I think P.K.'s prime has passed, he's probably on the decline now, and New Jersey is hoping like hell it's nowhere near as steep as his final season in Nashville suggests.
I'm absolutely astounded that the Subban experiment in Music City only lasted three years and all they got out of it was one SCF appearance. Either he's not as good as they suggest, or the Preds weren't as good as they suggest. The truth may lie somewhere in the middle. He wasn't a great fit when I thought he'd be the perfect fit. He and Josi did not complement one another well at all. And his underlying numbers, which should have just exploded under a better coach with a faster system, actually trended downward.
I don't think Montreal "won" the deal, and I'm positive those final seasons will end up being LTIR'd like all the others have been
, but they still come out of this looking better than Nashville, and that is really something.
Regardless, I really like what Shero did here. He took advantage of a chaotic cap situation and got a legit top-flight defender for cheap. AND, his contract expires right when it's time to re-up Jack Hughes.
Severson, Subban, Vatanen, and (maybe) Ty Smith. That's a pretty good defensive corps.