hockeykicker
Moderator
- Dec 3, 2014
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Everything needs to be on the table or else they run the risk of a throw-away season. While the 2023 draft doesn't make that altogether unappealing that's not a place they want to get to by virtue of poor management or by remaining too sentimental in maintaining the status quo. They'll be limited by the marketplace but, really, they can't afford to keep the powder dry. They can't afford some mistaken belief that the likes of CMM, Lapierre and Iorio are going to be crucial pieces in the coming year or two that can't be made available in the right deals. None of them are can't miss. None of them project to altogether be the sort of crucial all-around ingredients that fuel playoff success.
Backstrom - probably stating the obvious but it sounds like a degenerative osteophyte/arthritis condition from wear and tear that will never go away. Playing professional hockey is probably the worst thing for it.
Its a matter of playing through pain and limited range of motion.
I wish him the best and its up to him how long he wants to do this but this will shave some years off his career.
edit - without knowing his actual diagnosis but knowing they scoped the hip back in 2015 ... I dont think there is a surgery that cures it, this isnt a disk injury or ligament/tendon tear injury.
its degenerative. its a worn down hip socket that causes painful chips and bone spurs with repetitive movement/bone on bone rubbing of the joint.
He'll be getting cortisone injections when it flares up bad for the rest of his life. Get is scoped and cleaned up if he wants every decade or so.
I think they're pretty consistent and it's about scrutiny and healthy doses of skepticism. This take on the core mix seems obvious. Trying to hazard against future suckage is unavoidable. They'd have to be kidding themselves to think it won't happen with or without somewhat token youth in the pipeline. It should be increasingly clear as they now deal with the possibility of the franchise's best center also perhaps being done that it's not time for small, locked-in incremental type thinking. It seems unlikely in light of what we know about ownership that they would put a bunch of pretty unheralded prospects ahead of The Franchise in doing what's best to position themselves next season. Not that they should be moving them out for Tyler Bertuzzi or something but they do need to make some pretty significant additions if they are indeed minus a top six center.I can’t agree more with this. And then I read the discussion about Fehervary in the other thread and get a little bit of whiplash.
I think they're pretty consistent and it's about scrutiny and healthy doses of skepticism. This take on the core mix seems obvious. Trying to hazard against future suckage is unavoidable. They'd have to be kidding themselves to think it won't happen with or without somewhat token youth in the pipeline. It should be increasingly clear as they now deal with the possibility of the franchise's best center also perhaps being done that it's not time for small, locked-in incremental type thinking. It seems unlikely in light of what we know about ownership that they would put a bunch of pretty unheralded prospects ahead of The Franchise in doing what's best to position themselves next season. Not that they should be moving them out for Tyler Bertuzzi or something but they do need to make some pretty significant additions if they are indeed minus a top six center.
Where we may differ is the execution of it. I don't think a Scheifele is the answer as a righty with some questionable defense. He may be the best pure talent C available but the fit would be fairly awkward. If 19 is done then I'd certainly kick the tires on Kadri. Maybe see if Dylan Strome could be acquired on the cheap as more of a project top sixer. He falls short in pace/defense but the PP1 playmaking could be there. Though if Mantha is given that task then more of a defensively-inclined cheaper two-way C works. They definitely need certainty re: 19 in the next month to plan for next season and it's hard to imagine they won't be looking for a replacement.