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Fair. If it's me in the GM chair, I don't have much of an appetite for trading any of our top players at this time. Like, I'd love to trade a Brassard for a Zibanejad, but...do we even have a spare Brassard lying around? It's probably going to be a couple more years before our tank drafts really begin to bear fruit. At that time, we'll have a better idea of what we have and what we need.

Mantha scored 8 goals, 7 assists (15 points) in his last 8 games of last season. He then scored 7 goals, 7 assists (14 points) in 9 games at the World Championships. Sure, you can say "that was just another one of his hot streaks", or you can believe that maybe, just maybe, he's starting to put it all together and could be a dominant force through his prime years. I choose to believe the latter. I obviously don't think he's going to be close to a 2 points per game player, but I do think he could be close to a point per game player, and take over games and eventually playoff series', the way Franzen once did. I'd just hope that the cold streaks would be a little fewer and further between... But my question is why not have Ristolainen part of that top 4 if he's as good as some people seem to believe? The bold I agree with.

So - let me get this straight...Ristolainen who's a 40 plus pts getter as a Dman for the past 4 seasons isn't anything special - however our tender child known as Mantha who also is a 40 plus pts getter for the past 2 seasons as a winger is all of a sudden vastly superior, and the thought of an even swap is ridiculous? .Isn't the school of thought that Dmen tend to blossom later - while the wingers shoot their load early in their career? I dunno...To me Mantha doesn't exactly strike me as the second coming of a Brendan Shanahan.....

This doesn't even really have much to do with Ristolainen for me. There aren't many defensemen in the league I'd trade Mantha for right now. I still think he's only scratched the surface. I could easily see him flirt with 40 goals over the next few seasons (as early as next season). I wouldn't be against acquiring Ristolainen, I just wouldn't even consider trading Mantha right now. I mean sure, if they offer the other Rasmus, I'd do it, but not for this Rasmus...

Honestly, Pietrangelo's the only defenseman on that list who really interests me (and I sincerely doubt he leaves STL). Like you said, there are some good players on that list but they're not necessarily what we need. Of course, a lot can change in a year. If we make the 2020 playoffs, Yzerman might go fishing. ...Or he could just as easily say, "We just made the playoffs without having added any big-name UFAs back in July. I like our team. I think our young players are gonna be even better next season. Now's not the time to splurge." Pietrangelo, Backstrom, Trouba. I'd be fine with overpaying for one of those guys and/or adding some depth guys like Gudas. Overall tho, I think UFA madness is dumb. And Yzerman seems to agree.

not only the WC also his finish to the season with i think 15 points in the last 8 games

and again, unless we are getting a slam dunk #1 D back, I am not trading either of them, especially for a #3/4 guy. Maybe its just me...

In 74 games. In 80 games. Seriously though, Mantha and Athanasiou are our two best goal scorers right now, and both are more than capable of 30+ a season. I'd be thrilled if either reach 35, but I'd personally give the slight edge to Mantha. We'll see.

Because defense is more important. And 25 goals a year can be replaced by committee OR by Zadina. Also Larkin has arrived. Mantha's always "getting there".

What does any of this have to do with actually putting the puck in the net? Mantha is our best goal scorer. There's no two ways about it. Yes, center > winger, so in terms of overall value, Larkin > Mantha and Athanasiou. I agree that we shouldn't trade either right now, unless it's a deal we can't refuse. Those types of deals don't come along very often. Regarding which player you'd be willing to trade first, you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I think the majority of Red Wings fans would trade Athanasiou first, as well as Red Wings management. I also think general managers across the league would be asking about Mantha before Athanasiou. Hypothetically, if it came down to one or the other in a package for a top pair defenseman it would be AA for me every time. It's not going to happen though, so it's a moot point.

This is merely Friedman speculating on the type of return the Sabres would want. Not what is being said.

I wouldn´t even think about trading Mantha, he will be a force for years to come, AA can create something out of nothing, he had a good year, but if there is a question of whom of the two, I would definetly trade AA before Mantha. But to be honest, I think we shouldn´t part with any of them. I remember an interview with Dylan Larkin, a few months after he came in where he said, that it would be great to lead the team back to a contender with AA and Mantha, that the three have the chance to build something special and the day he said it, I somehow believed in his words. Give the team one more year of development, growth from within and stop thinking about overpaid free agents or trading core players. Our pipelines are refilled, promising prospects are on the way. There was a strech of 15-20 games, where we were one of the best teams in the league and hopefully this year we don´t have as many injuries as last year. And with all these ifs and should and would we will have a good season and hopefully are at least close to the playoffs. Get a few extra picks at deadline day and with all our extra picks trade for the missing pieces.

Mantha has the best goals per game rate (at the NHL level so far in their careers) of all three of them. Mantha = 68 goals in 217 games = 0.313 AA = 73 goals in 248 games = 0.294 Larkin = 88 goals in 318 games = 0.277 He has been great at the NHL level. We've already seen.

Waiting to see how this rumor devolves into trading AA. I'm not familiar with Ristolainen but we need a high end defenseman...I trust in Stevie Y to make a good deal.

oh lord we've become the oilers

Btw it's spelled Fedorov