Yeah but OEL had to get packaged with Garland and the Coyotes took back Beagle, Erikkson, and Roussel.
Even if the other contracts look better doesn’t mean you just buy it out. Bite the bullet and deal with it. It’s not like we can replace his production anyways.
Obviously it depends on where our team stands then. If we’re still floundering then may as well keep him around. If we are moving up and need the space it makes sense. Guess we’ll see then. All I know is I expect we’ll have a drastically different team in 2023 than we did in 2020
You can't put Labanc and Dahlen on Coutures wings unless Labanc spent the offseason taking steroids.
That's a line that things happen to, not one that makes things happen. Gotta put one beefcake on each of the top 3 lines. I like Meier with Bonino though. That should make that line very effective. Also if we are to believe that Kurz isn't a hack (stretch, I know) and Hertl isn't happy with Kane, It's probably best to split them. A healthy Hertl would be able to make due with Barabanov and Dahlen in a 2nd line deployment. You can swap Dahlen, Labanc, Balcers etc as needed. If guys struggle there are more than enough wingers to swap around but Couture needs either Meier or Kane on his wing to be effective. And just because I can, I'm putting Gamby on the bench.
Pavs works harder to make better use of his limited physical talents. Couture was drafted in the 1st round for a reason. Same goes for Pavs in the 6th. If Couture worked as hard as Pavs he'd be a better player than he is. The give away is his shirtless interviews recently. Dude needs to spend more time in the gym. Pavs is very muscular by contrast and is also very intelligent on the ice. Couture is more of a naturally gifted player.
Curious, who would you use as a comparable that got traded this offseason?
Pavs was most definitely propped up by Jumbo and Burns. Pavs pretty much always required a great player to carry him whereas Couture was the driving force on his line until recently. Pavs made the most out of his abilities thru hard work and perseverance. Dude is a great leader and effective player but he's mostly opportunistic and someone who has pretty much always needed great players to generate the chances that he worked so hard at finishing. For a number of years, Couture was the producer on his line. Couture is also more clutch IMO. His scoring rate jumps dramatically in the playoffs while Pavs actually drops over their careers so far. What he did in 2016 and 2019 playoffs cements it IMO for Couture as the better stand alone player. Pavs is definitely the better leader though. I doubt Couture ages as well as Pass has too due to all the injuries Couture has suffered. Dudes only going to get more brittle especially if he doesn't start really trying to pack on muscle. I remember early on in Pavs career he got beat up physically one season and made a point to add muscle and came back the next season with big ass traps. You could tell by his jaw line and shoulders how much muscle he added.
In a way I agree, but he did pretty well with guys like Kyle Wellwood on his wing before he was ever paired with Jumbo. Hell, he had 66pts in 2011 as the 3C.
Couture was the 3c for the 2011 season and was the 3C for the last 25 games the season prior. Pavs was up playing in the top 6 and got the 3rd most ice time among forwards that season. Wellwood only played 35 games that season.
