstering the D.
They make good trades, the roster is well managed ever since the Horton debacle.
They remind me of Nashville, except they made the mistake of acquiring 2 star Russians who aren't happy living there.

Edm. Would need to add considerably to receive Bob for Talbot.

Their farm system is deep with good younger players on the blue line. In two years they may have the best blue line in all of hockey.

PLD is my sleeper center. he's is really good. Not sure about that whole win the cup thing. They are still holding onto a lot of 4th line players trying to fit them into 2nd and 3rd line roles