Harrold being on a two year deal will be the factor that determines what happens with Fayne who is an upcoming UFA. With Merrill likely penciled in for the roster next year and everyone else still signed, what it will come down to is if we plan to resign Fayne, which means Harrold is dealt or waived to Albany. The more likely case is that I see Fayne dealt at the deadline for a pick to team looking for depth and expecting a long playoff run (perhaps like a chicago). In this case, getting a 3rd rounder is probably the best we could hope for. We'd lose him for nothing anyway so it's helpful to get anything.
As for Zajac, the biggest issue is his contract. NJ is paying him as they see him, a 1st line center, although in all reality, the guy is more of a solid 2nd line guy. I doubt many teams will pay $5.75 million for a guy who is about a 65% defensive benefit and only a 35% offensive one. This deal was like the reward contract that Pandolfo got. We also had no idea that Kovy was going to bolt an expected a long time pairing of Zajac and Kovy, two players that complimented each other's weaknesses.
We have some guys clogging up spots to develop guys - Zubrus being signed for 3 years is terrible and will block a spot for a guy like Matteau who should slot in on the third line and get some ice time. Bernier is being wasted on the 4th line checking and I would think that and Zubie should switch. I don;t think Carter or Olesz has much value around the league and trading a young player seems detrimental to the direction the team needs to go in.
I think we were hopeful that the team would challenge for a playoff spot as the #7-#8 seed but it's games like the Flyers one that shows us how fragile the team can be. Lou needs o start thinking about his legacy and what condition he will be leaving the team in. He started that with acquiring Schneider. Now, we need to look at some long term solutions up front. Boucher has potential but is risky cause of his skating and Tedenby and Josefson clearly are not the offensive players we hoped for.
Buffalo had two 1sts in 2011 (Grigorenko and Girgensons), had a tom of picks last year, and will have a ton again this year. Give them 3-4 years to develop and if they can add the right pieces will have a successful rebuild. I doubt we could pry Grigorenko out of there but Hodgson might be possible but I'm not sure what we could give Buffalo for now or why they would even make a deal to move Hodgson. Only thing is they'll need to manage their 50 contracts so moving a player for futures frees up a contract..so perhaps moving a 2015 2nd and a 2016 3rd might work.
With us bringing in Schneider, I think it's clear that we will not going into tank mode for a major rebuild. I think we have the G and defensive pieces in place for a nice transition, what we need is that stud forward to take us longer term - perhaps a guy like Evander Kane - now does a Zajac and Tedenby(or maybe Reese Scarlet) for Kane deal make sense? Maybe.