Saturday, June 22, 2013

A Dark Blue Basket Case

The draft looms, and I'm not sure what to think.  Aaron Portzline over at the Columbus Dispatch posted an article about Jarmo today.  It was thought provoking stuff.  We have three 1st round picks in the draft next Sunday.  Given our drafting position, it seems unlikely that any of them would necessarily make the team this year, most would require a bit of seasoning before being ready for the big dance.  And I'm okay with that.

I like the notion of stocking our development system with 4 players out of the top 44 in a deep draft.  Something good ought to come out of that.  But there is more in play here.  This draft, as constructed now, is about a future core of players.  Guys that will show up in the next 2-4 years to help the big club.

Our team finished the year strong.  But the goal tender, now Vezina Trophy Winner, is not signed.  It's a process, and Bobrovsky's agent is taking advantage of that leverage, so the process has a ways to go yet.   Bob might win the Vezina again next year, but it unlikely.  There are other fine candidates on better teams that will be in the hunt next year, and that is an award that doesn't see a lot of repeats.  It happens, but it hasn't happened much recently.  A pragmatic sort of person would expect to see his numbers dip some.

Which brings me back to Porty's article about Jarmo.  We are under the new salary cap by quite a bit, about $18 million according to CapGeek.  That puts us in the third of the league with the most cap space.  And we have current needs, no doubt about that.  As Morgan has often wondered aloud, where is the scoring going to come from next year? And I think that Jarmo and JD have a lot more on their mind than just stocking the farm system.

I'm not happy that they are not talking with Vinny yet.  I think you need him no matter what.  But I understand where they are coming from, they want to see where they are standing come free agency before signing him.  That's the smart way to do it, but it's unsettling for this fan.  Which in a way is good, because if I'm unsettled, the opposition is in the same boat, and I think THAT is a good thing.

So its going to be an anxious week to see what befalls the roster.  There could be quite a bit of change.  We'll see where that takes us.

GO JACKETS!!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.