CMONPETEYD

And we secured the 61st pick instead of the 62nd pick with the Blues win!

A combination. I am suggesting trade the guys for picks and prospects. I am saying that I do not think we will have the team with the assets composed this year to do enough to compete. Then does Hall get signed, who knows? But if Hall does sign a long term max deal and we still take 2-3 years to round into form, is he going to have an albatross contract, is he going to hold up? I think there are a lot of factors at play, and while Ray may try to bring in the assets we need this year to sign Hall in the long term, is the core of this team really ready to compete now? I do not think they are based on how fragile they were last year and how green we will be next year

Anyone hearing the same thing that I have been hearing... that the 2020 draft is looking to be one of the best ones ever Lafreniere, Byfield, Holtz and a few others. In thinking about this and what Hall said at the interview last week (That he is "ALMOST" ready to begin skating) - I am becoming concerned that Hall's injury is something that may have a significant impact in his durability or his longevity. If you treat Hall as an asset. you could get quite a return from him now. Also a guy like Vatanen who I have advocated before with trading him. Both of these guys are on expiring contracts and I think if we play this right, we could hit a home run. Are the fans getting tired of the rebuild - yes. Are we ready to compete this year - probably not, especially with 4-5 rookies probably in the lineup next year. Before you tell me that I am crazy - please think about this logically and if this is something you could see Shero doing.... Always love the debate and discussion!

Outside of Hughes, does anyone have a sinking feeling like Shero is going to blow this offseason? Seems like there is a ton of opportunity, but does anyone truly believe we are going to do the following: 1. Sign/Trade for Top 6 Fwd 2. Sign/Trade for Top 4 Def I think there is a better chance we sign/trade for guys who are traditionally 3rd line or 3rd pairing guys and try to push them up.... like the Brian Boyle/Ben Lovejoy signings. Then we will be forced into trading Hall and not get true value because of his injury status.... Still things with our FWD corps and some other pieces are looking up, but something inside me thinks it will be a rocky off-season and we will have another 2-3 years of building before we get back to playoffs. We all want this magic pill to take us to contention this year, but I do not know if Shero can make it happen! At least we should have Jack and Nico.....

How about this scenario Sign Jake Gardiner Trade Vatanen for Kapanen, Nathan Horton's Contract & 2nd in 2020. We can retain some of Vatanen's contract if that gets the deal done!

He also said Boqvist was signing and that has not happened yet

2 Assists!

I think Shero's time is better spent on # 34 overall and what he is going to do to move up potentially. I think picking # 1 - they have spent much less time than all of us making up their mind on who to pick.

Let’s just play a hypothetical situation here ... would you rather have a Paul Kariya or a Teemu Selanne

While I agree with you ... maybe.... Caufield is scoring at a rate never seen before for the USNDP. You can ask yourself if he is a product of Hughes, or if Caufield really is gonna be the next and maybe better than Alex DeBrincat. The closest thing we have to a sniper is Kyle Palmieri and he is a 30 goal scorer... 35 maybe at most.

The other thing to think about, is we also thought we had the next All Star D Group with the likes of Jon Merrill Damon Severson Eric Gelinas Steve Santini Adam Larsson (Supposed to be great, settled in as a steady SAH D) We got one nice Dman out of that group, and he still needs to improve his DEFENSE. I'm not saying that Smith won't be great, but it may be worth it in this case given the chemistry and history of those 2! Also the kids are 17 and 18 years old, some are still growing!

Yeah - my thought was that Shero can address D through trade/free agency to really bring in what we need and do this as well. I think it may be worth exploring.

It's an interesting debate and one worth talking about. Caufield and Hughes have played together forever and obviously have great chemistry. Does Shero think about trading up if Cole is available from say 7 to 10. I was thinking Vancouver could be interested in something like D Ty Smith # 34 2nd in 2020 Does this get it done? Should he even do it? Is this price too much?? An interesting debate/thought to have as we move forward. I think Ty is gonna be great, but think about the potential of having Caufield and Hughes light up the NHL for years Bratt - Hischier - Hall Palmieri - Hughes - Caufield This would be a great top 6 in a few years.... Interested in hearing everyones opinion!

# 1 for Petterson and take Caufield with #10? :):):)

Devils should take a look at Basking Ridge Kid, Marc Del Gaizo as a late round flier. https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/more-than-just-makar-meet-frozen-four-hero-marc-del-gaizo He is 19 and already a freshman at UM Amherst playing in Frozen Four.