If Tarasenko’s shoulder is bad enough that he both goes on LTIR, And you’re convinced he stays there long enough to realistically structure a new deal for Pietrangelo around the cap flux that move creates...given the uncertainty of the post-Covid economy, the rather brutal looking flameout in the bubble, and the upcoming expansion draft...I’m not sure how you keep your foot on the spend to the cap pedal in the first place.
The value proposition in Pietrangelo’s deal is very much the next two-three years. You’re pretty much resigned to the fact you’re setting at least some money on fire after that. Given how weird and uncertain you already are about how the league/cap/roster management is going to work in the near term, Losing a huge piece of your forward core just makes that whole thing worse. Flexibility is going to be a huge competitive weapon the next few seasons...if you’re getting rid of *all* of it, you better be damned sure the signing that pushes the last of your chips in puts you Right in the thick of at least the Western conference championship discussion...and without a full functioning Tarasenko, do They honestly think they’re not a step behind the Avs/Vegas in the near term even with Petro?
Talk all you want about the rules of small sample size and not putting too much stock in whatever effort they put on the ice in Edmonton. They also got torched by Vegas and Colorado the last few times they played them before the shutdown. If Tarasenko’s shoulder Turns out to be LTIR level ruined, i think that maybe presents a bigger reason to let someone else pay Pietrangelo than it creates an opportunity to do so yourself.
I think this is all worth discussing.
Signing Petro is a now move (next 3-5 years, not likely a long-term one (although a Chara situation maybe possible, if unlikely). If we are not going to be positioned to win now, then I would ask is there a better way forward?
But before we get to that, I guess the first question to ask is: Are we positioned to win now? We have Tarasenko as a potential question mark. I think over coming the loss of Tarasenko whether temporarily, permanently or in diminished capacity is doable, but far from easy. We would likely need a new 50-60 point point player to come into the fray to maintain some level of skill in our top 6. That doesn’t fully replace Tarasenko’s value at near 70 points, but if they are a decent defensive player and forecheck maybe some of that difference can be mitigated. Taylor Hall would be a good match if we disregard money. Maybe there is some way to make that work? I don’t see it, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
When you factor in the cap situation, this becomes extremely challenging. I think Thomas and Kyrou are are greatest hopes. They both have the potential to be 50-60 point players. Kyrou is obviously the farthest away.
Losing Petro means our window has closed baring any highly unlikely scenario where we get an upper echelon defensive player or a near generational forward and a strong #2 D.