We are not going to gut the team to rebuild. I repeat, this will be done on the fly, because a team like ours has no choice but to do so.
Also, with Kesler's future in doubt, our top priority needs to be signing Henrique to a deal with some term. If we can't get that done, then you look at trade options.
Finally, color me skeptical that the people wanting this team tank are going to patiently sit by without complaint while that happens.
Let me put it to you this way. If we extend Henrique and Silfverberg to big money extensions during this offseason, this team is financially ****ed in the long term, there's no way we can afford that. Not only would we have Getz, Perry and Kesler (roughly $24 million combined) stuck to unmoveable contracts, but we'd also have Rico and Silf (over $10 million combined?) locked up to long term, big money contracts that would be difficult to move. Financially, we would be well on our way of becoming the western equivalent of the current Red Wings, which IMO is a fate even worse than tanking.
As an example, look at Frans Nielsen, who's a tad older but quite comparable to Henrique as a player. Nielsen got 6 years and $5.25 million from Detroit, along with a full NMC (not that there would be many takers for him at that price anyway). I imagine a Rico extension, without NMC, would be in the $6 million AAV range, which would only be about $900k less than what we're currently paying Kesler. Ask yourself -- is a 29-year-old Adam Henrique
really worth that kind of an investment, especially if it might screw up our salary structure? The same thing can be said about Silf. Is he
really the kind of guy you spend a lot of money on?
Alternatively, we could hold off on making the signings, as both guys still have a year left on their contracts. By doing that, we gain flexibility --
if the team is bad or mediocre during next year's TDL, we can easily deal Rico and/or Silf for the kind of futures that we'd need to pull off a "re-build on the fly", as there would then be no point in keeping the two.
If the team is good, then we might think other options -- maybe we keep one of them and let the other walk after the playoffs? Maybe we observe how much our youth develops over the course of the season and then decide how badly we want to pay these guys?
There is no chance in hell Kesler is retiring and walking away from damn near $26 million. That is a pipe dream.
I agree, nobody in their right mind would leave that kind of money on the table.
To me were an elite forward from contending..
We have great goalie and defense...forwards are okay but need to give rakell and getz some support
We do need help at F, especially help that's at or under the age of 25. Right now, our team structure is a bit weird, as our forward group is old and declining, but our defense and #1 goalie are just about to hit their primes.
A year of Silfverberg is worth more to us than that, unless we're rebuilding.
Is it really? If Kes is out for the season, then I don’t expect us to be really contending so moving Silf for a mid 1st round pick isn’t a bad idea.
If Kes does play then maybe we keep Silf around. It really depends on who is going to center him I guess.
I agree with heusy, IMO a mid first for Silf is not that interesting right now. As I posted,
if the team is doing badly at next year's TDL, I'd be OK with selling Silf in that scenario. I imagine we could even get a better offer than that 16th overall pick, given how small a cap hit Silf currently has.
Devils fan coming in peace. Would there be any possibility of the Ducks moving Pettersson? What are your guys thoughts on him, personally I think he could be on the verge of breaking out and becoming a future 2nd pairing defender and we could desperately use one.
I don't think so. Pettersson represents the exact kind of cost-controlled talent that we desperately need. I'd be interested in a
very good C prospect, but I don't know whether Pettersson has the kind of value to get one in return. Not sure I'd be interested in the idea of adding a lot to Pettersson to make that happen either.
