Van - Tor & Van - Phi

[Brocklovich]

I figure this might be a bit too unlikely to happen but wonder if these are reasonable or too lopsided

Toronto gets:

Luongo

Raymond

Vancouver gets:

Gardiner

2nd

Either a 3rd / 4th liner or somewhat of a cap dump type player back (not sure what Reimers salary is)

I do think Luongo fits in Toronto and is an upgrade over what they currently have and possibly makes them a low ranked eastern conference playoff club (7th or 8th). Luongo also seems to do really well with clubs that aren't that great / have poor defense (Florida, early Vancouver years) so I figure he maybe fired up and will give them solid goaltending for 5 or 6 more seasons and possibly longer as Toronto has had some luck with older goalies playing well for them.

Raymond is a question mark, he definitely doesn't fit in the west but in the more open free flowing east he may excel. It is a tiny bit of a cap dump, but really his salary is 2.25 or so, its not a game breaker if he stays, I just thought it evened out the deal a bit more.

Gardiner is an offensive Dman who would have a top 4 role on the team which would make sense if the 2nd part of this proposal goes through.

He is also injured right now so in some ways that should hurt his value a little bit as it is a concussion and not all players recover / return the same when they finally get back on the ice. Toronto is thin on D is a tough argument to counter, however, I think with the emergence of Rielly losing Gardiner will hurt but should be off set by Luongo.

I figure a 2nd rounder is more realistic than a 1st and even though we are loaded with 3rd / 4th liners I figure either someone like that is coming back or possibly Reimer, again not sure what his salary is.

Philly gets:

Alex Edler

Van 2nd

Vancouver gets:

Couturier

Philly is depleted on D so they end up getting a very good Dman who is relatively young still (although, slightly injury prone) and able to anchor a D corps, be a top line Powerplay Quarter back & deliver some big open ice hits. He instantly slots in on their top 2, if not top 4 dmen, the ONLY snag is he needs to be re-signed which I don't think will be too much of an issue since there are 2 amnesty buyouts to be used in the summer (presumably before UFA season?).

Even though the 2nd rounder is Vancouvers it should help off set the worry about Edlers injuries, as well as Couturier being a bit younger than Edler and is an upcoming UFA.

Couturier helps gives Vancouver a needed shot of youth in the lineup, a guy who instantly fills in for Kes while he is out and either slides over to the wing (if he is able) once he returns to give them 2 solid scoring lines. He also gives them a much needed 2nd line PP centre as well as some cap relief for when the cap goes down by 6 million.

It also allows them to hang on to Ballard (I know not a popular opinion, however, if he stinks still amnesty buyout) to keep chemistry with Tanev.

I am curious what everyone thinks about my proposals if they are realistic or too unrealistic in Vancouvers favour. I am also quite content if they keep said players, but I think with a shrinking cap + Edler wanting a raise (I can see the offer being similar to what Garrison / Hamhuis / Bieksa got not more) it makes some sense to try to get Gardiner / Couturier who will be cap friendly for a few seasons and under countrol for a couple more as well.

[VaNux]

I like the proposal, however I feel it is a little lop-sided in Vancouver's favor. I think it would be very difficult to get Gardiner out of Toronto. I think you would need to replace Raymond for Tanev unfortunately.

Also, I think you would need to add a conditional first to the Philly deal if Edler decides not to resign, at least.

With all that said, that would be some good pieces to have going forward.

[FlyLow_]

I don't really want to dump on your proposals, but neither Eddy or Couturier are going anywhere. Raymond has no contract and no value, Eddy has no contract which kills his value, Lu has value but not the value to get elite young players.. Gardiner is about the only interesting thing in toronto but not sure if it makes sense to deal him for either team.

Best thing for this team is to keep eddy and deal Lu for a top 6 forward and good prospects/picks.

[Brocklovich]

Yeah I thought about putting up a 1st there, just wasn't sure if that would be complete over payment, but like you say a conditional on if he re-signs in philly corrects that. I figured this one wouldn't go through but just wanted to see what folks would think about the possibility (Personally I'd like to keep edler).

I thought Raymond was re-signed to a 2.25/1 yr deal is that not true? Either way keeping him or moving him isn't an integral part of the deal, I figured potentially the leafs may see something in him that we dont. I could see Tanev being the guy going the other way too and it makes sense in that Gardiners an offensive dman whereas Tanev is a defensive dman, also helps out both parties realistically.

[jigson]

A deal that would be good for both Van and Tor would be

Lu to Tor

Bozak & Gunner to Van

Bozak is a solid center who could fill in for Kes till he's healthy then become an effective 3rd line pivot. He's got a great game at both ends of the ice and is still a young proven NHL player.

Gunner is To's top D pairing with Phaneuf and is a solid stay at home dman. He's still young also and would be a good anchor on the back end for years to come.

Lu gives the leafs the G they have needed for years since Belfor retired.