EXPLAINING THE TRADES THAT WERE MADE:
• Dallas Trade: Here, the Stars make a good deal of cap space all while adding some speedy depth guys in the system. I genuinely think Ylonen is good enough to be an NHL regular despite being more "soft" than the average fan would like. He just needs to play in a different system where he'd contribute more. He's incredibly speedy and has some good skill all while playing a game that can still suit a bottom 6. I think one of Dallas' biggest needs is to add some speed to their bottom 6 and Ylonen does that. How I see it, Stranges is a decent prospect, but he's definitely been pushed down the forward prospect depth chart. I think the Habs could use another decent forward prospect and he'd essentially be the price to pay for dumping Faksa for the year. The depth picks added by Montreal are there to balance out the trade value. Montreal could add a more if needed, but I like the concept of this trades. I'm just not quite sure of Stranges' trade value, so I just assumed he'd be worth a late 2nd, which is probably the cost of dumping Faksa for them.
• Vegas trade: The Knights are going to be in cap hell next season. Evans seems like the perfect cheap, flexible and consistently reliable bottom 6 player for them. He's great at faceoffs too and he's pretty underrated offensively. I think he'd be a good replacement for whoever ends up being a cap casualty on their forward core. The 3rd is there to add a bit more value to make the trade down worth it for Vegas. Since Vegas likely goes for a forward here, I don't think going from 19 to 26 is a game changer for them and the added assets make this trade worth it for them. The Habs would use this higher pick later to make a Necas trade more enticing for Carolina.
• Utah Trade: Utah has way too many picks. Realistically, you can't sign all of these prospects. Using a few of these picks to acquire young NHL ready guys that fit the timeline would be smart. Harris seems like a good fit for them. He's a really smart and steady defender despite his size being on the smaller side and he's decent enough offensively. He's also genuinely an amazing person who is very eloquent and outspoken on social issues. He seems like the perfect guy to bring in for Utah, who, as a new franchise, are looking to build a fresh new identity. He's genuinely very underrated and the only reason I'd want to trade them is because we're so stacked on the left side when it comes to prospects. They could also really use some good young depth defenders and I think he fits nicely on their squad.
• Carolina Trade: For starters, if I'm the Canes, Guentzel is my top priority free agent to bring back. He fits perfectly on their team and he's exactly who they needed to add. Necas, while talented, is obviously the odd man out unfortunately and he could benefit from a trade, as he'd be likely given a bigger role on a new team. Armia, whose cap hit would be 50 % retained by a third party broker, is a very good bottom 6 guy and he fits the Canes' system perfect. RBA would love him on the squad and I think he'd be a perfect fit with them. Additionally, Barron has some nice upside and I think Carolina can help elevate his game. Assuming Pesce and Chatfield walk, he'd be a nice young, cheap replacement for the 2RD role and would help shelter Morrow a bit as he adjusts to the NHL. The Canes could also use some some center prospects and Mesar/Kidney helps solidify their forward prospect pool. Honka seems to have fallen out of favour on their defensive prospect depth chart and is simply an AHL roster add for the Habs here. Heimosalmi allows the Habs to make their RD prospect pool less shallow with the departure of Barron and the promotion of Mailloux. The 19th overall pick also allows the Canes to add a great forward prospect to their pipeline. The second is added to ensure the deal is enticing enough for the Canes. Necas is reported to warrant a 7-7.5M AAV, so I thought that 7.3Mx8 was fair all things considered.
• New Jersey Trade: Schmidt has clearly fallen out of favour in the Devils' system. Cederqvist is decent and still young, but he's outclassed in the AHL with the additions of Stranges and Kapanen. With the departures of McLeod, some player is likely due for a promotion and Cederqvist would be a decent depth replacement for the AHL squad.
EXPLAINING THE LINEUP:
• Necas-Suzuki-Slafkovsky:
Slafkovsky and Suzuki have great chemistry and adding an offensive dynamo like Necas makes the line more aggressive.
• Caufield-Dach-Newhook:
I think Caufield works better with a guy like Dach and this helps balance out the top 6. Newhook adds some nice speed here.
• Gallagher-Dvorak-Roy:
Gallagher looked much better at the end of the season and Dvorak, while he's a "boring" player, he's very reliable and adds some stability to this line. Roy adds some talent and youth here.
• Anderson-Dellandrea-Faksa:
My vision with Faksa and Dellandrea is that, while he's on his expiring deal, Faksa could help mold Dellandrea's defensive game and faceoff skills. Faksa is an amazing 4C, but my goal here is to help round out Dellandrea's game to make him a killer 4th liner for our core. He's played at center before and having more guys that are good at faceoffs is never a bad thing.
• Guhle-Matheson:
Guhle is WAY better on the left side and he's the guy who we are actually trying to develop. Therefore, it makes much more sense in my mind to put Matheson on his offside. I'd rather make a veteran adapt his game a bit than jeopardize some key development years for our future rock on the left side.
• Hutson-Savard:
I LOVED what I saw from this pairing from their short stint together and I think Savard is the perfect guy to help develop Hutson as he adjusts to the NHL.
• Xhekaj-Mailloux:
This pairing looks very exciting. These two guys have great shots and a great physical game. They both have a nice offensive flare to their game, especially Mailloux, without being complete liabilities on the ice. I'd expect this pairing to do some dumb mistakes at times, but it's fine. They're developing, they'll be part of our core and I think they complement each other nicely.
In all likelihood, due to the complicated conditions of the Monahan trade, the Habs will probably end up with Florida's first rounder next summer, assuming the Flames finish bottom 10 and the Panthers don't.
The Trades are a bit too complicated for my liking. Too many pieces moving each way in each deal. I don't think trades actually happen that way unless they are blockbusters.
the evans trade looks a bit convoluted but ive seen less plausible
Fair enough. I was just looking at Vegas' situation and I think they are really going to need a sub-$2M 3rd liner if they want to maintain some good depth, and Evans seems like a good candidate for them.
Worst case, if the moves doesn't go through, the Habs would probably just send the Canes the Jets' 1st rounder and add a 2nd/3rd in value to the deal.
The Trades are a bit too complicated for my liking. Too many pieces moving each way in each deal. I don't think trades actually happen that way unless they are blockbusters.
Agreed. I don't think any of this will happen. The reason I had so many moving parts was to make the AHL squad competitive as well. There's no way these trades happen with this many moving parts, but I'd like to think that, value wise, these trades make sense for both sides overall. I think these deals are pretty good for both sides and are all trades that would be worthwhile for each party in my option.