We need to add a core piece in the top 6, to our age group and fitting our salary structure. Theres not enough reinforcement on the way to fill all the gaps internally. We could really use a upgrade among our D group for a top 4 RD, however thats accomplished (we need this D now, to serve as #1 puckmoving RD, and we need this D in the future to serve as 2RD, unless both Bear and Bouchard turn out elite, which is super wishful thinking. This would involve packaging picks or prospects with one of Sekera, Russell, Benning, or Larsson for an upgrade). We also need a healthy 1B stopgap at G that can give Starrett another development year while performing reliably and costing next to nothing. After that, its whatever depth additions and tweaks we can manage along with cutting salary whenever possible.
This stuff is possible to achieve, but theres no way of knowing if the org or new hires even understand the landscape or share those goals. If they do, id give a non-wizard GM a 50-50 chance of hitting it out of the park.
Im rooting for the hiring of a wizard, personally. In which case I'd add the otherwise impossible goal of clearing out Lucic to the needs list.
P.s. the above is not a roadmap to building an elite team, just a playoff worthy team that we can cross our fingers hoping that the internal promotions and draft picks can eventually put us over the top.
