Those two will not raise a cup for Montreal lol. Think long term 7-8 years in the future that’s where I’m at right now.
Without rambling on... point form is more effective. This is how I would manage things:
1) I rest vets and anyone with nagging injuries. I let the youth learn on the job but when I say youth, I'm talking about DLR, Scherbak, Mete, Hudon, Lehkonen, Juulsen types.
2) Kotkaniemi goes back to Finland. Reasons are smart management. Might not have to protect him in the next expansion draft and I value him on his ELC from age 19/20+ and not from 18+.
3) I engage in what other teams are willing to pay us for Petry, Byron, Tatar, Danault, Schlemko, Shaw. I'm not trading them all at once but I want futures for them sooner rather than later. I also am not 100% sure I would trade them all. It just comes down to what we are offered for each of them.
4) I want 3 drafts in a row with top 10 picks (including Kotkaniemi).
5) The 20/21 season is where I evaluate our current NHL youth and how our current non NHL prospects have developed. That is 2 more seasons from now and we will have a good idea how they look. Depending on how promising our youth looks (Gallagher and under) and also how Price/Weber look at that point, I decide how to proceed.
Lets say Price and Weber decline more than the average. We just continue with the Gallagher and under core and try to unload their salaries. But I actually think both of these assets are not melting away at rapid rates.
I believe in a short 2 or 3 year window with Price/Weber (33,34,35/35,36,37) and then if that don't work, we still have a very young core with Gallagher and under to keep building on.
I don't believe it will go down like the Leafs and we have 10 years+ of misery