krsmith17

I'd be willing to retain salary on any players we want to move with one or two years remaining on their contract. We have cap space to burn and it should increase the return.

Jesus... It was a 2nd in 2019 AND a 3rd in 2020 for Braun... 32 years old. $3.8M for one season... Daley is 35 years old. If we eat half his contract, $1,583,333 for one season... We should be able to get a decent pick, if that's the going rate...

Yeah, maybe. It would be close for me though. I'll be honest. I know very little about Pionk, outside of his raw numbers. I'm a fan of Bowey though. He had solid numbers in juniors and the minors, but was put in a tough situation in Washington. Traded to Detroit and struggled early on, but looked really solid the last couple weeks of the season, once he got used to the systems and teammates. I still think there's more to Bowey's game. I like him a lot as a 3rd pairing defenseman that can play physical and chip in some offense.

Pionk and Bowey are two similar players that were in very different situations. Both are bottom pairing defensemen that will likely have similar careers. I wouldn't be surprised to see both play close to the same number of games and put up similar numbers next season. Cholowski on the other hand, is three years younger and has top three potential. Cholowski was a 1st round draft pick. Pionk was undrafted. Not even close to being similar valued players. I think it came down to New York or Detroit. Maybe Yzerman's offer didn't stack up to Gorton's because he knows something...

I hope the cap is around $80M... F*** over a lot of teams, and teams with a lot of cap space, like Detroit would benefit...

Pionk does not equal Cholowski. Bowey would be a better comparison there. I've already said that it would be dumb to trade the 6th overall pick, so that was off the board. And I know we don't have a pick in the same range as the 20th overall pick, but maybe our 2019 and 2020 2nd round picks would have been enough to get it done. I'm not saying I would have done that, because I tend to agree with you, that there's still a strong possibility that he could be a Red Wing, without giving up any assets next offseason. However, IF he does sign an extension in New York, I'd feel pretty s***ty for not giving up the minimal assets for a top pairing defenseman... If we were targeting a similar top pair defenseman in the same age range, without all the rumors to Detroit attached, a package including Bowey, and two 2nd round picks would be a steal. Maybe it would have been wise to pony up the assets... Maybe we were never in the conversation... Who knows... Anyway, we'll see how all this shakes out...

I'm not necessarily saying we should have traded for him, but I probably would have been comfortable giving up a similar type package knowing that we'd have the inside track re-signing him. The bold isn't necessarily true. Maybe he was between the Rangers or Red Wings, and would have re-signed with either of those two teams. I highly doubt he would have been traded to Detroit, spent a year playing in front of family and friends, and then sign in New York next summer. Anyway, until he signs an extension, I'll keep the faith that he'll "come home" next summer...

The one thing that is making me think he might be interested in signing long-term in New York, is that one of his best buddies, Brady Skjei plays for the Rangers...

2020-21 Zadina - Larkin - Cozens Lafreniere - Veleno - Mantha (The French Connection) Bertuzzi - Athanasiou - Leason Rasmussen - Turgeon - Hirose Pearson / Smith DeKeyser - Trouba Cholowski - Hronek McIsaac - Bowey Kaski / Lindstrom Larsson Eliasson

What if we get an elite player at 6, and sign Trouba for 7 years next offseason?

It's dumb to just look at the player picked 6th overall in those drafts. You need to look at the players that were available at 6th overall in those drafts... Just looking at the past 10 years... 2009 - Oliver Ekman-Larsson (6th) - over half a point per game 1D 2010 - Vladimir Tarasenko (16th) - close to point per game 1W 2011 - Mark Scheifele (7th) - point per game 1C 2012 - Filip Forsberg (11th) - close to point per game 1W 2013 - Sean Monahan (6th) - point per game 1C 2014 - David Pastrnak (25th) - over point per game 1W / Dylan Larkin (15th) - point per game 1C 2015 - Zach Werenski (8th) - over half a point per game 1D / Mikko Rantanen (10th) - over point per game 1W 2016 - Matthew Tkatchuk (6th) - point per game 1W Point is, there are always elite players available at 6th overall in the draft. It's just a matter of picking the right player. I want Trouba as much as the next guy, but I'd probably take every single one of those players at 18 years old, over Trouba at 25 years old. Not to mention the fact that we could still get that elite player this weekend, AND have a shot at Trouba next summer (if he doesn't sign an extension)...

Watched with the wife a few nights ago. Great movie! Highly recommend.

Can you think of another reason they wouldn't allow teams to speak with Trouba's camp? If he was willing to sign and trade, they could have gotten a hell of a lot more in the trade. Also, why wasn't there a conditional pick included based on an extension? It just doesn't add up. I knew they wouldn't get near as much as some were suggesting, because of the circumstances, but this was a very underwhelming return for the Jets.

The thing that has me thinking he'll likely hit the open market a year from now, is that the Jets wouldn't allow the Rangers to speak with Trouba's camp before the deal was made... It seems like Trouba was probably telling Cheveldayoff that he wanted to hit free agency. Of course, that could have just been talk, and a lot can change in a year's time, but I think there's still a reasonably high chance that Trouba makes it to free agency next summer. And if he does, he WILL he a Red Wing...

The Trouba dream isn't over yet... unless he signs an extension in New York...

Hopefully there is no extension coming and he becomes a UFA next summer...

It was actually $11.5M, not $11M like it was originally reported... I don't think Karlsson is worth that next season, let alone in 3-8 years from now... Such a terrible contract. The only thing that makes this worth it, is if he helps the Sharks win the Cup in the next 8 years. Possible, but I wouldn't bet on it...

I say no, for the same reason I said no last year when people were saying we should trade up for Zadina. Although VERY unlikely (even more so than last year), it is possible that Byram drops to 6. And even if he doesn't, we will be getting a very good player of a different position. I understand that we desperately need that number one defenseman, and as much as I think Byram could be that, it's still very possible that whoever we get at 6, could end up being the better player. I'd rather keep Cholowski, draft best player available at 6, and go after Trouba.

Fuuuuuuck that...

IF Veleno proves in camp that he's ready to make the jump, I'd have no problem moving Athanasiou to the wing, as I believe he's better suited there anyway. I agree that he's likely to start in Grand Rapids, and I'd be fine with that. But I wouldn't be surprised if he made the team out of camp either. Veleno is 19, the same age Larkin was when he made the team four years ago, and the same age Rasmussen was when he made the team last year. It's not unheard of for 19/20 year olds to make the Red Wings, like it was years ago. Unless there are trades made, I think there's more opportunity up front than there is on the back end. It would be harder for Kaski to jump into the top 6, than it would be for Veleno to jump into the top 9, unless there are a ton of injuries again.

"The way we've always done things" changed the moment Yzerman took over for Holland. I'm not saying we'll see a drastic change in philosophy, but I do think some things will be different. I think getting younger will be a priority for Yzerman over the next couple seasons. I could see the Veleno situation going either way, but I don't think he'll need to put up historic numbers to make the team out of camp.

10 points in 4 pre-season games? Larkin put up a whopping 4 points in 5 pre-season games the year he was on the bubble. Veleno put up 2 points in 3 pre-season games last year (a year younger than Larkin) and was one of the last players cut. As long as he has a big summer, I expect him to make a real push again this year.

Assuming this deal gets done, Ottawa gets an extra 2nd round pick in 2021. Also, assuming this means Nyquist won't be re-signed, our conditional pick in 2020 will remain a 3rd rounder. Oh well...