Agreed. His cap number is not so bad, and I would think a player that already knows the system would be of highest value, knows some guys would slip in seamlessly.
Anything that shifts Shaw down to the energy spark on the shut down D line with Kruger makes two lines better.
I am seriously thinking that anything not involving somebody taking on Bigfoot cap though hamstrings us given Panarin impending bonuses.
Bowman isn't going to want to deal with Bigfoot AND a 2.5 million penalty next year on the cap. That means no Kruger, no Shaw, and no 1LW until 2018. Maybe no Hammer.
He is going to need that 2.5 to sign Bread man.
This all makes me believe, unless Bickell or Shaw get moved, or we did something bold like move a top 3 defenseman and go with our deep core of youth blue liners, there may be no impending move at all. We stand pat, we circle the wagons, and we have the option of moving Bickell and Dano up to the club to provide a physical spark with some skill, hits, and hard area hockey.
Do we mortgage it all on 2016? Its tempting. Its justified.
But perhaps its Crawfords turn to win the cup with a team that doesn't deserve it. He is looking like that kind of goalie this year. We may not need nothing if he plays at his hot level. He has controlled rebounds better, his consistency, and though he hasn't gotten shutouts in a little bit, its a mid season lull and he has had many 1-2 goal games that were W's. Meanwhile, Darling never loses in Chicago.
