Petrovic likely was kept for the "grit" factor as I assume Tallon is trying to regain some of that identity after the analytics guys went overboard getting rid of too much of the grit. Even as a 3rd pairing guy, Petrovic is still cost effective in that aspect and has plenty of NHL experience. Both Weegar and McCoshen do not have that experience and technically only Weegar would compete with Petrovic as a RHD I would assume.
I'm sure there were multiple teams interested but they likely wanted FL to take back a contract as well. Thats where you and I just dont know whether that 4th was better than taking on a bad contract instead.
Wasnt Bjugstad one of the guys who was injured last yr too? Hard to judge him on that over his past performance that suggests he could be a 20g guy again. Maybe Vegas wouldnt have taken him but I think they likely would have and probably would've either flipped him to a team looking for size down the middle (see MTL) or given him top 6 icetime and hoping he rebounded and traded him next offseason possibly for a greater return. Size down the middle is something that teams will be interested in so it wasnt a horrible decision to protect him if he does rebound.
Is there any rumors regarding trades too for the Panthers? I would think with the draft this weekend, there is also a good opportunity to make a move to acquire a forward to replace some of that scoring lost and not just wait till FA starts. If there's not, then I'm guessing they go hard after a guy like Oshie with some of that money saved as well as bringing back Jagr.
The grit part I get, but I feel like that's something that can be found in FA without breaking the bank. Of course he still has the potential to put up respectable offensive numbers for his TOI.
I can't recall how our pairings were last year, but I want to say both Pysyk and Petro played on the same pairing at one point but I forget who played at RD(both are RHD).
Yes, Bjugstad had a wrist injury which kept him out for a month+ to start the year. Then he got injured again. Which does make me wonder how durable can he be in the NHL. The year he signed his extension he had back surgery to end his season early, dealt with migraines the following year(concussions?) etc.
Just got to hope he trains well and gets some luck regarding random injuries. He does need to develop the defensive side of his game though.
It's one thing when he was a healthy driving to the net 25G scorer, you can overlook some defensive lapses. But when he isn't providing offense then he sort of is a black hole. Maybe confidence played a role too, but it seemed like he just fell apart as a player. Skating slowed down and his puck protection was lacking.
Not that I know of other than possibly Dadanov coming back
