This week for the roundtable we asked you, the readers, to give us a topic to discuss. You came through and gave us a great topic this week.
@BuckeyeStHockey off season priority #1
— Brett Sidoryk (@iamTwigggy) April 7, 2016
Sam: Let’s do this!
Sam: What is your number one offseason priority if you are management?
The Coach: An honest-to-goodness top six forward
Sam: Do they not have enough of those? Where is the weak spot up front?
The Coach: Whether that is through the draft, or via trade, or whatever way comes up
Paul: They need that top line centre.
The Coach: Are they actually top six forwards though? I’m not sure how many of the CBJ top six forwards are top six forwards, talent-wise
Mark aka Reddit CBJ: Saad, Atkinson, Jenner? Dubinsky, if you consider him a 2nd line C, I suppose
Matt: The Coach’s question is the one I thing needs to be the top priority: making a realistic evaluation of who is a real top line forward or top pairing d-man, and then working to figure out how to fill in those other slots.
The Coach: I think at this point, Dubinsky shouldn’t really be counted on filling that moving forward. I agree on the other three, but that’s still three forwards short, and none of them have shown they can play centre at the NHL level.
Matt: Right now, I think there are two certain long-term first line/first pair players on the team. Maybe 3 or 4 if Murray or Werenski pan out. That there aren’t more is a real problem. When combined with the realities of time, some of the current “top 6” stop being quite so valuable in short order, adding to the problem.
Sam: So, for some of you, the top offseason priority is getting another top six forward. How do they go about acquiring one? Isn’t the defense still a weakness?
Jeremy: But everyone on the blueline is signed for next season.
The Coach: The defense is still a weakness, but the top pair is set.
Jeremy: It’s going to be very difficult to do anything in the way of upgrading there.
Mark: I think they need to cut loose as many as possible of: Clarkson, Johnson, Foligno, Hartnell and Tyutin.
The Coach: The foundation is there for the defense, the forwards do not yet have a foundation
Jeremy: And yes – the top three is already pretty much guaranteed. Maybe Jack Johnson is the guy to dangle in a trade (for a forward).
Paul: I think they need to call the Oilers and see if they can pry Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (loose).
Jeremy: Both the defense and forwards need work. If we’re only picking one? The forwards are probably more of a dire situation.
Sam: Lot of pie in the sky ideas but what realistically can be done?
The Coach: It’s always hard to get into specifics. Obvious answer is the draft. But how many people saw the Saad trade coming?
Matt: Realistically? Not much through trade or free agency thanks to contracts and cap space.
Mark: Pray for losing one or more of those guys to the expansion draft?
Matt: That’s why netting a top talent at the draft is so important, it’s the one low-cost option on the table (excepting some kind of trade robbery).
Mark: Realistically, I think their hands are tied. So many long-term bad contracts. The best they can probably hope for is to trade off one or two of those guys, re-sign Jones, buyout Boll or send him and McElhinney to Lake Erie.
Sam: Most of you agree an overhaul is needed. What happens if they don’t move forward with such a drastic move? Is there anything internally that can be done to improve this team?
The Coach: That depends on how much they are willing to pay players to play in the AHL. If money were not an object, they could conceivably bury some players in the AHL, and hope for some improvement from within with Bjorkstrand, Rychel, Milano, Werenski, Korpisalo et al
Matt: If they win the lottery, add Auston Matthews and he slots into the NHL right away, does that count as an overhaul? I don’t think so, and it improves them next year and long-term.
Matt: (crosses all the fingers)
The Coach: (and toes)
The Coach: (and knocks on wood)
The Coach: (throws salt over shoulder)
Sam: Key word is “most” Matt! Not everyone.
Mark: So in summary: pray we win the lottery and hope someone is dumb enough to trade for our bad contracts = priority 1 and 1a?
Matt: I think the draft (and the draft lottery) are the uncertainty bottleneck at this point for me. The CBJ need upgrades in a number of places. What they do after depends heavily on who they pick.
Paul: If they don’t overhaul or make a big move I don’t see how much the team improves. They would really be banking on major improvements from the young guys like Wennberg, Bjorkstrand and Sonny.
The Coach: Much has been made of the salaries at the top of the CBJ ledger, but to me, it’s almost as much a problem how many guys lower down the lineup that are already signed for next year. They not only don’t have the cap room to fit in new players, but they don’t have the roster spots for anyone new, or for a prospect who earns a job.
The Coach: They already have ten forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies on one-way contracts for next year, which doesn’t include RFA’s Seth Jones and William Karlsson. Wait, that’s a pretty damn big priority right there.
The Coach: Get Seth Jones signed.
Mark: I agree!
Sam: Me too.
Sam: Do we have an agreement?
Sam: For all of our long-term thoughts, the first thing the Jackets need to do this off-season is re-sign Seth Jones. That wasn’t so hard, was it?
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