First of all, PK was tops on our team in toi and tops in PP toi, so he was neither a 2nd line pp or bottom pairing d-man....you couldn't have watched many games if you believe that.
Second...no, i can't claim it as fact that our team will be contenders in 6 to 7 years, but nor can you claim it fact that we will be contenders next year or in a couple years.
I do believe we have an opportunity to give it one last hoorah with the current core we have, but the core of the future is the one that we should be building for and the road to that future still has some bumps left in it.
We are going to build it through the draft...that is fact. bergy said so..so i don't think we should be too worried about acquiring the big fish, our fish will come from or TT's draft record and Bergevin's patience to finally give this team what it needs...a slow, precise and solid rebuild.
We will continue to get better and better as the old are replaced with the improved new and yes, we might have a shot soon, but in my opinion we are better off having subban at a discount in the future than in the next couple years. Having him at a discount does not guarantee us a big UFA. Why overpay a UFA only to give ourselves a cap problem there in the future as well as a more expensive PK?
It would simply be the same impatience that has been keeping our tires spinning for the past 20 years.
PK started the year on Bouillon's wing and Diaz was on the first PP wave with Markov.
It wasn't until Diaz got injured that Therrien really started using PK more as a top Dman. I remember this very well.
I never claimed we would be contenders in the next few years, hence me talking about a window (under our current core). If we're not contenders within the next few years, that means management is taking a much longer time to organize this ship, or just failing.
As for us continuing to be better and better, one can only hope. We all hope that we will keep drafting amazing prospects. But we don't know how any of those picks will turn out yet, only Galchenyuk and he was a no-brainer #3 overall.
You need to make good free agent signings otherwise you end up like Edmonton, so many good young players, some great, but they never go anywhere because they're not well surrounded by solid vets.
The point is to save cash so if a Hossa type is available, you'll have money for him, or if you need two solid guys, you have cash for it. Whatever it is, the more cash you have, the more options will be open.
And what discount to PK are you talking about? If PK gets a deal similar to what the article states, that's 8M. I don't expect the league to grow to the point where 8M will be considered a discount.
The reality is our current cup window is likely to be during Price's prime, which is in the next couple of years. It coincides with MaxPac's as well. PK already won the norris so his time is certainly now (and hopefully later as well). We will have older guys still effective like Plekanec, younger ones that can bring solid contributions like the Gals. Really, in the next 2-4 years, if we're not contenders then we failed.
So during that stretch, if big UFAs or decent solid ones are available, and you need to overpay, you do it. You don't pass up on a Hossa type. So it would have been nice to have a discounted PK.
