If Detroit was smart and they aren't, they would trade Larkin for a ton of prospects to the Rangers. They are wasting his career. They suck and won't be any good for at least 4 years. He needs to give up the hometown crap and get out of there. Lundkvist because of Trouba's stupid contract will never play here. Jones because we aren't having 3, 5'11 defenseman on this team. I'd like to keep Kravtsov but you have to give to get. Same with Georgiev. Buchnevich is useless here. There they would probably move him for a 1st and a prospect if he played well. Georgiev, Jones, Lundkvist, Buchnevich and Kravtsov I would try for Larkin. It's not overpayment because as JD said, not everybody can play here. Detroit needs to build from the net out. Their defenseman core sucks beyond belief. Then they can draft a center with their first pick this season. I think Larkin would push 90 points with Panarin. He makes us a much better team on draws and speed wise. Detroit would simply be much closer to winning with Georgiev in net and those 4 guys potentially on the team next season.
I don't know what the deal is with Trouba, he's neither great defensively or offensively, but he definately has more to give. He can't just be 'a guy' for what he makes or we could have another Redden situation.
That's not fair. Trouba is already way better than Redden. Redden was awful and a bust as soon as he signed his contract. To me the story of Trouba is this. We signed him and paid him like he'd be a top pair RD, with shutdown ability and some offensive punch, for years to come. He has not lived up to that. The truth is, if you look at his whole career outside of 2018-2019, he has not been that guy. I think we overrated him. That's what's happening here. If we look at him for what he is now, a solid 2nd pair RD who will play a usually strong game in that role, but sometimes make a bonehead play, I think we'll be fine with Trouba. So we need to adjust our expectations to real solid 2nd pair RD, and I think we'll be good with Trouba. To be clear, that is not 8 mill per worthy, but we cannot do anything about that now. And with Fox clearly having raised his level to top pair status, having Trouba as our locked in 2nd pair RD for a few years is a good thing. That duo, Fox on the 1st pair and Trouba on the 2nd pair, will be good for years to come. Add in Schneider at RD over the next two seasons, and we are set there for many years I believe. We need to ensure we sign Lundkvist and then trade one of the RD in a package for a # 2 C.
Trouba has 1/10th the hockey brain and sense of Fox. That's his problem. I was all for getting Dubois but the Jackets wanted a big NHL player back. I have no idea why. They aren't going anywhere. They should have gotten rid of Torts. They would have been much better off with a new coach and the package I had above. They are not a cup contending team.
Yeah, he's basically like a $5.5m Dman at this point but he's gotta start doing more offensively, as 2pts in 11g is pretty putrid so far, weird season or not. I can live with a boneheaded play here and there but he's needs to be at least a 30-40 pt player with a decent +/- or we will get hurt badly cap wise. Does lead the team in hits which is something but needs to up his game, along with some others.
I think the hits is where the focus will be. Given he will not be a PP1 guy on this team, or be the 1st pair RD, I don't see him getting 30-40 points consistently (certainly not 40). If you remove 2018-2019 where he scored 50 points, he has hit 30 points once in his career, 16-17 with 33 points. Outside of that he's been in the 20's every season. I think that's where he will land most seasons. 25-32 or so points. If he does that and leads the team in hits, that is certainly 2nd pair RD worthy. Ideally that's a 5.5/6 mill cap hit, not 8, but he won't be a major issue of concern if he performs at that level season in and season out. Lead the team in hits, score 25-30 points a season, play on the 2nd pair, play 22/23 MPG, provide leadership. I can live with that.
Trouba was signed to provide a sorely lacking physical presence absent from the Rangers lineup for decades. I think his offensive numbers with the Bolts might have been slightly influenced by his teammates prolific scoring. He has a good RH shot and was supposed to be paired with his buddy Skjei. As far as centers go Mika has one more year left but with the way he's playing it would be hard to justify resigning him - would you consider trading him?
