u/Vanilla-_12

Rautiainen also won Game 7 of the Liiga Finals in Finland, recording a primary assist on the GWG. It was a gorgeous pass spinning around on his backhand behind the net, it reminded me of Kucherov's pass to Point in Game 2 of the 2021 ECF.

He has one more year on his current contract still, but the future really does look good for both our prospects' trajectories if all goes well.

In light of our mediocre trade deadline, the lack of a real top-6 player with upside coming up from Syracuse, and the appalling free agent class of 2026, I thought it'd be interesting to look at what archetype of players we really need to make an improved playoff push next year.

The consensus we seem to have is that: (1) Point going cold really hurt our top 6 scoring, which we needed more of, (2) We got killed on faceoffs all series and maybe also all year long, and (3) We could use some speed, with hands not made of stone.

I don't think there exists a top 6 centre that we could trade for which would tick all three boxes neatly, but there are some intriguing conversations we could have.

So first, assuming we don't trade anyone in our top 6, we have a combination of Hagel, Cirelli, Kucherov, Point, Guentzel. Supposing we play a top line of Hagel - Cirelli - Kucherov like we did before, this leaves Point and Guentzel without either a LW or a C. Point's FO% in the regular season was 45.8%, in the playoffs 45.3%. That's abysmal, and he's already not known for his defence in the same way Cirelli is.

So then the question is, should we move him to LW? By doing so, we free up the faceoff + defensive responsibility, we leave him free to charge up the wing with that speed. Sounds like a win. But Point also does his best work in those bumper positions (or *did*, before this year), so there's some caution in throwing him onto the wing where it may not lead to the same success.

If you keep Point as a centre, I could see a potential in acquiring:

• Jared McCann (SEA): Plays C/LW, age 29. He has averaged 60-point seasons or better in his previous four seasons. He has 1 year remaining on a $5M deal, so he would cost basically the same as Bjorkstrand currently does. Had a 52% on FOs last year, but before that 44.7% and 47.9%.
• Matias Maccelli (TOR/FA): Plays LW, age 25. He had a disastrous year in TOR this year, only putting up 39 points in 71 games with 14:34 ATOI. This would be a reclamation project for a player that admittedly did put up 57 points in 82 games in 2024 with a poor Arizona team. More of a distributor than a shooter, but if played with Point and Guentzel, who excel when played with playmakers, it might work. This wouldn't cost any assets to obtain, assuming TOR does not qualify him for re-signing. There doesn't appear to be any love lost between the two camps, with how his season went.

If you move Point to LW, however, then I really see one huge standout to swing for:

• Vincent Trocheck (NYR): Plays C, age 32. The prize of the aspiring 'win-now' team. Trocheck is on a rebuilding NYR team, has not won the Cup yet, so there's a lot of potential in trying to pry him away. He will command an immense price, however, but if TB's goal is to try and maximize their remaining window, I don't see any untouchables on our roster that we shouldn't try to leverage. He has averaged 67 points in 82 games played over his past three years, plays both PP/PK, averages 20 minutes a night for NYR, and comes in with a 3-year average faceoff percentage of 58.3%. If he is a fit in this locker room, this would be a huge acquisition that drastically improves our firepower and fixes our faceoff issue on the right side as well. (Cirelli and Paul are both left-handed for faceoffs) The only issue is that he is signed at $5.6M until 2029 - would we care if we won? No. Would this create cap headaches? Yes. Since he's not on an expiring deal as well, the price to get him would no doubt also be higher.
• Finally, I don't think they'd ever entertain this for a second, but I pause to also note that current captain Nico Hischier (NJD) is 27, has an expiring deal ($7.25M) next year, and is a 1C also averaging 65+ points in his last three years. He has a FO% of 55.9% in that same three-year span. Just worth noting.

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Anyways, all this to conclude that we really need some help in our top 6. Kucherov and Point were not the big game-breaking factors that they arguably should be, and while Hagel and Guentzel had productive postseasons, they can't go it alone. The emergence of James and Goncalves makes a third line with scoring upside feasible, with Gourde/Girgensons/Holmberg doing their thing on the fourth line.

As I've written this, I really like Trocheck as an acquisition for this team. No idea what the price would be - I'm sure it's huge - but I think that any "futures" we give up would be more than worth it to secure this remaining core at least one more deep playoff run.