RD are valuable, that's why Ceci was sign. Do I get the contract ? No, but he is an experienced RD in the NHL and that's why they signed him. Clearly L.A. are desperate for RD's
Defensive FA market was terrible this year, could LA have done better, yes, but was someone like Perbix over Ceci gonna move the needle? No. Contract wise you can't defend Holland, but player wise you can't really blame him. And I'd rather have Dumoulin than Provorov for 8.5 mil. And I'd rather have Ceci than trade that rumoured "blow your socks off" package for Rasmus Andersson. Blake is the one to blame for this awful state of the D core, they never liked Spence, why did they choose him over Roy only to dump him a year later. Gavrikov was not committed to this team, that's a guy Blake traded for. I know for a fact he loved Faber, but didn't commit to him. Pretty much wasted Durzi as an asset, wasted Walker as an asset. It was not a good off season to have cap space, especially for a team that needs defense. They need to trade for someone like Vince Dunn, but they don't have a lot of assets to give up, Greentree is a keeper, so wouldn't want him gone. Offensively you're underestimating this team, that's a damn good forward group and you didn't even mention Turcotte, who most likely will be the 4C and is a very underrated offensive generator. PP should be good, PK should be good. Expecting a big year from Byfield, I think he's gonna pop off, I think Kuzi is gonna have a great season in a contract year, bc that's what russians do, exactly like Gavrikov, signed a short deal to up his value and earn himself a nice paycheck. Doughty will be better this year, he needs to stay healthy, but Clarke is the x factor, this blue line will go as far as Clarke takes them, if he breaks out and maybe they add a top 4 left shot D man who'll be an improvement over Edmundson, then all of a sudden the blue line doesn't look half bad.
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RD are valuable, that's why Ceci was sign. Do I get the contract ? No, but he is an experienced RD in the NHL and that's why they signed him. Clearly L.A. are desperate for RD's
Defensive FA market was terrible this year, could LA have done better, yes, but was someone like Perbix over Ceci gonna move the needle? No. Contract wise you can't defend Holland, but player wise you can't really blame him. And I'd rather have Dumoulin than Provorov for 8.5 mil. And I'd rather have Ceci than trade that rumoured "blow your socks off" package for Rasmus Andersson. Blake is the one to blame for this awful state of the D core, they never liked Spence, why did they choose him over Roy only to dump him a year later. Gavrikov was not committed to this team, that's a guy Blake traded for. I know for a fact he loved Faber, but didn't commit to him. Pretty much wasted Durzi as an asset, wasted Walker as an asset. It was not a good off season to have cap space, especially for a team that needs defense. They need to trade for someone like Vince Dunn, but they don't have a lot of assets to give up, Greentree is a keeper, so wouldn't want him gone.
Offensively you're underestimating this team, that's a damn good forward group and you didn't even mention Turcotte, who most likely will be the 4C and is a very underrated offensive generator. PP should be good, PK should be good. Expecting a big year from Byfield, I think he's gonna pop off, I think Kuzi is gonna have a great season in a contract year, bc that's what russians do, exactly like Gavrikov, signed a short deal to up his value and earn himself a nice paycheck. Doughty will be better this year, he needs to stay healthy, but Clarke is the x factor, this blue line will go as far as Clarke takes them, if he breaks out and maybe they add a top 4 left shot D man who'll be an improvement over Edmundson, then all of a sudden the blue line doesn't look half bad.