Phil_314

What "lot more" value are you referring to exactly? Top-4 potential D is a generous label at this point, if everyone was healthy he'd be the #4 RHD behind Barrie, Carrier and Fabbro. If they trade Fabbro then he could likely hold a 3rd pair RHD spot.

If Berglund or Livingstone can play a Brandon Carlo-type game, signing them to play top-4 RD would be a boon of an add. Then Hronek can hopefully help OEL (since Hughes has proven that he can carry AHL defenders like Juulsen). Then we move Myers and would be pretty good. Hughes - Berglund/ Livingstone/ Hronek OEL - Hronek/ Berglund/ Livingstone Wolanin/ Brisebois/ Rathbone - Bear/ Juulsen/ Burroughs

That's a really good point actually. Put Quinn on Nashville and he wouldn't have the kind of season that Josi had last season (even though he can setup scorers and rack up the same 70+ assists he doesn't have the cannon of a shot to put up 23 goals), and if you put him on Chicago this year he wouldn't be doing much better than how Seth Jones has been doing since he wouldn't have the scorers to finish off his passes. Petey on the Hawks could at least help say Tyler Johnson and Luka Reichel to not be utter scrubs but he'd help them rack up easy assists from his goals, and he could also feed them easy passes, while also helping them on defense. This added dimension is underrated but important.

Lol why are people still mourning over the fact that we drafted a bust? He's gone, move on, and if it helps, play GM Mode in an NHL console game and acquire one of Sergachev/ Chychrun/ McAvoy/ Tkachuk. Other than that, let it go folks

Pretty much this, esp. when their skill sets are so complementary (Hughes defends in his own zone and transitions the puck up ice, also walks the line on the PP; Petey takes draws, takes one-timers and does other forward things). It's like asking do you keep Daniel or Henrik, shooter or passer? You need both. Re: OP, If it was prior to trading for Hronek I would've said Hughes since (as someone else mentioned) Petey had Miller helping him, whereas OEL (for a season) or Schenn (mostly for defense and pugilism) was the best help he had and he took on a larger role. Hopefully that would mean that Hughes gets actual defensive support for once.

Myers is the easy part, his contract expires this summer so we trade him at deadline, even if it's for a 7th or futures. If we need to live with OEL's contract (which seems like the case) then so be it, though optimally (as mentioned) Hronek can do for him what he did for Myers, in that they could form a stable partnership that's a net positive. Alternatively (although unlikely), if the team could find takers for Garland and Pearson without much if any retention and there's kids on ELCs capable of filling top-6 roles (e.g. Hoglander if he's really ready after his AHL stint or McDonough), one of Brisebois/ Wolanin/ Rathbone proves ready to play top-4 LD and the worst part of the buyout penalty falls in the same years where they're cheapest, then we could get by and then only have $1-$2 million per season in dead cap for a couple more seasons (which bottom feeders have done regularly).

How reliable are those reports (e.g., about acquiring Theodore and Dunn)? As great as it would've been, it could all just be rumors (though I would've LOVED to have Theodore on the team instead of Sbisa).

In this episode of "How Un-Swede It Is", Canucks fans can only hope it turns out better than what has transpired for OEL.

Honestly, if we kept McCann after drafting him, that trade's return might give this one's a run for the money (McCann now is probably a bit better than Beauvillier [even though I would say his career recovery has been remarkable, and yes Jared took longer to become who he was now after moves to FLA/ PIT/ TOR but the star was always there], Bonino was a solid 3C and Sbisa was... physical and an adventure). Curious to see what becomes of Raty, and if Hronek is as good as he was pre-injury then he and Beauvillier would probably already make this a win (1st line RW and possible 1st pair RD, plus #2/ #3 C).

I don't think Conor wants to go back though (seeing what the Coyotes beat writer reported in the link when he was on his way out, saying he didn't feel wanted there: Conor Garland blasts Coyotes on his way out of Arizona | Markerzone.com IF we could trade Conor Garland for Connor Murphy in Chicago I would be so down for it. Fill the talent vacuum up front, then perhaps we could also sell them on Myers after Murphy comes over to us to help eat minutes (maybe Murphy and 5th for Garland, Myers).

Plus Wolanin's been found money, to the extent that he's probably a 2nd pair PP QB (and something must've worked with Brisebois/ Juulsen/ Burroughs that they can play NHL time and not look out of place).

Agreed, and just like how Schenn was a top-pair guy next to Hughes in a pinch due to how shallow our RHD depth is, Bear in a pinch should be able to grow into and play a top-4 D role, at least in a pinch given how young he is (and the fact that he's in a non-contending team). Of course with Hronek in the fold now hopefully the top pair RD position is stabilized and then I think the rest can be decided by committee (between Bear/ Schenn if he comes back/ Juulsen/ Burroughs/ Myers, whoever wins spots). It's not the best option to have to rely on Bear on the 2nd pair, but again we could do worse (he was playing with Hughes at times this season).

I would do Boyd either Boyd or McBain, plus Kesselring for either Boeser or Garland (wonder if it's a bad look to trade him back to the team he asked out from but, "it's a business" like they say). 3rd C for cheap, plus an RHD with size and mobility (whom they got for trading Bjugstad) would make for a good return, not to mention freeing up a whole bunch of cap space.

Exactly this. Juulsen next to Hughes has only been -1 once in the past 8 games. With Demko's return and Quinn carrying, we could have a solid 1st pair (with Noah playing the role Schenn did) then hopefully OEL and Hronek can both be solid two-way D that can take turns attacking. Having them as a solid big minute pair would be a win esp. if Filip really helps OEL defensively.

They are having scoring issues, and only Necas and Svechnikov are close to being point/ game wingers. Jarvis has really cooled off, same as Teravainen and they're trying Puljujarvi on line 1. Of course, trading Kotkaniemi to us does create a glaring hole at 2C so I don't know if they'd do it for Boeser... but if their GM has a replacement available (say if they don't re-sign Pacioretty or Staal they'd have $13 million available right there) then they could make the move and then sign or trade for another 2C. I wonder if they would make this trade (we throw in a pick to shore up their wing scoring) and then they could sign say Ryan O'Reilly to be their matchup C behind Aho.

Agreed 1000%. Let the ELC guys grow, hope that Kuz - Petey - Beau and Mikheyev - Miller - ________ stay hot, move those 3 big contracts and try to find a partner for OEL that would at least make him serviceable since we're pretty much stuck with him. Other than that things should get better esp. if the kids can grow to meet their potential, and Hronek stays at this career year level.

I don't think that we should look at the 3rd C on the depth chart as a traditional defensive C but rather search for a two-way guy with some offensive flair. Podkolzin may be a strong two-way guy but he's got a good shot, and Kravtsov has some sneaky playmaking ability so I'd rather their entire line become a dominant puck-possession focused, secondary scoring line than put a defensive C there which might kill the kids' vibe offensively. As for who to put on the Miller - Mikheyev line, I think that depends on whether we still want Miller to play center. He's good on draws and has looked better post-Horvat but I'm skeptical about whether to expect that from him on the regular when he's had as many gaffes as strong plays this season, and who knows if he'll come back less motivated once his big contract and NMC kick in. For a backup plan I'd hope that they add someone who can also play C and be good on draws, defense and playmaking so Miller and Mikheyev can do most of the damage with through their speed. Unless we trade Beauvillier, I agree he'd be a strong candidate next to Petey, and I just hope whoever they slot in on the 4th line has Joshua's compete level and physicality.

I think it's Oilers (not into teams that are so stacked due to draft luck succeeding, and it'd be entertaining to watch McJesus and Draisaitl again try to will their team to contention yet realize they don't have enough depth, even if they turn on god-mode with their offense), Leafs (watch them empty their clip of draft assets and have Autumn come around early again so the Leafs can fall again would be great, since similar to the Oil they built their team around their "core" without a strong defender, which I hope leads to their downfall), and now I'll add Vegas to that list (going from the plucky underdogs when they were in the expansion draft to buying their way to a Cup but repeatedly falling short and having no futures would be entertaining).

Agreed with point 4 in the bottom section regarding improving Garland and Boeser's value to trade them. Also winning does have its benefits in that Petey should be more likely to re-sign if the team doesn't just bottom out, since stars rarely want to be part of that kind of a team.

That's fair; if we could trade someone like Brisebois who plays a safe game and who we just re-signed to them, along with a pick, to get someone like Krebs (1st round pick in early 20's but stuck on the 4th line, with Tage/ Cozens/ Mittlestadt or Jost as the top 3 C's) that would be great. Hopefully he gets dissatisfied with his ice time soon and asks out, since I think he could have that 3rd line upside and it'd be good to have him competing with the likes of Raty.

Forget the 2nd, in moving Myers I'd even welcome back this TDL's hottest commodity, Mr. Considerations. For Boeser, I wonder if Buffalo warrants consideration as a potential landing spot, since even with the Thompson, Cozens and Samuelsson re-signings they still have $20 million in cap space themselves, and behind Tuch and Skinner they haven't had consistent scoring in the lower parts of their lineup, so I wonder if they would be willing to take a chance on a guy like Brock for Cozens' wing (Peterka, Quinn, Greenway have all been underwhelming). He could really help them as even in an "off" year he's still already at 41 points in 56 games, plus with Okposo coming off the books they'd be able to fit him in to their salary cap. Their only major free agents are Jost, Girgensons and Craig Anderson.

Lol those 3 big contracts (OEL, Myers, Pearson) all have some form of clause... though if we really end the season well and we don't like any of the prospects, if we give up the 1st maybe we can incentivize Chicago enough to move a couple of them? (though that'd be a move reminiscent of dumping Beagle/ Roussel/ Eriksson).

Yes, yes it will. It's a cap world after all, and it showed in this past trade deadline (e.g., Pittsburgh tossed a pick to Montreal for them to take on $1.025 million of Bonino's cap hit, same with Minnesota brokering to take on around $2 million in two different trades, and there's several more of those. Fact of the matter is, teams need to make the cap fit so any saving would be explored).

Pretty much this. Boeser/ Garland/ Myers (next TDL) for #1, Bear/ Livingstone, maybe another RHD for #2 if the NCAA FA needs more developing time, let the ELC wings fight for middle-6 spots and see what we have in Raty for 3rd C, if not then let him marinate longer in Abbotsford and get a defensive 3rd C. For goalies I think we've got a good bunch of darts in our goalie quiver (Delia, Martin, Silovs all have had stretches of playing well) so whoever plays well can be rewarded with spot starts behind Demko IMO. Also hoping we don't draft another winger for point #6. 1000000000000000000000% for #7.

Yeah I think those two are about the only ones worth considering for buyouts (if Poolman isn't on LTIR for another year). Myers we should be able to trade and if Garland/ Boeser keep up their improved play we could trade them for a pick at least?