Now that its over...your (3?) key moves this off-season

[Yotes4Cup]

Tank for Bedard and Wright

 

[Volica]

Tank for Bedard and Wright

This is the way.

 

[Volica]

I thin the better play is to move the older guys and add to our core, not subtract from it

You might be the only fan on this board that thinks this core isn't the actual problem.
This team has been terrible for 2 1/2 years now. There's something rotten.

Trading away someone like Backlund makes Calgary infinitely worse compared to what you'll get for him. The point of trading Monahan is the ability to recoup some valuable assets and make the core change that is desperately needed.

Monahan is essentially Calgary's 3C at this point of time. Lindholm is significantly, significantly, significantly better than him in all aspects of the game (like I predicted 8 years ago); and Backlund is a guy who'll be a perfectly fine 2C in a rebuild process.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

What’s the collective net worth of hfflames? Maybe we can buy the team lmao

I found $0.50 on my walk this afternoon, you guys can have that.

 

[Mobiandi]

Monahan is essentially Calgary's 3C at this point of time. Lindholm is significantly, significantly, significantly better than him in all aspects of the game (like I predicted 8 years ago); and Backlund is a guy who'll be a perfectly fine 2C in a rebuild process.

And this is why the going rate for Monahan will be a 2nd and a cap dump - maybe a 1st if the hockey gods are feeling super kind that day.

Cap is a precious commodity and no one's paying top dollar for a 6 million dollar cap hit from a stagnating guy who's getting some uber soft minutes. They can sign for RNH for free if they're that desperate

 

[Lunatik]

And this is why the going rate for Monahan will be a 2nd and a cap dump - maybe a 1st if the hockey gods are feeling super kind that day.

Cap is a precious commodity and no one's paying top dollar for a 6 million dollar cap hit from a stagnating guy who's getting some uber soft minutes. They can sign for RNH for free if they're that desperate

ANd if this is remotely true, you simply don't trade him

 

[GAMO1992]

1. Change the culture/leadership of the team. That includes Tre/Gio/Backs and anyone else in the higher ups that have been here for more than Tre's tenure(Keep Conroy though, seems like a solid dude). Totally clean house. Full, fresh set of eyes in every position that won't have any attachment to any players that can make the big moves that need to be made. Keep Sutter as well to coach the team the right way.

2. Roster moves. Find out if Johnny wants to stay/go and let the rest of the dominoes fall after that. If he wants out, you get the best return you can and thank him for being such a gem of a player for us. After Johnny(either staying/going), depending on what we get back and where we draft, you can then make further decisions around Money, Chucky, etc. Nobody is untouchable, if the right offer rolls around(Not saying actively trade them, but if a good offer comes our way, we strongly listen).

3. Pray for lottery luck next season.

 

[RasmusAndersson]

I think it starts before the end of the season:

1) Don't win a single remaining game, do this by bringing up a bunch of younger guys to get some minutes; they deserve some NHL pay and experience.

2) See if you can drop back down into the bottom 8 of the league for draft position. Getting into that spot at least gives you a run on someone that'll likely be pretty decent, it also increases (ever so slightly) your chances at that first two picks. Getting one of those would be franchise altering, even in this years' draft.

3) Make the damn pick. Don't think that this is time to move this pick to make a knee-jerk trade to try one more round with this core and some piece you get.

Summer:

1) Find a dance partner for Sean Monahan. A team like Columbus would be a good fit with their absolute lack of anything that even resembles a centre. He's still got two years, so he should bring back a first and some other things. A team like CBJ would be an absolute steal, simply because even with Monahan they don't look to be a good team, that first could end up being really good. Even if you have to protect it. If there's no team like that, there are probably some borderline playoff teams that'd like to add someone like him.

2) Let the Kraken make their pick, and don't get too ahead of yourself. If they want Gio, they should take Gio. Calgary should not let loyalty get in the way of business decisions. Letting Gio go is a perfect move, it sets up a tank and gives Calgary more cap flexibility for ownership to suck it up (look, we won't be a cap team, so, live with a rebuild, the f***ing arena will be packed once they allow it anyway with COVID out of the way down the line).

3) Check and see what the market is for Johnny Gaudreau.
I'd be interested in those guys who are in that playoff bubble or guys looking to extend their playoff window. Teams like Boston, St Louis, Minnesota and Nashville, especially the latter two, because there's about 0 guarantee that they're even remotely close to being good next season. A first 2022 or 2023 and a great prospect would do it for me. You're selling a bit low on John, but, at the end of the day there's a chance he wants nothing to do with us anyway and walks for nothing next year... or we trade him at the deadline for peanuts because he'll have much more control.

4) Stay away from free agency. The only guys you take a look at are guys looking to potentially resurrect their career. The Wennberg's or Montour's of the world; where they'll get a lot of ice-time and could potentially recuperate some draft picks.

2021-2022:

1) Regardless if guys like Zary, Pelletier, or the first rounder this year (top 8, plz), impress at camp, none of them should step foot on this team in 2021-2022. IF they can go to the AHL, they should go there; or stay in their designated league... but the 2021-2022 team will be toxic and you want zero exposure for the young guys. This likely won't be the case if you get a top two pick, those guys will be expected normally, but you could do the Byfield thing.

2) You'll have a total of 4 top 6 players on the entire roster (Tkachuk, Lindholm, Backlund, Mangiapane), you're going to be f***ing garbage. Your defence will be anchored by Hanifin-Tanev; after that it's going to be pretty f***ing bad unless Andersson rights the ship and Valimaki gets back to playing at the level he was suppose to. Keep guys like Looch around, and add some more ugliness to the roster. You want to be bad, but you also don't want to be bullied. Make sure teams are aware that Calgary is building something, and won't take shit. You want team identity? That's where it starts.

3) Tank. Set yourself up for a top 2 spot at the 21-22 draft. Wright especially, but even someone like Savoie would be franchise altering. If the cards don't pan out, just repeat for the 2022-23 season, where the top two are going to be... special. Like Sidney/Ovi special. IF you land one of those two, you're on the fast track to greatness.

Final thought:

STAY THE f***ING COURSE
Last time we did this we couldn't help ourselves and wanted to buy our way out of it as quick as possible. Stay the course. Build around some really great pieces. Connor Zary and Jakob Pelletier will be great top 6 players in this league, add Wright who'll be a top 5 centre on the planet by the age of 22-23, add Beniers, Power or someone else that'll help bring this team forward.

I mean I agree with a lot of your general points but it's just so not realistic when you say 'don't win a single game' or 'tank'. Even if we lose Monahan and Gio and don't replace them, we're still not even close to being guaranteed a Wright. We aren't finishing below 7th or 8th this year, and there's still teams like Buffalo Detroit NJ Seattle Columbus who could EASILY be worse than us. Even if we ship Johnny we'd still have Mang Lindholm Tkachuk Dube Backlund Hanifin Ras Tanev and Markstrom, we aren't just a shoe-in to pick top-3.

If you actually wanna tank then we'd have to ship a few of those young core pieces as well, which I really don't see happening / us getting fair value for. I agree sell off some pieces and try to get a higher pick, but the odds of us getting Wright is probably around 3%. Even a top-3 pick is far from a guarantee even with those moves. We can't put all our eggs into the 'winning the lottery basket', we have to make good trades and have good asset management so that whatever pick we do end up getting (hopefully top-5, but could easily be in the 5-10 or even 10-15 range) is insulated with tons of young picks and prospects that can develop and make us a stacked contender in 2-3 years.

 

[RasmusAndersson]

1. Try Dube at C at the end of this year. We need to see what we have in Dube. We can't have another Bennett situation where we stubbornly refuse to try a young player at C and then we hamper his development. Maybe Dube doesn't work out at C, but with his speed we would be absolutely idiotic not to give it a shot. If he can play C then even more reason/ insulation for moving at least one of Monahan/Backlund.

2. Gauge the market for Monahan. He can be a valuable scorer in the right context, but he can't be the guy to drive a line or create consistent chances, and we desperately need more players that can. If it's possible to get a 1st/A-level prospect+cap dump for him, we take it. Especially RW prospect. Preferably to like Florida for Denisenko+cap dump or like LA for Kaliyev+dump. However, given how bad Monahan has been the last two years, I can't see any team giving up that level of prospect, so we may have to settle for one of their late 1sts+young roster player+dump from Columbus. And if we can't even get that, which may be the case given his cap hit, we may be forced to keep him and ship him around the deadline and hope he bounces back. In that case look seriously at trading Backlund, although he may have very little value as well. Which is why we needed to be proactive and move Monahan last summer, but it's too late for that. If we can't get any value for either we're in a really tough spot, which we already are, and Treliving should lose his job because of it. Maybe we consider looking at a similar struggling player swap, or maybe we just keep them into next year and pray that they bounce back a bit, or maybe we bite the bullet and sell way lower than we should. No option is ideal but I do think a great GM would be able to find a decent move for at least one of them.

3. See what we can do about Gaudreau. Ideally we keep him and give him some young support, but if we can't find a taker for Monahan/Backlund and Johnny doesn't sign long-term we probably have to move him so we don't lose another core guy for next-to-nothing. Plus without losing at least one of Monahan/Backlund/Johnny we'll have very little flexibility, won't be bad enough to tank, and will be way too similar to this season for my liking. I'm looking for good prospects or 2022 1sts from middling teams that could end up with a high pick. Like Ottawa selling Karlsson to SJ and lucking into a top-3 pick, Paccioretty for Suzuki+Tatar+, or Duchene for 1st++. If we can get those type of returns we have to seriously consider it, but if we can move guys like Monahan/Backlund/Gio and get some decent NHL-ready players back I'm all for making a push to keep Johnny because he's the best offensive player we've had since Iggy. But I'm not sure I trust Brad to pull this off, which leads to #4:

4. If Treliving can't get out of this hole he's put himself in there's no way he should be back. We can't keep losing value on core players that have experiences massive drops in value in recent years. Maybe ownership has not let him go into sell-mode and so he gets one last chance to make some big changes this summer, but if he doesn't then he needs to be gone. If he can find good value for Monahan/Backlund / a huge haul for Gaudreau he can have one last chance, but if not he must be gone. There is no excuse to go into next year with this same offensive core that is clearly in the bottom-half of the league with a mediocre at best prospect pool and some of the worst RW depth ever.

5. Try to trade Gio for anything we can get (pick/prospect+dump), and if nothing is out there let Seattle take him. Replace him with a younger, cheaper option.

6. Make FA decisions based on the market for Monahan/Johnny. If Johnny will stay and we get a solid return for Monahan I'm ok with pursuing a UFA like Hyman or Danault who are consistent, hard-working beasts that will let our true offensive players shine. People will say we need scoring, but imo we 100% need those type of hard-working, 200-foot players to let guys like Johnny and Chucky play their games. However, if Johnny is gonna leave, we shouldn't be looking at UFA's to make us slightly better and should instead commit to a bigger retool/rebuild. And if we can't find any value for Monahan/ maybe Backlund for a lesser return and can't bring back good futures and still don't have the flexibility to pursue UFA's, we should instead focus on selling what we can for futures.

It all depends on the market and if we can get solid returns for our struggling top-guys, but I'm worried that we've already waited too long and won't get the returns we need to re-tool quickly, which is why Brad should be gone and we may be forced to sell low or stick with a similar roster and put off changes until some players regain some value.

 

[Volica]

I mean I agree with a lot of your general points but it's just so not realistic when you say 'don't win a single game' or 'tank'. Even if we lose Monahan and Gio and don't replace them, we're still not even close to being guaranteed a Wright. We aren't finishing below 7th or 8th this year, and there's still teams like Buffalo Detroit NJ Seattle Columbus who could EASILY be worse than us. Even if we ship Johnny we'd still have Mang Lindholm Tkachuk Dube Backlund Hanifin Ras Tanev and Markstrom, we aren't just a shoe-in to pick top-3.

If you actually wanna tank then we'd have to ship a few of those young core pieces as well, which I really don't see happening / us getting fair value for. I agree sell off some pieces and try to get a higher pick, but the odds of us getting Wright is probably around 3%. Even a top-3 pick is far from a guarantee even with those moves. We can't put all our eggs into the 'winning the lottery basket', we have to make good trades and have good asset management so that whatever pick we do end up getting (hopefully top-5, but could easily be in the 5-10 or even 10-15 range) is insulated with tons of young picks and prospects that can develop and make us a stacked contender in 2-3 years.

I mean, we're a bottom 10 team in the league.
We'd be moving out 3 of our top 7 scorers. That'd very likely drop us off even further.

That's a bottom 5 team. There's no guarantee in winning a draft lotto; we've seen time and time again these teams stink so badly, yet fall outside the top 2 even... but it's the only way this franchise ever turns around. There's no easy fix for this team.

There's no reason to do a scorched earth rebuild, because we'd just set ourselves back further. Because all that's doing is getting in a bad spot with no guarantees again. Having some young core pieces when you start your rebuild is the difference between a Toronto type rebuild and a Buffalo/Edmonton type rebuild.

Like, where are the Leafs right now before they started tearing it down without Morgan Reilly, Nazem Kadri, Connor Brown, JVR, Jake Gardiner? These guys all played big roles for the team prior to the 2016-2017 season and allowed to start rolling in their big youth stars into the lineup properly. Yes, they ended up shipping most these guys out eventually or letting them walk, but they were crucial parts of that franchise as they started their ascension.

Hitting the reset button, while having Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, Dillon Dube, Noah Hanifin, Juuso Valimaki as the young core (The elder-statesman in there is Lindholm at 26), while also having 'lead by example' guy in Tanev is just a good way to start. Markstrom is good goalie, but he's not the difference between Calgary finishing 4th last or 10th last; the team can't score today, and will have the reduced ability to do it even more with the key departures.

 

[Volica]

And this is why the going rate for Monahan will be a 2nd and a cap dump - maybe a 1st if the hockey gods are feeling super kind that day.

Cap is a precious commodity and no one's paying top dollar for a 6 million dollar cap hit from a stagnating guy who's getting some uber soft minutes. They can sign for RNH for free if they're that desperate

Calgary will have all the cap in the world this upcoming season.
How much is Monahan at 50% worth in this league? 3 mllion for a guy that in his worst season in his career would almost hit the 20 goal mark in a full season. There will be a lot of team interested at that rate. Hell, at that number there are teams that are elite contenders that could fit that in.

 

[RasmusAndersson]

I mean, we're a bottom 10 team in the league.
We'd be moving out 3 of our top 7 scorers. That'd very likely drop us off even further.

That's a bottom 5 team. There's no guarantee in winning a draft lotto; we've seen time and time again these teams stink so badly, yet fall outside the top 2 even... but it's the only way this franchise ever turns around. There's no easy fix for this team.

There's no reason to do a scorched earth rebuild, because we'd just set ourselves back further. Because all that's doing is getting in a bad spot with no guarantees again. Having some young core pieces when you start your rebuild is the difference between a Toronto type rebuild and a Buffalo/Edmonton type rebuild.

Like, where are the Leafs right now before they started tearing it down without Morgan Reilly, Nazem Kadri, Connor Brown, JVR, Jake Gardiner? These guys all played big roles for the team prior to the 2016-2017 season and allowed to start rolling in their big youth stars into the lineup properly. Yes, they ended up shipping most these guys out eventually or letting them walk, but they were crucial parts of that franchise as they started their ascension.

Hitting the reset button, while having Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, Dillon Dube, Noah Hanifin, Juuso Valimaki as the young core (The elder-statesman in there is Lindholm at 26), while also having 'lead by example' guy in Tanev is just a good way to start. Markstrom is good goalie, but he's not the difference between Calgary finishing 4th last or 10th last; the team can't score today, and will have the reduced ability to do it even more with the key departures.

Ya no I totally agree we hit the reset button and do all of that, I just think you aren't being realistic when you say keep that entire young core and simultaneously tank for a guaranteed top pick. Like imagine if Toronto didn't win that lottery and ended up with Laine or even PLD instead of Matthews. For every Toronto there are other teams that have sold pieces for futures and high picks just to lose the lottery or have their top-3 picks not pan out. We can't just rely on tanking to pick top-2, because with that core of young players and a starting goalie its far from a guarantee.

But I totally agree sell Monahan/maybe Johnny/Gio and maybe other vets, hit that reset button and try to get a top-pick, but don't rely on it as what is going to make or break our rebuild. We need to have a system that is stacked with tons of potential core players so that we don't have to rely on lottery luck or being worse than Buffalo, which I don't even know is possible. We shouldn't be basing our rebuild off of acquiring a generational player like Toronto or Edmonton, because there are countless more examples of times when that strategy backfires. But we should be re-tooling, selling off what doesn't work for young picks/prospects, and building for the future. It just isn't as easy as 'lose a ton of games' when the league has as much parity as it does. For all we know Dube could break out if we move Monahan, and Valimaki could have a Hanifin-like breakout in a bigger role without Gio next to Tanev/Rasmus. No guarantee that roster is even bottom-3. We have to stack the prospect pool but we can't just keep many core guys and still expect to pick 1st.

If you wanna commit to full rebuild then maybe it's more realistic to plan for a top pick, but like you said that's too risky (see Buffalo/Edmonton) and so we can't be planning for it.

 

[Fig]

I found $0.50 on my walk this afternoon, you guys can have that.

 

[FlamesFreak4]

Re-sign Gaudreau long term
Complete trade around Tkachuk for Eichel
Trade Monahan and whatever it takes for Laine
Convince Seattle to take Gio

Gaudreau - Eichel - Dube
Mangiapane - Lindholm - Laine
Lucic - Backlund - UFA

Hanafin - Andersson
Tanev - Valimaki
Kylington - Stone/Mackey

Markstrom

 

[Volica]

Ya no I totally agree we hit the reset button and do all of that, I just think you aren't being realistic when you say keep that entire young core and simultaneously tank for a guaranteed top pick. Like imagine if Toronto didn't win that lottery and ended up with Laine or even PLD instead of Matthews. For every Toronto there are other teams that have sold pieces for futures and high picks just to lose the lottery or have their top-3 picks not pan out. We can't just rely on tanking to pick top-2, because with that core of young players and a starting goalie its far from a guarantee.

But I totally agree sell Monahan/maybe Johnny/Gio and maybe other vets, hit that reset button and try to get a top-pick, but don't rely on it as what is going to make or break our rebuild. We need to have a system that is stacked with tons of potential core players so that we don't have to rely on lottery luck or being worse than Buffalo, which I don't even know is possible. We shouldn't be basing our rebuild off of acquiring a generational player like Toronto or Edmonton, because there are countless more examples of times when that strategy backfires. But we should be re-tooling, selling off what doesn't work for young picks/prospects, and building for the future. It just isn't as easy as 'lose a ton of games' when the league has as much parity as it does. For all we know Dube could break out if we move Monahan, and Valimaki could have a Hanifin-like breakout in a bigger role without Gio next to Tanev/Rasmus. No guarantee that roster is even bottom-3. We have to stack the prospect pool but we can't just keep many core guys and still expect to pick 1st.

If you wanna commit to full rebuild then maybe it's more realistic to plan for a top pick, but like you said that's too risky (see Buffalo/Edmonton) and so we can't be planning for it.

Well, it’s essentially proven you can’t win a cup in the modern era without a minimum of 2 top 5 picks contributing or traded for major contributor parts.

Yes, if Buffalo trades Eichel, that’ll be hard to out tank with this group, but once you’re in the bottom 5 you’ve got a chance. You need more talent on the roster in general, the best way to do is move the pieces that cost a lot and won’t be here beyond 2 more years.

And really outside Buffalo and terrible ownership in Arizona, there aren’t too many stories of really bad teams that don’t land something in a top few slots and don’t turn the ship around.

 

[RasmusAndersson]

Well, it’s essentially proven you can’t win a cup in the modern era without a minimum of 2 top 5 picks contributing or traded for major contributor parts.

Yes, if Buffalo trades Eichel, that’ll be hard to out tank with this group, but once you’re in the bottom 5 you’ve got a chance. You need more talent on the roster in general, the best way to do is move the pieces that cost a lot and won’t be here beyond 2 more years.

And really outside Buffalo and terrible ownership in Arizona, there aren’t too many stories of really bad teams that don’t land something in a top few slots and don’t turn the ship around.

But I'm saying if you want to go all in for a top-2 pick we need to sell more than just Monahan and Gio like you're suggesting. Sell Johnny too and maybe you're a lock for bottom-5 but even then its more about getting great returns for those guys than putting all our eggs into a top-2 pick that we may not even get. I'm just saying its not as simple as just tank and lose the rest of your games and you'll be better, we have to more importantly maximize the value of the assets we trade along the way.

 

[Volica]

But I'm saying if you want to go all in for a top-2 pick we need to sell more than just Monahan and Gio like you're suggesting. Sell Johnny too and maybe you're a lock for bottom-5 but even then its more about getting great returns for those guys than putting all our eggs into a top-2 pick that we may not even get. I'm just saying its not as simple as just tank and lose the rest of your games and you'll be better, we have to more importantly maximize the value of the assets we trade along the way.

Well, yes. Getting a first and prospect as I suggest for Monahan is a solid deal, getting a couple firsts or first and great prospect for John is fine. Not saying give them away.

 

[Nanuuk]

Ok, let me try. These are all after the expansion draft. Motto is, "Too slow? Gotta Go."

1) Trade Gio to contender for a 2nd round 2022 pick. Give him a chance at a cup.
2) Trade Tkachuk to Minnesota for Greenway and Rask
3) Trade Monahan to Buffalo for Reinhart

Re-sign Gaudreau to long term extension. Resign Ritchie and Leivo at league minimum. Promote one of Ruzicka or Phillips.

Possible lines

Gaudreau/Lindholm/Reinhart
Mangiapane/Rask/Ruzicka
Greenway/Backlund/Ritchie
Lucic/Dube/Nordstrom
Leivo

Hanifin/Andersson
Valimaki/Tanev
Mackey/Stone
Nesterov

Markstrom
Zagidulin

Edit: I plunked in Ruzicka as 2RW (even though he is a left shot) instead of Phillips as it occurred to me the line would be smallish. While Dube could fill that spot (and has) I think they need to develop him at C, lest we repeat the Bennett scenario.

 

[viper0220]

Ok, let me try. These are all after the expansion draft. Motto is, "Too slow? Gotta Go."

1) Trade Gio to contender for a 2nd round 2022 pick. Give him a chance at a cup.
2) Trade Tkachuk to Minnesota for Greenway and Rask
3) Trade Monahan to Buffalo for Reinhart

Re-sign Gaudreau to long term extension. Resign Ritchie and Leivo at league minimum. Promote one of Ruzicka or Phillips.

Possible lines

Gaudreau/Lindholm/Reinhart
Mangiapane/Rask/Ruzicka
Greenway/Backlund/Ritchie
Lucic/Dube/Nordstrom
Leivo

Hanifin/Andersson
Valimaki/Tanev
Mackey/Stone
Nesterov

Markstrom
Zagidulin

Edit: I plunked in Ruzicka as 2RW (even though he is a left shot) instead of Phillips as it occurred to me the line would be smallish. While Dube could fill that spot (and has) I think they need to develop him at C, lest we repeat the Bennett scenario.

No offense but this is just stupid, we are in the same position with those moves.

 

[User1996]

1. Shove a horseshoe somewhere painful for lottery luck
2. Commit to speed and skill
3. Shove a horseshoe somewhere painful for luck that our 1st turns into a difference maker

 

[Lunatik]

1. Shove a horseshoe somewhere painful for lottery luck
2. Commit to speed and skill
3. Shove a horseshoe somewhere painful for luck that our 1st turns into a difference maker

@BlondeLooch you know a four leaf clover would be less painful than a horseshoe...

 

[User1996]

@BlondeLooch you know a four leaf clover would be less painful than a horseshoe...

Saved by the bell...

 

[Lunatik]

Saved by the bell...

Just to be clear, I am kink positive, so you can do whatever you like with the horseshoes

 

[Fig]

Well, it’s essentially proven you can’t win a cup in the modern era without a minimum of 2 top 5 picks contributing or traded for major contributor parts.

Yes, if Buffalo trades Eichel, that’ll be hard to out tank with this group, but once you’re in the bottom 5 you’ve got a chance. You need more talent on the roster in general, the best way to do is move the pieces that cost a lot and won’t be here beyond 2 more years.

And really outside Buffalo and terrible ownership in Arizona, there aren’t too many stories of really bad teams that don’t land something in a top few slots and don’t turn the ship around.

We need hall and rnh and use halls juju lottery luck to draft top 5.

Horse shoe wise we have blasty to help us be horse shirt.

 

[BudRobinson53]

A question for the trade Monahan camp, there are quite a few of you here...I loved this player, as that sneaky garbage man, "put me in the slot and watch me light the lamp" type guy. I lived through the 90's teams where we needed him and Langkow, Conroy (x2), Jokinen (x2) could never produce to near his levels. As well, up until this year, he was ahead of Mackinnon in production and in the first few years, by a lot. For 5 consecutive years, he scored 27+. If "30" is the magical marker, he hit that 3x of those 5 years and every year, at year end, he lets us know that he played through something broken.

I don't think his salary is out of whack, and so even if Lindholm and Johnny can find chemistry to become the team's first line, is Monahan and his normal scoring production, the guy to sacrifice for change?