Quoting: evelutions2
And how many of those 900 LHD are truly top 4 dmen, or even potentially a top pairing guy? There is Forsling, but it’s a drop off after that. OEL is a question mark, probably will have enough success, but still feels like he should be sheltered a bit more. Mikkola, Rielly, Kulikov, and Mahura are all good, but they should be seeing almost entirely 3rd pairing action barring further injuries. I mean, with Ekblad and Montour out until, what, November or December (IDK the timeline) they have the RHD taken care of whenever they return. So when that happens, who gets forced onto the 3rd pairing for that right side if they go after Pesce? At least if they go for Skjei, they will have a legitimate top 4 guy, someone who can handle top pairing minutes as well, that would make their dcore a little less lopsided. As is, they will have to move at least one of their LHD to make room for Ekblad and Montour to return.
As for the valuation, Florida is likely desperate for a RD to be a stopgap. Pesce is more than a stopgap, and teams have to overpay when they become desperate (see Kuemper to Colorado as example). Add in that the RHD market is quite barren at the moment, and is certainly lacking in options as good as Pesce, a top pairing caliber dman, Bennett isn’t going to be nearly enough for the Canes to just let him go.
Quoting: evelutions2
And how many of those 900 LHD are truly top 4 dmen, or even potentially a top pairing guy? There is Forsling, but it’s a drop off after that. OEL is a question mark, probably will have enough success, but still feels like he should be sheltered a bit more. Mikkola, Rielly, Kulikov, and Mahura are all good, but they should be seeing almost entirely 3rd pairing action barring further injuries. I mean, with Ekblad and Montour out until, what, November or December (IDK the timeline) they have the RHD taken care of whenever they return. So when that happens, who gets forced onto the 3rd pairing for that right side if they go after Pesce? At least if they go for Skjei, they will have a legitimate top 4 guy, someone who can handle top pairing minutes as well, that would make their dcore a little less lopsided. As is, they will have to move at least one of their LHD to make room for Ekblad and Montour to return.
As for the valuation, Florida is likely desperate for a RD to be a stopgap. Pesce is more than a stopgap, and teams have to overpay when they become desperate (see Kuemper to Colorado as example). Add in that the RHD market is quite barren at the moment, and is certainly lacking in options as good as Pesce, a top pairing caliber dman, Bennett isn’t going to be nearly enough for the Canes to just let him go.
Neither was a 36 yr old Staal but it worked. They don't need a LHD. The Mikkola signing signals they'll be good with him pairing with Montour. So Skjei makes no sense. They can waive whomever is excess to bring back Montour when the time comes (they are fine as is with Ekblad coming back).
You are correct about the need on RD need but I think they would have signed one if they were concerned vs all the lefties they added. And yes, Pesce is not a stop gap but that's where the need is. So, if Bennett is a C that the Canes would ask about, Panthers ask about Pesce imo.