The Jackets may or may not make the playoffs, this season. But they aren't far from being a playoff team, next season. Changes must be made, though.
1) Christian Fletcher, Kevin Labanc, Jordan Harris, Jack Johnson and Daniel Tarasov must go. Johnson can retire, but the other four must not be offered contracts.
2) Luca del bel Belluz must be promoted from Cleveland. He'll fit nicely on the third line wing with Cole Sillinger and (probably) Mathieu Olivier giving the Jackets a line with both grit and scoring ability.
3) Get Dante Fabbro and (preferably) Ivan Provorov signed. Three to five year contracts should do it. Dmitri Voronkov is also a priority, but should be an easier sign than the other two.
4) Of the players finishing their contract this summer, I would resign Sean Kuraly. I doubt we can find a better anchor for the fourth line, his leadership would be welcome and I believe he'd agree to a hometown discount.
5) Justin Danforth, Luke Kunin and James Van Riemsdyk can, in my opinion, stay or go. Kunin has been a nice presence, but players like him are a dime a dozen. Danforth is a fan favorite, but he's also undersized and 32. And JVR has done all he was asked to, but he's 35. Any two of them willing to sign for $1MM or so would be good.
6) DO NOT sign Yegor Chinakhov to an extension. Don't get me wrong. I love his talent and his skill level is coming up. But he hasn't played a full season since coming over from Russia. At this point, we have to wonder if he is injury prone. I'd want to see him play about 75 games before offering him an extension.
7) If Jet Greaves somehow fails to win the open goalie slot, a decent back up must be found. Frankly, though, I believe I'm more likely to shake hands with James T Kirk than Jet will fail to claim that spot.
8) A 7th D needs to be found or promoted from Cleveland. And a forward may need to be brought in.
9) Ask Boone Jenner to surrender the C and give it to Zach Werenski. As much as I like Boone, his playing style is such that it's reasonable to deduce that he'll spend a portion of each season injured and I don't think a team captain should spend parts of each season injured.
10) Make the Stadium Series uniform the new home uniform.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Think I've finally lost my marbles?
