With a top 3 pick this year, I think the upcoming offseason becomes one where you start making moves to win, and win now. Bedard, Fantilli or even Carlsson all fill the last real hole in columbus's system (1C star prospect). I'm not even gonna hope for Bedard because the odds of *Columbus* getting him feel low as hell.
With a top 3 selection, you have pretty much every position desired to be filled stocked either via prospect or active player with term. My only questions would be in net with Tarasov (I like him but how does he hold up over a full NHL season in a platoon or starters role?) and obviously Elvis and his struggles.
Defensively, there's lots of talent in the cupboard. But if the top 3 pick circumstance happens... your window to start winning more than you lose opens immediately and you best not waste it. Jakob Chychrun is a stud defenseman, and I believe we have the assets to pull off a trade. The pieces needed to pull it off are a bit debatable (I considered making the 3rd Ottawa's 2nd for value purposes), but I don't see many teams being able to compete with a package that includes a young NHL defenseman (albeit one who can be inconsistent), a quality defensive prospect in Stanislav Svozil, a later first round pick and an additional pick. It would be for 2 years of Chychrun at that point, which isn't all that long.
Obviously Werenski and Jiricek are the building blocks of this defense going forward. A short term and reasonable UFA defenseman to stabilize the third pair (could be someone other than DeHaan) would be a worthwhile investment imo. Bean when healthy and with a good partner would be serviceable on the second pair. Third pair Blankenburg and Guddy would rotate in and out depending on if Blankenburg can stay healthy.
The ottawa deal was honestly just spitballing and taking advantage of ample cap space. Other than Jiricek there's a good bit of mid on our right side and the goal would be to trim some fat. I don't see Peeke becoming a top 4 guy for us but as a young third pair guy he's fine. For that deal I looked at it as a 2nd for taking Zaitsev and then a 4th for Peeke.
The TDL deals were just guesses based on rumors and some past precedence. If savard got a 1st and 4th in 2021, it seems reasonable that gavrikov would fetch a similar haul. Korpisalo has been the best goalie option in columbus this year. The kraken have a lot of goalies but they're not great goalies... figured a 3rd for a quality rental goalie at an extremely reasonable cap hit was fair.
Long term, I think the 2024 offseason you buy out Gudbranson. It's a deal that isn't great and is only going to age worse. Buying out the last 2 years isn't too crazy either, a 1.67m x 4 year dead hit is at least manageable. Merzlikins, all we can do is hope he bounces back. Until then it's a damn near immovable contract. His buyout isn't terrible either but it doesn't make a ton of sense to buy him out until he's proven he just cannot bounce back (2024 or 25 before that point probably).
Also I left enough cap space so that if Voracek returns (unlikely but who knows), the team isn't screwed over cap wise. Would probably slot him in third line replacing roslovic if that were to occur.
PS... INVEST IN AND READDRESS PLAYER HEALTH AND PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE AGAIN. I don't believe that it was coincidence that when we hired Nelson Ayotte in 2016, our man games lost to injury dropped drastically from 2014-16 to 2016-19. It's shot up drastically again, and you can't help but think at least some of this in preventable. And the coaching staff could use an overhaul as well, from top to bottom the organization needs to look in the mirror this offseason.
I just don't think Chychrun is the right fit for the Jackets. The way he has been trying to get out of Arizona makes me uncomfortable about spending a bunch of assets trying to get him onto a team that is trying to build into something. He seems like the type that isn't down for the building process.
I think space needs to be made for Voronkov immediately. His ability to play at the NHL level should be pretty clear once he steps on the ice and I think he's going to be a very impactful bottom 6 player that could give Sillinger a run for his spot in the lineup if he's not careful. If he doesn't bump him out then I think he's definitely going to be pushing for Roslovic's spot in the lineup. I'm just as hyped for the impact he's going to have on the Jackets bottom 6 as I was for the impact Marchenko was going to have on the top 6.
Peeke has way more value than that. He’s one of the few guys that blocks shots other than Gavrikov who is likely gone. I would rather try to attach a second to gudbranson and see if a GM is dumbe enough to take it than take a second for Zaitsev. If we are trading for chychrun he should be 2LD.
I just don't think Chychrun is the right fit for the Jackets. The way he has been trying to get out of Arizona makes me uncomfortable about spending a bunch of assets trying to get him onto a team that is trying to build into something. He seems like the type that isn't down for the building process.
I think space needs to be made for Voronkov immediately. His ability to play at the NHL level should be pretty clear once he steps on the ice and I think he's going to be a very impactful bottom 6 player that could give Sillinger a run for his spot in the lineup if he's not careful. If he doesn't bump him out then I think he's definitely going to be pushing for Roslovic's spot in the lineup. I'm just as hyped for the impact he's going to have on the Jackets bottom 6 as I was for the impact Marchenko was going to have on the top 6.
I get what you're saying about Chychrun. However, he's played outstanding this year despite the rumors so it's not like he's letting it affect his play. With a legitimate NHL coaching staff leading this team I do believe that this roster with health, small UFA additions, and a NHL ready draft pick, could at least legitimately challenge for a playoff spot. To me that's much different than Arizona where they're 3-4 years from even considering playoff runs.
I strongly considered putting Voronkov in the roster. Maybe a 4th line of Kuraly-Voronkov-Tex to bring better 2 way play, energy and offense. His biggest challenge will be the waivers exempt status though, we saw that play a role early this year before injuries forced managements hands to play Marchenko.
Roslovic idk what happens with him. I don't see the point in just salary dumping him but I just don't feel like his trade value is even decent at this point. Liek it seems we'd be lucky to snag a mid round pick for him now which would be a waste of an asset given that we have no cap troubles.
Peeke has way more value than that. He’s one of the few guys that blocks shots other than Gavrikov who is likely gone. I would rather try to attach a second to gudbranson and see if a GM is dumbe enough to take it than take a second for Zaitsev. If we are trading for chychrun he should be 2LD.
Unfortunately I just don't see a team being dumb enough to take on Gudbranson for just a second. Plus he's got the trade clause.
Chychrun as 2LD fits too, I'd be equally comfortable Running werenski-jiricek and chychrun-bean with sliding bean to the right side on the second pair.
Peeke to me has been a confounding case this year... it feels like his play has regressed and despite injuries to most of our blueline hes been a healthy scratch multiple times now. Is that just Brad Larsen being dumb, quite possibly. But there's been a few instances this year where he's been out of position or torched defensively pretty badly. Ideally I don't want my defense to be centered solely on blocking shots, if they can break up plays before they happen that's better for everyone. I'm not hellbent on trading peeke but if we add to the defense, to me it feels like someone on the right side does have to go.
I get what you're saying about Chychrun. However, he's played outstanding this year despite the rumors so it's not like he's letting it affect his play. With a legitimate NHL coaching staff leading this team I do believe that this roster with health, small UFA additions, and a NHL ready draft pick, could at least legitimately challenge for a playoff spot. To me that's much different than Arizona where they're 3-4 years from even considering playoff runs.
I strongly considered putting Voronkov in the roster. Maybe a 4th line of Kuraly-Voronkov-Tex to bring better 2 way play, energy and offense. His biggest challenge will be the waivers exempt status though, we saw that play a role early this year before injuries forced managements hands to play Marchenko.
Roslovic idk what happens with him. I don't see the point in just salary dumping him but I just don't feel like his trade value is even decent at this point. Liek it seems we'd be lucky to snag a mid round pick for him now which would be a waste of an asset given that we have no cap troubles.
Roslovic is definitely an enigma. We've seen he can be a very good player when he puts his game together, he just cannot find consistency if his life depended on it. I think this draft could be the deciding factor on whether or not he needs to be moved out with haste. If they end up with an NHL ready player then he has to go. If it's a guy they only have to wait a year on then he's likely gone next off season anyway.
I think with Voronkov it will be a lot easier to stay up because he's the type of player that can actually still benefit from getting 8-10 mins a night in a bottom 6 role. Marchenko and KJ were really being wasted in that kind of role so it was very frustrating to watch.
I don't question Chychrun's work ethic whatsoever. It's really would just be about his desire to stick with the team long term. It's also a matter of his contract only having 2 more years left and he's due a pretty serious raise. If Jiricek is the player he's believed to be then that could cause a real conflict between new contracts for Chychrun, Jiricek, KJ, Marchenko, Sillinger and whoever they draft this year.
Roslovic is definitely an enigma. We've seen he can be a very good player when he puts his game together, he just cannot find consistency if his life depended on it. I think this draft could be the deciding factor on whether or not he needs to be moved out with haste. If they end up with an NHL ready player then he has to go. If it's a guy they only have to wait a year on then he's likely gone next off season anyway.
I think with Voronkov it will be a lot easier to stay up because he's the type of player that can actually still benefit from getting 8-10 mins a night in a bottom 6 role. Marchenko and KJ were really being wasted in that kind of role so it was very frustrating to watch.
I don't question Chychrun's work ethic whatsoever. It's really would just be about his desire to stick with the team long term. It's also a matter of his contract only having 2 more years left and he's due a pretty serious raise. If Jiricek is the player he's believed to be then that could cause a real conflict between new contracts for Chychrun, Jiricek, KJ, Marchenko, Sillinger and whoever they draft this year.
The clock is ticking on roslovic for sure. Hopefully Voronkov can stick, having young players who can excel in those middle to bottom 6 roles is rare but he's played well in Russia.
In a perfect world, we get a defenseman with 3-4 years left in term but I just don't see many (any even) of those guys becoming readily available. It's a perfectly fair point regarding his extension, with Gaudreau and werenski already at nearly 10m each for 5+ years the cap situation has to be lined up to fit everyone else in.
Unfortunately I just don't see a team being dumb enough to take on Gudbranson for just a second. Plus he's got the trade clause.
Chychrun as 2LD fits too, I'd be equally comfortable Running werenski-jiricek and chychrun-bean with sliding bean to the right side on the second pair.
Peeke to me has been a confounding case this year... it feels like his play has regressed and despite injuries to most of our blueline hes been a healthy scratch multiple times now. Is that just Brad Larsen being dumb, quite possibly. But there's been a few instances this year where he's been out of position or torched defensively pretty badly. Ideally I don't want my defense to be centered solely on blocking shots, if they can break up plays before they happen that's better for everyone. I'm not hellbent on trading peeke but if we add to the defense, to me it feels like someone on the right side does have to go.
Bean is awful defensively. Peeke is much better. Between werenski, chychrun, and jiricek they should be fine with offensive d men. I would run
I could get behind that. I honestly barely remember how Bean played early this year and it was a small sample size but he does tend to be more offensive than defensive minded. Peeke hopefully he bounces back this year. He was solid last year so hopefully this year is just a blip on the radar.
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