These are the times we really need a beat writer like Saad Yousef to break it all down for us. He had a few good articles early last offseason including (if I recall correctly) a breakdown of why it made zero sense to buyout Suter last year but possibly could this year. If anyone finds any good articles please link.
Clearly the top priority is defense. Tanev was a great fit if we can make the years and numbers work. Presumably Bichsel will be given an opportunity next year considering he was next man up for game 5 they must think he's closer than we previously thought he was. Suter gets a bad wrap but I think he had a solid year overall in his new role including the playoffs until the last few games. It's hard to blame him though considering we played so many games essentially rolling 5 D. He, like everyone, wore down. Of course, he's just getting older. Still, unless we have something bigger up our sleeve seems doubtful we buy him out? I'm ok letting Hak move on.
Duchene is interesting. He was a good fit here (although, like others, had an underwhelming playoffs). I think he would like to stay given his interviews which seem genuine. I think it's all a question of whether his priority is maxing out contract or a good situation with a chance to win a cup. If the former it probably doesn't work and I definitely don't have a sense if there are other contenders that have a bigger need than we do (I think we clearly have to prioritize D). The fact that he got bought out might help but seems like he also clearly took the 1 year deal last year hoping to turn that into a better contract this year. Feels like more likely than not he's playing somewhere else next year.
I'm good resigning Steel if we could get him cheap. We are clearly extending Harley. Are we giving up on Nils? What are they thinking about Dellandrea?
Some stuff to be figured out for sure but we are in a much better place than most. In Nill we trust at this point.