BlueinNy wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2024 3:16 pm
I'm a glass half full guy but this team in my estimation has no path to the playoffs and shouldn't be in, scrub the season and wait for next October with a top 3 draft pick.
I really don't see us drafting in the top-5 (barring a long-shot lottery win).
San Jose and Chicago genuinely suck. (Stop snickering; I mean their play on the ice!)
Anaheim has some great-looking young talent developing (Zegras, Carlsson, McTavish, Gauthier, Mintyukov, etc), but they'll still be bottom-5 for another year or two.
There's already talk about where (not IF) Ottawa is going to trade off Tarasenko (THERE'S a name I haven't heard in a while!), and they'll probably try to deal Kubalik, too. They SHOULD be better than they are (Tkachuk, Stützle, Batherson, Chabot, Chychrun, Giroux, Norris), but just haven't put it together this season. I doubt they'll draft outside of the top 5 or 6.
Columbus... just a complete dumpster fire. From the Drama (Capital 'D') with Mike Babcock before the season even began, to the issues with Elvis Merzlikins and various injuries now. So much talent on paper. What happened to Gaudreau and Laine? And Boqvist. And, well, any of them?
I think the best we're going to draft is 6th, but more likely 10th - 12th and we don't have much in the way of pending UFA's to trade off, maybe enough for an extra 3rd and/or 4th round pick, or DEEP prospect.