I think signing any big name free agents, UFA or RFA is a terrible move for this franchise right now.
Bringing in more guys on big contracts to "fix the problem" is exactly why we are in this position to begin with. Funny how short some of your memories are.
Do I think the team would be better with Sergachev or Pietrangelo added? Sure. Does it solve the bigger problem that's plagued this franchise and led to them not winning a playoff series for two straight decades? Likely not.
Retool as you must, but I don't see Zito running and jumping to make a splash into free agency like Tallon did last year. Unless he is making direct replacements (ala Krug signs and Yandle is traded for Stepan). That's a move that makes a bit more sense to me, fixes some of the culture and make us better on paper, but do they really need Torey Krug?
It's time we started building players of our own. Develop a core, a culture that breeds success and winning. As others have pointed out here before, that culture can't come from the outside. We've seen time and time again that the band-aid fixes may work in the short term, but long term they do nothing. The culture change HAS TO come from within. If they want to succeed, they have to succeed themselves.
But signing RFA's and giving away crucial draft picks, relying on 30+ year old free agent defensemen to try and win a single playoff series? Pointless. We may as well skip the next decade because we won't be winning one in the 20's either.