Thomas will not be moved as St-Louis has just as much a need as Mtl at rw center. St-Louis has a need for a rw and really doesn't need a lw. If available, Hoffman is much better fit for Blues.

Well if the Quebecois media says it then it must be true! If he's traded it will be at the deadline or at the draft.

I agree with the return for Patch tho.

the easiest move a player can make is from 1 wing to the other. and lets suppose, nashville acquires pac. wouldnt that asset help nashville beat st louis come playoffs?

How brutal would that be? All the STL fans saying not to give up Thomas for Pacioretty, and he ends up being a key reason they lose to the team that does get him.

a lot of teams in that division would look to acquire soley because they dont want a rival to acquire him. for example. imagine wpg takes pac. their top 6 with schiefle coming back (who is gonna have a lot mileage on him, as he will be fresh), that top 6 would be wheeler, laine, schiefle, pacioretty, ehlers and little. is that not the best top 6 in the league? imagine facing a top 6 like that in the playoffs.

I still think it would be more brutal if STL traded 3 x 1st rounders for Pacioretty and still lost to a team that didn't get him.

We put a lot of eggs in the Ryan Miller basket and he never gelled. Wasted a prospect, a 1st, and a good player trying to go for it. And that was when we actually had a great team with an expiration date...

Closest I've seen to three 1sts is Thomas, Kyrou, and a 2019 1st. STL is at a disadvantage to acquire him since they don't have a 2018 1st, so it would take some extra convincing.
It's not so much the package though, but the number of posts I've seen where Thomas means no trade. The rest didn't matter, that's the end of the discussion.

This trade is 3 x 1sts. Thompson, Thomas, 2019 1st. Obviously the rest of the deal matters, I just think a lot of Blues fans are interested in shifting the discussion away from Thomas because (like MTL) we've been searching for reliable centers and the best we've been able to manage is overpaying for (or getting subpar production from) Stastny or shifting a guy (Schenn) back to center after like 5 seasons of playing on the wing. Forgive us for getting excited about our best center prospect in a long time.

My stance changes on this all the time - mostly because I have zero say in the matter and I enjoy the discussion - but right now I don't see Patches as a sure-fire move to win a cup or two. I think adding a guy and expecting a huge impact from him is putting a lot of pressure on that player and at the same time creating a new / uncomfortable situation amongst the rest of the players. My philosophy is to build your team through drafting and bolster your short-term needs through cheap rentals. If our short term need is adding a scoring winger, it can be done for much cheaper than 3 x 1st RDPs.

The thought of turtleneck on the Sharks offends me.

Ahh. I forgot about this trade lol. I dismissed it because Thompson doesn't interestme. I was just commenting on the idea that Pacioretty could come back to haunt them and how that would suck, considering it could be avoidable.

I get the that it's difficult to move a prospect in a position you aren't deep in, but it's a position that Montreal is also currently concerned with, and no Thomas coupled with no 2018 1st, likely means no Pacioretty.

That's one scenario, and reasonable. The other is that Thomas is more valuable or a sure thing, therefore shouldn't be traded. That's not realistic in terms of expectations or value.

So wheres the link to Lavoie saying this? Anyone?

http://www.tvasports.ca/2018/01/29/le-clan-pacioretty-sattend-a-ce-quil-parte

Am I crazy but I didn't hear him say Pacioretty will be traded within the next couple days? He just talks about the potential of trading him. Thats all.