marcaractac

Would rather that than the choke slam THROUGH the cell that happened merely minutes later.

The returns Bert and Mantha will eventually get us will be glorious.

This was always expected to happen. It's why folks have been preaching that Edmonton would be a great fit for AA to begin with. Any line with MCDavid will score so much that it'll cover up defensive liability. AA was never going to get that here. Larkin is no McDavid.

Larkin will have 2 or 3 very damn good seasons in his prime years. The apologists will be like "See?!" Then he will have his decline in his 30s. The hope is that Stevie doesn't give him a huge payday when this happens.

It's clear that the notion building a team around Larkin and expecting a contender is silly. Larkin's value to this team is not going to be as a central core piece, but rather the eventual veteran leadership for the core of young players Yzerman will assemble. Larkin is the center that the kids who come in will get to play with. An important part of the team? Absolutely. The piece the team will be built around? Absolutely not. The team will be built around the crop of young players led by Seider. Some of the current "core" will likely not be around when we contend again. However, I feel quite confident in saying that Larkin will be one of those kept around for leadership. When this team contends again, he will be a veteran that can still contribute, unlike the trash we have now.

Keep in mind the Leafs already had Marner, Nylander, Rielly at the time, and won the draft lottery after just one season. The key thing that was done when Shanny came is was creating a roster of tank by moving out guys like Bozak, etc. Much like what Yzerman has done for year one, I might add.

That's a hell of a sample size you picked there.

Truth. If the Habs want our big french man, they have to cough up the goods. Otherwise, hang on to him for a year or two. His value is only likely to increase.

Yeah, I'd be down if they overpay. Normally I'd expect two major pieces for a player like Mantha. From Montreal, I'd demand three. Divisional rival cost. Him being french, they'd bite.

If the Habs offered up their first rounder in a package for Mantha before this years draft, I'd jump on it. There is still gold available in picks 10-15. For those who want Askarov, that's how you get Askarov. I do think the Habs would have to initiate the convo, however. While I feel Mantha will be worth more next summer than this summer, I also feel Montreal would overpay for a big, scoring french winger.

1. I understand that. We simply do not have a Duchene to trade. If we traded Larkin (our only comparable), we have no center. That's bad s***. Regardless, the 2021 draft is the soonest we should be moving our good players. Who becomes expendable all hinges upon who is brought in. 2. I have little doubt we go top 5 again next draft. Certainly not against trading Mantha at that time. Same goes for any winger not named Lafreneier. Zadina can prove himself untouchable with a big season, due to his younger age. 4. I mean, sure. But those are the expectations set, which is why I personally feel zero reason to be upset about anything outside of getting ripped off in a trade, which I do not feel happened. Would have been nice to have moved AA last summer instead, but that's hindsight. Over the next calendar year, I'll be content with a great draft and the product on the ice getting far younger. Helm and disney.com are interesting deadline pieces for next season. Mantha's stock will only likely increase after another year. If someone offers a king's ransom for him at the trade deadline, then by all means... Same with Fabbri and Bert.

They also did this when they already had the likes of MacKinnon on their roster. I think this team will be easier to evaluate after a couple more drafts, as far as trading current core players goes. I do agree that difficult/unpopular moves have to be made, but there isn't any urgency to do it right this moment. Once it's known what we'll get with the next couple first overall picks, it'll paint a much clearer picture of which of the current roster will become expendable. Mantha is a good example. As good as he may be, he'll be much older than the core of the team once we're competitive again. He is probably the one guy that is the exception to what I said above. But even then I think his stock will still rise in the next year or two. Get some term on hime, and sell high. Same applies to Bertuzzi & Fabbri, really. Love both players, but they'll be 30/31 before we begin to compete again. Hronek and Larkin IMO are the two safest guys on the roster. Hronek because of the development of dmen can take longer, and Larkin because he is legit our only good center. Zadina falls in this category as well due to his age/potential. Give it a couple drafts, and maybe things change for one or two of these guys. In the end, I have little opinion of how this season went as far as asset management goes based on it being a big assessment year. I do expect to see heart breaking trades over the next 1-3 years, however.

But his legs will live forever

So much hate for escorts today. Did someone hurt you?

Nowhere in the post above were you tagged. Now stop replying to me, as your opinion is about as relevant as a white crayon.

I wasn't replying to you, you ******* ignoramus.

It's objectively a fair trade. Anyone who disagrees simply has unrealistic expectations.

It's merely a salary dump for Edmonton so they can make things work on their end. Too much for some folks to comprehend, is all. It's 100% a fair deal for both sides. Nothing to get exicted over, nothing to lose your mind over. I feel whelmed.

Definitely the latter

You don't give an F. Fine. Clearly Yzerman did. Two seconds is an absolute fair return for a defensively liable, one-dimensional winger. Teams have scouts. They know what AA is. It's no secret that can be hidden behind one 30 goal season.

His own teammates were leaking s*** to the media about how he refuses to listen to anyone. He had to go.

Your expectations were too high

Because Lou forgot to put down the crack pipe

Expectations are a helluva drug

Was two pretty fair trades tbh.