Playground

I think NJ is overpaying in the Ullmark trade and Boston is overpaying in the Chychrun trade.

Drop the 2nd from the Ullmark trade and I think that is closer to correct.

I'm not sure about Chychrun's value off the top of my head, but I do know that Ottawa paid basically a 1st and 2 2nds for 2.5 seasons, and even that was arguably an overpay. You are proposing a similar value for 1 season of him (Merk is probably not worth a 2nd, but he does have some value like a 3rd or 4th). I doubt Chychrun's value has gone up very much since he was traded and he is now a pending UFA, so I wouldn't give up more than a 1st. If the cost is higher, then another team with more picks/prospects is welcome to pay it.

Not huge on Lindholm, hes not really a 1C and wont turn into one in his 30s, but he would make the team better

Chych would be nice if he extends, also Merk, 1st and 2nd is too much and remove the 2nd from NJD, Ullmark might fetch a 1st at most

Overall, solid improvements

Of course Ottawa will be looking to trade Chychrun to a team that would/could extend him, hence not for 1 season``

And not all 1sts are equal, it was a 12th OA pick.

Ottawa would only be interested in that offer if they are interested in Merkulov

He is a UFA, so you don't have a ton of leverage here. You could grant the team negotiating rights while under contract with you, which could increase the cost, but not by all that much. It depends on how im-demand the player is and how desperate the trading team is to get the player.



Honest question: did the teams know that at the time of the trade? I assume they did not, because I though it was a TDL teade and Ottawa was trying to make a last push to get into the playoffs. If that is the case, the fact that it settled at the 12th OA pick is not really relevant in discussing the value of the trade.



This is fair. If they don't want Merkulov, then he has 0 value. I am not sure they would want him.

It would all be a lot cleaner if Ullmark would go to Ottawa and extend there and not require NJ as a pass thru, but I don’t think he would want to go to an org that is in the midst of trying to get functional after his time in Buffalo.