Trouba for Shattenkirk is like Zibanejad for Brassard--maybe even better.
If we could have done a Zuccarello and Hayes deal for Panarin at the beginning of last year I would have been all over it. Panarin is easily the best player of the three. Throw in Kakko who should be good for at least 50 points if you look at what Svechnikov, Kotkaniemi and Tkachuk did last year and if you look at how he performed at the World Championships.
So I'm not that gloomy about our picture this coming year. Will the Rangers be a playoff team? I think there's a possibility but if not I expect there will be progress. Is it a big deal if we have $7 mil in burnt buyout money in 20-21? I guess if we give Kreider a big contract it could be really tight but other than that which I'm guessing won't happen because we'll trade him we don't really have any huge contracts on the horizon for that year and the free agency picture isn't great either.....so if Chris is moved I don't really see that burnt cap space becoming a big issue. After 20-21 it really isn't an issue at all with Staal, Smith and Lundqvist all coming off the books the Rangers will have lots of cap space.
Anyway sorry about your friend AK.
I only listened to about an hour and ten minutes worth. I'll try to finish it off tomorrow.
I'll comment on LoVerde though--I think the idea is for him to be a stabilizing force on the D. Hartford went with a lot of 1st and 2nd year pros the last couple seasons. There was a lot of running around and panicking in our own zone. LoVerde's a letter guy who can take charge of his own end and steady things down.