Sutter and Beagle can't play on the same team, they are arguably the same player, both with ugly advanced stats. Gaudette will be 23 when next season starts and if he is going to pan out as a middle 6 scoring centre he needs the opportunity to develop and take a step. IMO Beagle won't be moved.
To Ottawa:
Sutter
To Van:
4th rd pick 2020
Ottawa will have trouble getting to the cap floor and Dorion has been open to saying he would like to acquire veterans to surround his rookies with.
VGK are in a cap crunch, I think it would be smart to explore getting Colin Miller out of there. An excellent skating right shot top 4 d man who transitions pucks efficiently. I think if you helped vegas out with their cap crunch you could get him much cheaper. They still need to sign William Karlsson so taking Clarkson's 5.25M cap hit from them would be a massive help.
To Vegas:
Lind
Hutton
2020 3rd
To Van:
Miller
Clarkson (contract)
After aquiring Miller I think Tanev becomes immediately expendable to trade, if he wasn't already...
I would try and take advantage of Torontos cap crunch. Kapanen, Johnson and Kadri will all be available for the right price. TO is also looking for an RHD
Potentially you could look at throwing zaitsev in this deal. I don't like the idea of trading for him, but if it balances the trade in a way that makes it work better I don't see why not. Kapanen is well worth it.
To Toronto:
Tanev (50% retained)
2019 3rd
To Van:
Kapanen
To Minnesota:
Virtanen
Baertschi
OTT 2020 4th rd pick
To Van:
Zucker
Virtanen has been rumoured in a potential Zucker deal for a while. Their initial ask was Boeser... obviously a non-starter for Van. If you have to throw in another late round pick or Goldobin to sweeten it I think it would still be worth it.
As Botch would stress, the Canucks need an army. Trading down a few spots in the 1st to acquire another 2nd rd pick would fit that mantra.
I would target either MTL or FLA. Florida is a smaller drop but Montreal has 2 picks in the 2nd round so could be more inclined to move one.
Also, outside there is also believed to be a drop off of skill in the rest of the draft. Ideally I'd like Benning to trade down to 13.
To FLA:
10th Overall
To Van:
13th Overall
52nd Overall (from Pitt)
Draft:
13 - Newhook (if he's still there) if he's gone: Soderstrom
40 - Nils Hoglander
52 - Vladislav Firstov
Free Agency:
Sign Gardiner 5 x 6
- It's an overpayment, and I'm not all in on it but I have a feeling Benning is going to do it. It does make our D core better right away. If you look at Gardiners partners in TO he was handicapped a lot of the time.
Sign Ferland 4 x 4
- Adds grit and skill to bottom six. 17 goals last season replaces what we lost in Virtanen. Good on the PK too.
2019/20 Playoff-Bound Lineup:
Zucker - Petey - Boeser
Pearson - Horvat - Kapanen
Ferland - Gaudette - Leivo
healthy Rouss - Beagle - MacEwen
Schaller
Edler - Miller
Gardiner - Stetcher
Hughes - Schenn
Brisebois - Biega
Markstrom
Demko
