Speculation: Roster Building Thread: Part LXX

[NewLife]

Duclair is in the top tier of remaining FAs. How many teams has he been on? 23 G last season. Another headcase, likely.

I don't know about that but he f***ed up big time not taking the four million or whatever he was offered from Ottawa. He's gotta be miserable at this point. He won't see those kind money for some time now.

 

[LokiDog]

I don't know about that but he f***ed up big time not taking the four million or whatever he was offered from Ottawa. He's gotta be miserable at this point. He won't see those kind money for some time now.

Duclair really screwed up. Whether he didn’t take the money in Ottawa because he thought he could get more or because he wanted to play for a more competitive team or because management seemed like a shit show, it doesn’t matter. He could have had a few years at 4M. Now he’ll be lucky to get 1.5M as a depth player. Being a depth player will make it very difficult for him to ever match his production from last season which will make it difficult for him to ever get a bigger contract offer again. If he’d taken 4x3 to play top six in Ottawa (with Tkachuk, Dadanov, Stuetzle) he’d have earned 12M over the next three seasons and perhaps set himself up for another pay day. Now, I’m guessing he’d have to play 6-8 more years to scratch that. He blew it.

Meanwhile, with Stuetzle (I think if anyone besides Laf ends up being the top player from this draft, he has the best shot), Tkachuk, Norris, Batherson, Formenton, Chabot, Brannstrom, Sanderson... Ottawa ought to be a pretty decent team soon. Stuetzle, for my money, is a beast. Speed, incredible edgework, excellent hands and IQ, willing to engage physically (which will improve with age and strength), back checks and wants the puck back like Panarin does. I think he’s going to be incredible. He may not start his career as fast as Lafreniere and other stars, but I could see him following (not to the same peak) a Draisaitl-esque curve. Third overall, only 9 points in 37 his D+1, 51 in 72 his D+2, 77 in 82 his D+3, 70 in 78 his D+4 and then 105 in 82 and 110 in 71. I don’t think Stuetzle will be a 100+ point player, but similar to how Draisaitl took three years to become a 70+ point guy (at which point people thought he’d peaked) and then 5 years to really hit his full potential, to the point where now he’d go first in a redraft, I think Stuetzle has the potential to be a Panarin level player, but it may take him 3-4 years to start showing it where as Laf could be a 60pt guy from the jump.