I’ve said before if the move isn’t there right now then you do my make it right now...but that doesn’t mean Joe shouldn’t be talking to other GMs about potential moves for the future right now. A Zibby or ROR caliber guy should move over the summer and we’re in prime position to win that sweepstakes; so let Joe start laying the groundwork for that trade.
And you’re hyperbolizing massively. Moving two prospects and a pick, at most one of the young NHLers (Kerf) in place of one of the prospect; is in no way giving up on the youth. I think my craziest Drae proposal only ever moved 2 NHLers (Kerf & Barrie).
I’m not saying trade every assets for win now pieces. I’m saying trade 2 or 3 premium futures for that 1 missing piece that fits our young core age- & timeline wise.
I think that's fair, which is why I think this summer is "the most reasonable" timeline. I just think we could rip that window open this year if the right aggressive trade materializes. If it doesn't then we shouldn't force anything and whittle away our arsenal on rentals that don't solve anything. But I'd hope Joe is testing the waters, even if just to lay the groundwork for a summertime trade when we will have that information that is currently still up in the air. So that if something that makes sense in the summer, could be done now, we don't squander our chance to open that window early.
Young teams often actually arrive 1 year before they are "supposed to arrive". So when a team is as asset-/future-rich as ours & has the elite talent to contend, I think it's wiser to be aggressive in filling its final hole, rather than to wait around for the hole to solve itself. I'm just terrified of ending up having wasted our current strong future outlook like St. Louis did after they ascended post-EJ-trade. If a day comes where our top line is consuming almost 30M of the cap...and that day could very well be coming...I sure hope we've got at least 1 new banner in the rafters before then.