This NHL team can teach Arizona Cardinals ownership some lessons
By Sion Fawkes
Lesson #3 – The Arizona Cardinals need to hold onto that young talent
Fortunately in this scenario, the Cardinals would already have some building blocks. Players like Budda Baker, Jalen Thompson, Byron Murphy, Marco Wilson, Isaiah Simmons, and Zaven Collins would be staples for this team. So as you can see, this isn’t exactly a fire sale; the lesson the Cardinals can take from the Sabres is to trade those star players that took them nowhere, but hold onto the youngest talent in the crew.
On offense, the Cardinals would still have the likes of Rondale Moore, Trey McBride, Josh Jones, Cody Ford, Greg Dortch, and Eno Benjamin, just to name a few. While this group is less-than-ideal, it’s not exactly a barren cupboard, but there would be a veteran presence among them, plus enough draft picks from the aforementioned trade(s) to generate potential game-changers in the desert.
One thing that impressed me over the last two years about the Buffalo Sabres management is that, even with millions in cap space, they didn’t bite and succumb to the temptation of pulling off a blockbuster trade for a star or signing a big-name free agent. Instead, they extended players like Tage and Samuelsson, while Dahlin and Cozens are next in line for long-term deals.
Above, there is a plethora of defensive players who can certainly earn long-term extensions, considering they still produce at a high level. They would be long-term fixtures while General Manager X would continually add talent to the offensive side of the field during the draft in 2023 and 2024 with those stockpiled picks via trade, while filling any gaping holes with serviceable veterans.