I liked the offseason, Seider is really growing on me but more importantly I'm glad we didn't go for any splash signings or trades. (I still think Trouba might hit free agency next year so). Don't get me wrong adding a player like Panarin would be awesome but he turns 28 this year and just signed for seven years. And I would imagine Trouba will also want a long-term deal. I don't think adding Panarin alone makes this team a contender and when I look at the Wings roster and prospects there are so many unknowns still besides Larkin:
- You have three guys in Mantha, Athanasiou and Bertuzzi who all have potential to be top line players but also may end up being better suited for bottom 6 roles or secondary scoring roles.
- You have older guys with terrible contracts like Abby, Ericsson, Helm, Neilsen who should stay for that veteran presence and then once their contracts are done, you let them walk and the kids will be more suited to step into those roles.
- You have so many unknowns like Hronek, Cholowksi, Zadina, Hirose, Seider, Svechnikov, Veleno, McIsaac, Berggren, Rasmussen, Kaski, Lindstrom who could end up being complete busts or stars (Hronek I think will be a star but I have no idea about anyone else)
- You have all the other kids in the system who may never see the NHL but there will definitely be a few who come through and become really strong role players or potential stars (Albin Grewe, Alec Regula, all the others)
In my mind we will know better in 3/4 years what we have with these kids and it will make Free Agency easier to attack. For example what if we traded for Trouba and then signed him to a long-term deal, and then Hronek, Cholowski, Seider, McIsaac all pan out but our forwards end up busting or not being who we thought they were? We end up losing our young kids because we can't afford them and we still have holes up front because those guys didn't pan out. I'd much rather wait and see what the holes are 3-4 years from now and then fill those holes in free agency or through trades. The entire roster right now is full of unknowns and I'd rather see who pans out and who doesn't and then react accordingly.