Blue Goose
Registered User
I would think the answer is Yes. If I'm McPhee and I can get Hanzal in here without going too deep on years, I would sign him.
The real challenge in the way this is set up is finding a way to get top six forwards. Back end won't be elite, but it will be solid. How soon they can really compete is going to come down to the forwards, so yeah if I can get a top six forward in the early UFA period I'd do it.
Minnesota is very likely to be the source of our best d-man out of the draft. You can't pass up on that to sign a guy you'd have a chance at on 7/1.
I just don't think it's worth it to get Hanzal, even on July 1. He's going to be highly sought after by teams who consider themselves to be Cup contenders, and I really don't want to get into a bidding war knowing that we're not going to be competing any time soon. He's also had some injuries, and plays a style that should lead to his body starting to break down as he gets into his 30's - I'd just rather not take that chance. If we can get Jarnkrok and Sheahan in the expansion draft - and possibly one of Nelson/Strome from NYI - our center depth should be decent, with younger/cheaper players that have room to grow with our organization. But hey, that's just me.
One more thought: I think a GREAT target on July 1 will be Cody Franson. As I mentioned when talking about Postma, we're going to be really weak with RHD coming out of the expansion draft, and it'd be great to have a guy with some good all-around experience. Franson over-estimated his value on the UFA market in 2015, and got stuck having to sign a 2-year deal. I would imagine he'll be getting the same kinds of 1- and 2-year deals this summer as well, but I think we can offer him a 3rd year with more $$ than other teams. He'll turn 30 in August, so he's still got some years left in him, and he could slot in nicely into the Top 4 of an expansion team.