I said I wasn't going to do this yet here I am. If I was going to have to rebuild this team, here's what I'd do from the list of players we have on the roster, the farm and in college.
Arvy - move him while he still has value, breaking down too much
Cousins - bye. Hasn't brought any sort of edge to the team
Duchene - can't move him, figure out how to build around him
Forsberg - best player you have, build around him
Granlund - re-sign him. guy plays hard. goes to the hard areas. I know you can get some value for him but you move him, you're creating more holes at this point. unless you get a deal you can't turn down, I want him on this team
Grimaldi - bye
Haula - bye
Jarnkrok - bye
Johansen - can't move him, haven't figured out how to get the most out of him
Kunin - keep for now
McCarron - bye
Olivier - keep, I like his game for the 4th line, need the grit and he's cheap
Pitlick - keep
Richardson - bye
Sissons - bye. while I liked that Poile signed him long term, if he can't find his way on to the 2nd PP unit or past the 4th line on most night, his salary is an albatross although he'll be easier to move than Joey or Dutch
Tolvanen - keep
Trenin - keep
Benning - who cares
Borowiecki - hasn't brought anything to the table I was expecting
Carrier - Have him put on a few more pounds and keep him around
Davies - move him. just turned 24 and I just don't see it happening for him
Ekholm - keep him. he's the only big guy you have on the blue line that's worth anything. Ticked at him for not leveling Dickinson yesterday after he boarded Josi. Has played a ton better since returning. Pair him with Carrier
Ellis - move him. His contract will become an albatross. Would do well as a PP specialist for another team. Haven't like his play in the playoffs either.
Fabbro - Keep
Harpur - who care, bye
Josi - build around him obviously
Sbisa - bye
Rinne - move him if he wants to go to a contender. while he looked great yesterday, he is too inconsistent at this point to be counted on
Saros - no clue what to do with him. Keep him for now.
Ingram - love to see what he can do
Kaskisuo - don't know enough about him, keep him as he's a warm body
Afanasyev - kid has potential to be special. great soft hands, especially around the net
Novak - starting to shine in the AHL, will it translate if given the shot? willing to keep him around
Richard - another small guy with speed that doesn't stand out
Tomasino - one of the pieces of the future
Farrance - figure out a way to sign him and start playing him on the third pairing and see if he can push his way into the top 4
Allard - on the smallish side, yet again, don't see a future here for him
Askarov - the future in net
So realistically, with all the trimming of the fat I just did, we'd have these guys up front
Forsberg - Joey - Tolvanen
Granlund - Duchene - Tomasino
Kunin - Pitlick - Trenin
Olivier
These guys in the rear
Josi - Fabbro
Ekholm - Carrier
Farrance
These guys in net
Rinne?
Saros
Ingram
Pipeline
Afanasyev
Askarov
Novak?
Honestly, I'm ok with this because you can fill a lot of the holes in free agency or through the draft. This is more of a retool than anything. You'd also have to find a coach that can get more out of the guys than we're currently getting. I also think you can get enough with the trash we'd want to move to help start replenishing the farm. Ellis should get you a 1st and a decent player/prospect in return. All the others you can get 3rd - 7th round picks. Maybe someone will give you a second for Sissons or Jarnkrok.
Is it perfect or pretty, nope. We'd address one issue though and we'd get younger. I would find a large defenseman for the back end that has a little game. This team is too easy to play against right now.
And I know I can't unload all of these guys in trades, this is just what I would do to reshape the roster.