krsmith17

Yeah, makes sense. I agree. We also need a 2C at or close to as good as Larkin.

Is he worth a 1st? Probably not. Would a GM trade a 1st for him? For sure. We've seen much lesser players traded for much more...

I'm not sure how a Norris caliber defenseman would make or break Larkin as a 1C, but I agree that he needs help on the wings. A top line of Lafreniere - Larkin - Mantha would be an elite line. With that sort of talent on the wings, Larkin could be a 90 point, two-way center. I think Bertuzzi is better than Athanasiou, and probably Fabbri as well, but I still think all three are middle six wingers. Ideally, we'll have Bertuzzi on our 2nd line in a couple years. I don't really disagree, but I think he could be an effective 3rd line winger. Maybe another team shows interest... You may be right, but similar situation as Hirose. Maybe another team... You're giving up on a 21 year old defenseman that has shown good offensive instincts? If he can improve on his defensive awareness, I think at worst, he could be a solid bottom pair defenseman. Bowey is the new guy everyone loves to hate, despite him not being near as bad as everyone makes him out to be...

Larkin is a number one center. Mantha is a top line winger (when healthy). Zadina is looking like a top six (possibly top line) winger. Bertuzzi, Fabbri and Athanasiou are middle six wingers. Smith is looking like a solid bottom six (possibly middle six) winger. Hirose has been great in GR, and could still be a middle six winger (or trade bait). Veleno and Rasmussen should be good middle six centers / wingers. Svechnikov has been mediocre in GR, but could still be a bottom six winger (or trade bait). Hronek is a top four (possibly top pair) defenseman. Cholowski hasn't been great, but could still be a top four defenseman. Bowey has been good offensively, bad defensively, but could still be a bottom pair defenseman (or trade bait). Seider has been dominant in GR, and should be a top pair defenseman. McIsaac should be a bottom four defenseman. Things are really bad right now, but there are some definite bright spots. We desperately need to add some elite talent. Hopefully we get some luck in the upcoming draft...

The only "dumbf$ck"s are those that think Gusev *can't* fetch a 1st round pick at the deadline... Have you never seen the insanely high prices at the trade deadline? Some of the forwards that have been traded for a 1st round pick in the past 5 years... Antoine Vermette (0.55 PTS/G / 32 years old) David Perron (0.5 PTS/G / 26 years old) Andrew Ladd (0.58 PTS/G / 30 years old) Martin Hanzal (0.51 PTS/G / 30 years old) Ryan Reaves (0.14 PTS/G / 31 years old) Ryan Hartman (0.44 PTS/G / 23 years old) Paul Stastny (0.63 PTS/G / 32 years old) Evander Kane (0.66 PTS/G / 26 years old) Tomas Tatar (0.45 PTS/G / 27 years old) A lot of those players were traded for more than just a 1st round pick. There were also a lot of other 1st round picks swapped for similar caliber defensemen and goalies in that time. Nikita Gusev (0.65 PTS/G / 27 years old) may not be *worth* a 1st round pick, but if New Jersey shop him, there will likely be a GM out there willing to overpay with a 1st round pick...

Won't answer. I'm not surprised...

What do you think a 27 year old, 50 point winger should net in a trade at the deadline? This should be good...

2ndroundpicksarethefuture I have no idea what it means...

Nah, top 5 would be fair I suppose... And again... You made the "cheeky and fun" projection AFTER I replied to your post... *In my opinion*, comparing Suzuki, who is over half a point per game center in the NHL, as a 20 year old, to Athanasiou, who was at a similar pace in the AHL, as a winger at the same age, is a bad take...

LOL What does this even mean? Is this your way of saying "lets take this outside"? Let's "go on Twitter". Sure, let's go Steve... "dare ya" Is this guy for real?

LOL You're an angry little man... So Gusev wouldn't have been worth a 2nd right?

All joking aside, I'd rather Nick f***ing Seeler in the Red Wings lineup tonight, over Daley or Ericsson...

Cool. Didn't know that. Would you say he was the best player of the decade? NBC had him ranked 15th... So why can you pull them from your ass, but when I do, you're all like "WhErE'd YoU BuY ThE CrYsTaL BaLl?" durrr...

Why does it matter what they think they were? They suck. If they're not rebuilding, they sure as hell should be. And what the f*** does that have to do with us? If we had acquired him, we could have flipped him for picks at the deadline, or kept him around as a veteran. Would have been a great trade. Of course you weren't wrong though... Yeah, big Russian fetish over here. All those Russian players I'm always talking about... like Gusev, and... yeah, that's about it... LOL What a dumb argument. Take away the 20 games he didn't get a point, and he'd have 31 points in 28 games. Now all of a sudden he's over a point per game, top line winger... "guarantee"... "you can't see that its not my problem" LMAO You're dumb as s*** dude...

If this is the case, maybe I'm underselling Kane... I don't buy it though. Do you have a link to back up that stat? Either way, yes, I think Lafreniere will be a better player than Kane. Where did you get your crystal ball?

You did that AFTER the post I replied to... You have a real knack for taking things out of context don't you? Your point was understood, but *in my opinion* your player comparisons are off on both sides of the spectrum. Chances are, they fall somewhere in between. Hell, since we "don't know dick about how good these players are gonna be", Veleno could be Athanasiou 2.0, Seider could be Marchenko 2.0, and Petruzzelli could be McCollum 2.0... I think comparing Lafreniere to Kane is underselling him. Is that me saying "I can see the future"? No. But based on everything we've all seen, heard and read about these two players, I don't see how they're really comparable... Except that they're both really good hockey players...

What are you talking about? You're the one that started with the player comparisons... I simply think you're projections are way off base. Where did you get your crystal ball?

"f***en short sighted little man". You're an angry little man aren't you? Gusev is on pace for 52 points this season, not 40... You know who else is a rebuilding team? New Jersey... Also, marc was saying that you would trade Fabbri for a 2nd round pick. What are you flipping? You know what you could flip? A 27 year old Gusev. New Jersey wisely traded low (2nd round pick) for a player (Gusev) with a ton of potential. They can now flip him at the deadline for a 1st round pick, plus. Crazy concept eh?...

So you're saying you still wouldn't trade a 2nd round pick for Gusev? LOL

I understood the point. I was more so talking about the comparables in general. I think Lafreniere is closer to a Draisaitl (on the wing), than Kane. I understand the "worst case scenario" angle, but I just don't see it playing out that way. I'm not even saying I'd make the trade, but you'd definitely have to think long and hard about it, depending on the pick coming back. Which is also something CRL didn't mention, being the biggest piece in the trade...

You said, "Would I trade future Patrick Kane for AA, Marchenko, and McCollum?"... Sounds like you're the one speaking with such confidence... I'm saying not a single one of them are good comparables, but it's not just one sided... I think you're underselling Lafreniere, comparing him to Kane. I think you're underselling Suzuki, comparing him to Athanasiou. I think you're underselling Romanov, comparing him to Marchenko. I agree though that Primeau could be a bust. I would say these comparables are just as bad, but mainly because you'd be massively underselling Lafreniere, comparing him to Yakupov. Veleno to Suzuki is at least a decent comparable. Seider to Romanov could be decent comparables. Who knows with Primeau... You're also forgetting that pick (2nd-6th) coming back the other way, which could be a very good player as well. Would you trade Stutzle, Veleno, McIsaac and Petruzzelli for Lafreniere?

Those players didn't put up close to the numbers Puljujarvi is putting up, except Granlund, who is a top six forward... And no, Pulkkinen didn't either. No one is saying that Puljujarvi is guaranteed to become a top six winger. We're saying that the likelihood of him becoming as good or better than Athanasiou, is fairly high. You seem to think he's a lock to be a 3rd line winger, when his ceiling is much higher than that. I don't blame ya... You were dead wrong there...

Umm what? Not a single one of those are good comparables... LOL

Yeah, that's a HUGE package (that's what she said), and one you'd definitely have to consider... That's FOUR high end prospects for Lafreniere. Depending on how far we'd be dropping in the draft, I'd probably pull the trigger on that one. If we could pull Suzuki (top six center), Raymond (top six winger), Romanov (top four defenseman), and Primeau (potential starting goalie) from this draft, never mind any of our other picks, that would be HUGE... Of course this would never happen, so it's moot, but still fun to think about haha.

We have a lot of high-end wingers, but we have zero high-end right-handed wingers. That's an area we desperately need to address. Trading for Puljujarvi would be a great way to address that. I also think Puljujarvi's ceiling is much higher than Athanasiou's. That's why I'd personally make the trade.