Speculation: So ... What's Next?

[Mackiaveli]

Now that the playoffs are officially over, we get to find out finite answers to all of our questions:

Bergevin - Presumably getting a new contract - 3 years or 4?
Ducharme - No chance Bergevin doesn't bring him back, for better or worse.

UFAs - Tatar is gone without a doubt, but I can't imagine Bergevin will be allowed to let Danault walk ... I think we're about to get taken to the cleaners. Lehkonen probably back, I imagine Armia will want to go somewhere he can get more minutes and more money. Chiarot or Edmundson are gone with the expansion draft, hopefully the former.

So if all of that is true - what is our vision moving forward? Price and Weber might have one kick left at the can, but our team truly was a Cinderella run ... What do we need, and how do we add it? Will Bergevin go that route, or stay the course and hope to keep all of our draft picks and slowly add through the draft. What will happen with Drouin?

It seems with Seattle and the flat cap that a LOT of players are going to be available ... I feel like Bergevin is going to go after DeAngelo (for better or worse), bring back Perry, and add a top 9LW and hopefully an LD. I could see him swinging for Eichel using Kotkaniemi and a few 1sts as the main piece if other teams won't part with their big prospects (Byfield, Turcotte, Zegras, etc)

We were 3 wins away - is there anything Bergevin can do to help us get here again?

Click to read more...

 

[Banjo Cat]

I wanna get younger. But we will see how they do next season.

 

[Fazkovsky]

One of Gallagher, edmundson, drouin needs to go

 

[austin316]

We need more firepower upfront, and extremely evident to me that we can't afford to lose either Chiarot or Edmundson in the expansion draft. Yes, we need more offense from our D, but you need those types of players when the going gets tough.

 

[Seb]

Get real dmen. Chiarot, Edmundson, Merrill, Kulak and Weber is a travesty.

They did well for most of the playoffs, but this is a f***ing brutal defense.

I'll never understand why they preferred Gus and Merrill over Romanov for three games against Tampa.

 

[Mackiaveli]

One of Gallagher, edmundson, drouin needs to go

For what purpose? Drouin's value is low, Edmundson is not going to fetch a big return and would leave our LD in absolute shambles, and Gallagher just got signed to a long term deal so no shot Bergevin trades him. Free Agent pool seems pretty shallow too so the cap space is only useful if we scoop someone from somewhere

 

[WinterLion]

Draft

 

[expy]

New GM, new coaches, rebuild.

 

[PricerStopDaPuck]

- get a puck moving lhd( Schmidt or Martinez)
- left wing help( Schwartz or Hoffman)
- try to get Byron’s contract off the books
- I personally would want to try to get rid of Gallagher but that’s never going to happen
- put our 1st rounder on the market and add from there if a good offensive player comes available

 

[Gravity]

Continue with the youth. Ride Suzuki,KK,CC and Romanov next season. Continue to draft well and maybe add to the talent pool next year with a top draft. We're getting there. Just need to not rush it and think we're all in now.

 

[Richiebottles]

I think he signs or trades for a Top 6 Forward and adds a mobile PMD.

 

[Fazkovsky]

For what purpose? Drouin's value is low, Edmundson is not going to fetch a big return and would leave our LD in absolute shambles, and Gallagher just got signed to a long term deal so no shot Bergevin trades him. Free Agent pool seems pretty shallow too so the cap space is only useful if we scoop someone from somewhere

Drouin isnt part of this team. Gallagher did absolutely nothing. Edmundson is slow and brings nothing offensively and didn’t play well in the finals

We need a small cleanup

 

[M.C.G. 31]

Tatar's gone.
Drouin hopefully gets a fresh start in Seattle and we clear up that cap.
Re-sign Danault for 4-4.5m

seek a puck moving left handed defenseman that can eat a good chunk of minutes for situations like this, and IF the cap still works, add a top-six winger. I have faith that Romanov takes a big step next season, too.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Don't make any mistake like last offseason
Awful long terms contracts for middle 6 players.
No more stay at home d-man
Release Staal Merrill Gustafsson Frolik Tatar , Armia and Danault (Except if he stays at 4m).
Find a new coach
Probably a new GM
Take a decision with Price and mostly Weber.
Give KK top 6 minute or trade him , yes it needs to be fixed once for all. We are not going forward with Danault as a top 6 center.
Give more icetime to Romanov.
Deal with the Drouin situation.
Get Rid of Byron contract.

Don't think this team is good enough to win it all with Price/Weber window. 1 can say they just lost in the stanley cup final , it was fun but to be honest this run was a complete fluke. 24-32 in a regular season doesnt send you in playoffs to begin with.

List goes on.

 

[River Meadow]

One of Gallagher, edmundson, drouin needs to go

We're keeping Eddy

 

[TheBuriedHab]

Get drunk, cry....

 

[River Meadow]

Don't make any mistake like last offseason
Awful long terms contracts for middle 6 players.
No more stay at home d-man
Release Staal Merrill Gustafsson Frolik Tatar , Armia and Danault (Except if he stays at 4m).
Find a new coach
Probably a new GM
Take a decision with Price and mostly Weber.
Give KK top 6 minute of trade him , yes it needs to be fixed once for all.
Give more icetime to Romanov.
Deal with the Drouin situation.
Get Rid of Byron contract.

Don't think this team is good enough to win it all with Price/Weber window. 1 can say they just lost in the stanley cup final , it was fun but to be honest this run was a complete fluke. 24-32 in a regular season doesnt send you in playoffs to begin with.

List goes on.

Why get rid of Armia?

He's great.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Why get rid of Armia?

He's great.

2.5m a year you can keep him. Above that he's a no for me. His stats are deflated due to him having top 6 minutes for 3 years straight. He's a 3rd liner at best. He dissapears often in chunks. He finished the playoffs with 1 goal 0 assist in his 11 last games. Don't think I would give him Byron money for 30 points a season with PP time.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Draft.
We were a stanley cup final team, and we have the 2nd most draft picks this year. Crazy

 

[llamateizer]

You keep 4 D
And protect Anderson , Gallagher (NMC), kk and Lehkonen

You expose Evans, Drouin, Toffoli, danault (UFA) , Byron and Armia (UFA)

 

[PricerStopDaPuck]

Don't make any mistake like last offseason
Awful long terms contracts for middle 6 players.
No more stay at home d-man
Release Staal Merrill Gustafsson Frolik Tatar , Armia and Danault (Except if he stays at 4m).
Find a new coach
Probably a new GM
Take a decision with Price and mostly Weber.
Give KK top 6 minute or trade him , yes it needs to be fixed once for all. We are not going forward with Danault as a top 6 center.
Give more icetime to Romanov.
Deal with the Drouin situation.
Get Rid of Byron contract.

Don't think this team is good enough to win it all with Price/Weber window. 1 can say they just lost in the stanley cup final , it was fun but to be honest this run was a complete fluke. 24-32 in a regular season doesnt send you in playoffs to begin with.

List goes on.

Seems like a tad of an over reaction. Also Danault will not accept 4 mill which is understandable, he shouldn’t, probably stays at around 5.5. Not sure why anyone would want to get rid of Army, great penalty killer and great along the boards. If it’s a reasonable contract you have to keep him. Also Berg and Dom aren’t going anywhere and I don’t understand all of the hate Berg gets. Also don’t “give” KK anything, he’s got to earn it, and from what we’ve seen for most of this season and playoffs besides the odd flash doesn’t justify him being anything more then a 3c for now.

 

[River Meadow]

2.5m a year you can keep him. Above that he's a no for me. His stats are deflated due to him having top 6 minutes for 3 years straight. He's a 3rd liner at best. He dissapears often in chunks. He finished the playoffs with 1 goal 0 assist in his 11 last games. Don't think I would give him Byron money for 30 points a season with PP time.

Stats, stats, stats.

He's super important to this team...

smh

 

[VirginiaMtlExpat]

Now that the playoffs are officially over, we get to find out finite answers to all of our questions:

Bergevin - Presumably getting a new contract - 3 years or 4?
Ducharme - No chance Bergevin doesn't bring him back, for better or worse.

UFAs - Tatar is gone without a doubt, but I can't imagine Bergevin will be allowed to let Danault walk ... I think we're about to get taken to the cleaners. Lehkonen probably back, I imagine Armia will want to go somewhere he can get more minutes and more money. Chiarot or Edmundson are gone with the expansion draft, hopefully the former.

So if all of that is true - what is our vision moving forward? Price and Weber might have one kick left at the can, but our team truly was a Cinderella run ... What do we need, and how do we add it? Will Bergevin go that route, or stay the course and hope to keep all of our draft picks and slowly add through the draft. What will happen with Drouin?

It seems with Seattle and the flat cap that a LOT of players are going to be available ... I feel like Bergevin is going to go after DeAngelo (for better or worse), bring back Perry, and add a top 9LW and hopefully an LD. I could see him swinging for Eichel using Kotkaniemi and a few 1sts as the main piece if other teams won't part with their big prospects (Byfield, Turcotte, Zegras, etc)

We were 3 wins away - is there anything Bergevin can do to help us get here again?

Hope that a team of doctors look at Eichel first and determine whether his neck is truly fixable or not. Otherwise, that could be an expensive Lindros-like albatross of a trade. After all, it's a contact sport.

 

[llamateizer]

What's the next key dates ? Anyone got it ?

Draft , expansion, UFA , New season...

 

[Banjo Cat]

Find a new coach
Probably a new GM
Take a decision with Price and mostly Weber.

Agree with all these things, but it will never happen. At least, it won't happen next. If they suck hard next year, maybe then it will happen.