I would still be very surprised if the Canes elect to move Eric Staal. Certainly a trade of Eric Staal would trigger what amounts to a major overhaul of the team, which as we have argued for a few season now might be what is necessary to really turn this cycle of losing around. But as dangerous and misguided as it might be to put any stock at all on this teams win-loss situation since Jordan Staal returned, I think it would be very difficult for Ronnie F. to ignore.
The way I see 2015-16, the expectation and plan is going to be to put together a team that will be expected to continue what this team has done since the calendar flipped to 2015. I fully expect that Ronnie is going think about what a trade of Eric Staal would mean, and realize that while the assets/prospects/players coming back would be a nice package, the subraction of our top scorer from the current mix might disrupt the 2015 success and add too much uncertainty to the roster next year and limit our ability to compete. While the overall plan will continue to be to build a solid foundation for success in a 1-3 year timeframe, I don't expect the Canes to be willing to go into full rebuild mode and jeopardize any playoff hopes this team might have next year. Trading your leading scorer and most popular player is a tough sell, even if it helps build the winning foundation.
All of that is debatable of course, but I don't think Ronnie is going to see trading Eric Staal in the offseason as the right play here. I fully expect that he will continue to try to build off of the Staal brother core and improve the rest of the team. Part of that will be giving Eric Staal a 6-8 year extension, but for less money than he is making now ($7-8 million per). I just don't see Ronnie pulling the trigger on trading our top scorer and captain unless Eric for some reason forces his hand and demands some outrageous salary that he doesn't deserve.
I agree on Semin, probably best to move on in any way possible, but I'm still betting that he makes that decision harder by looking like an all star over the final meaningless games. Maybe that makes him easier to trade, but maybe it causes Ronnie to pause and think about whether or not the dead money would be worth it if Semin actually shows he can play well for a stretch here. Could go either way I think.
The D of course will be addressed in some way. I sense from Ronnie that he will be looking to leverage these picks we have into Defense help in some way. Certainly we have some solid and legit prospects in juniors now, something we have been lacking for years. But they are at least 2-4 years away from helping the NHL club. As suggested above, we should be looking to take advantage of teams in difficult cap situations to try to acquire their D talent.
And Cam and Khudobin....that's a tough one to predict. Something needs to happen there of course, but there are so many possibilities and options that its hard to call. Unfortunately Khudobin has gone from a guy who looked like he was in the fringe of maybe being an NHL #1 goalie or at least a #1B to now being a somewhat pricey backup goalie. That's going to make him harder to trade should the Canes want to go that route. Cam is moveable I expect in the offseason if the Canes are willing to eat some of his final season salary. But again, if you are thinking that this team is going to fight for a playoff spot next year, and you trade Cam Ward in the offseason, who exactly are you going to have in goal backstopping this team next year?
I think we all exited December thinking that 2015-16 would likely end up a bridge season where a rebuild gets underway and the playoffs in 15-16 would be an unexpected miracle and the team would be set up to start to win again in 16-17. But then the team seemed to get it figured out under Peters and the new coaching staff. They are 15-9-3 since the start of the calendar year (100 point pace). And while I know that a lot of us cringe at the idea that we are simply going to repeat the cycle of keeping the core and tweaking things and setting up for failure, I think that Ronnie at this point knows that this team really cannot flush another season next year and needs to try to make the playoffs. I expect him to improve the blueline significantly (hard not to considering where it is right now), possibly get rid of Semin, re-sign Eric Staal, and wait until the season is underway to let things play out and decide how to tackle the goalie situation. I'm fully expecting Cam Ward and Eric Staal to be on the ice opening night for the Canes next year. Is that the 'right' thing to do? Absolutely debatable. But that is my prediction. We will of course spend the next 4 months debating what should be done and debating what is actually done.
I didn't mention the draft lottery at all. If the Canes luck into the first overall pick then I would be absolutely willing to bet that Eric Staal absolutely will be re-signed, almost no doubt in my mind. That would immediately change everything about Ronnie's approach. I actually have a different opinion on tha LA pick. While I would prefer LA make the playoffs so we can get that pick this year (and either make it or trade it for D help), it would be real interesting if that pick slides to 2016, especially if LA manages to miss the playoffs next year too. If all of that happens, that first round pick gives us 3 shots to jump up to 1st, 2nd, or 3rd overall in the 2016 draft. That would be interesting and exciting.......
