Trading Chabot AND Chych

no chance in hell OTT is trading a 26 YO chabot for a 34 yo EK. and no chance OTT take graves contract, OTTT declines

that dont get DAL chych

branny is a 3rd pairing guy

Aside from all the trade nonsense, Noesen isn’t going to consider signing that. Bare minimum would be 2mil, probably closer to 3, unless he decides to take a discount to stay with a contender.

I think there's a bunch of reasons why this doesn't work for me.

First off, I don't think you want Sanderson with Karl. It sounds great in theory, but in my opinion, if Sandy is out there, you want the puck on his stick as much as possible, and the same is true of Karlsson. Zub is such a natural compliment for Sanderson, I think any blueline adjustments start by understanding that this pairing is the only thing that works. Don't mess with it. Keeping those two together, I really don't see a combination that works with Karlsson. No coach in the league is putting the Eriks together for any length of time, and Graves-Karlsson already isn't great for Pittsburgh.

If you're keeping Brannstrom, you want to keep him in that same role. He's really good as the 3LD. If you're adding Karlsson to the mix, you want to bring in someone to be that Philips/Kuba/Methot type who really brings the best out of him. If you could add Jamie Oleksiak and Karlsson, then I'd be comfortable moving Chabot and Chychrun. Then you look for a 3rd pair guy to play with Brannstrom. Guys like Chatfield or Desharnais would fit in nicely with him imo, and probably fit the price point better than DeMelo.

The one sticking point that I've gone back and forth on all season is what to do with Chabot. He's a great hockey player, even if he's far from a perfect one. He has stretches like his last 15 games or so where he genuinely makes his contract look like a bargain, but he's also got warts in his game, particularly away from the puck. I also have serious concerns if he's ever gonna be healthy enough to be a guy you can rely on in the post season.

Also the Graves deal is just... bad. Definitely not touching it.

I think if there's the right deal to bring Karlsson here, and the right deal to bring in a great fit to be his partner, then you seriously consider making it happen and moving Chychrun and Chabot to make it work, and keep Branny as the 3LD. I think by far the more reasonable turn of events is Chychrun gets moved, Chabby stays, they go out and get the right guy to be Chabot's partner, and then address the 3rd pair. I kind of think Brannstrom is gone and they look to add size to the 3rd pair.

He’s a 31-year old playing on a league minimum contract. We’re not talking about Sebastian Aho here. $3 mil - I hope he gets that in Carolina. But thanks for reinforcing that Canes fans are the most delusional on CF when it comes to players’ value.

My concern for Branny is that he’s undersized for a 3rd pairing dman. I’m really curious if he could evolve into a Torey Krug type guy in a more prominent role.

I actually don’t think Karlsson makes a lot of sense for us at this point, but the emotional and nostalgic pull certainly appeals to me. I want Staios to overpay if necessary to get some big, strong defensive dmen next year.