Chippawa Mid Season Blog

 "Well, after this deadline we will mostly have our team set for next season with some possible tinkering around the edges. The rebuild this season was very effective and we are very happy with our results. We have mostly done what we set out to accomplish and built a team that will be competitive on most nights, is cost controlled, and age appropriate with players in their prime and under control for terms long enough to try and complete the next phase of our rebuild. Now, we need to gather enough quality assets to acquire true top line talent. This will invariably be the toughest part of the rebuild. To be patient and not remove from the current roster while in this phase is something we expect will be tremendously difficult. After our current UFA players fall off (we are resigning Trouba with his fantastic season so far) and will only need to move a few challenging contracts in Kerfoot, Talbot, Demko, and a few players that just don’t fit the rebuild (Sharangovich, Bjorkstrand.) After this our salary situation will be under $85M to allow for the space required to add the calibre of players we now will need to be a true contender. Make no mistake, this is exactly where we wanted to be when we decided to tear it down and move our older and higher calibre players beginning last off season. In a twist of fate we even reacquired a player we were very hesitant to move (McCann) due to seasonal circumstances with the player. It happens. So, all in all, we are very happy, and the only thing we think could have made this any better, would be for us to have accomplished getting one of those top 5 positions to be filled this season but, we knew very well going into this rebuild that would be a very tough thing to accomplish. Good luck to all GMs the rest of the way, as we now shift our focus to contending for a playoff spot.