Bubbles
Die Hard for Bedard 2023
Sutter and Sven come off at end of next year. Also Spooner buy out . Pearson and Edler contracts also end . Many others come off in two years. Yes it is a problem. Likely will cost team Toffoli and Tanev this year and more serviceable players next year, but it will not cost team Boeser, Hughes, Petterson, Markstrom, Miller, Horvat. Team will transition away from veteran role players and lose depth. The positive side is these players are now trending downwards, so losing them might not be so bad. Probably no cup but playoff competitive for 2 or 3 years before team can really go for it when Hughes and Petterson are 23, 24 and players like Podz, OJ, Lind, etc contributing.
Key to these newer ELCs is to not burn that early year for 5-10 games, that Benning has done for Hughes/Petterson. Now we have a better younger core, it's not necessary to burn that early year for what amounts to nothing games at the end of the year. Best to have a full season of these ELCs.