PK is done, devils are stuck with him. It gets lost in all the Hall noise just how bad he's been for them. I love it.
PK has been shit, no denying that the problem is that he is still trying to play like he was 5 years ago and he isn't capable of doing that anymore. Not to mention A) the coaching staff is not deploying him properly and B) we have no reliable shutdown guy to pair him with
with Hall gone, we're going to have a boatload of cap space to play around with again this summer hope we can sign a guy like Hoffman and then maybe Lehner or Markstrom
I'd say the Preds would take PK back if NJ covered the full salary, but I'm not even sure that would be a good thing for the Preds.
thing is they haven't really made any "all-in" type trades though. PK isnt working out but they still didn't really give up that much in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure they'll sell off vets at the deadline like Simmonds and Vatanen (if he isn't re-signed) I still don't believe that this team is THAT far away. Need to get a legit NHL coach in there though.
A top 5 pick in this next draft will go a long way too. Idk anything about the rest of your depth/upcoming prospects besides Smith tho
they have a metric ton of middle 6 forward prospects but the D and G pipeline is still thin. Schneider turning into a pumpkin really fucked us. I like Blackwood but I don't think he will ever be a legit #1 it sucks too because basically all their best prospects are either in the NCAA or overseas so its tough to get a sense of their actual prospect depth. Tyce Thompson (Tage's brother) is like 2nd in the NCAA in scoring as a soph. so thats promising
here is my short plan of how to fix the team: - hire a legit NHL coaching staff - trade Simmonds and Greene at the deadline for picks. Re-sign Vatanen. - package the 2020 Arizona 1st with Miles Wood and other stuff to bring in a legit top 4 LHD this summer - sign one of the UFA goalies (preferably Lehner) - sign Jake Muzzin - sign one of the wingers (Hoffman, Toffoli, Dadonov)