The additional depth that the Caps get in this deal isn't near worth while for us. Keeping Pacioretty could be difficult after this year, given that we need to pay Vrana, Burakovsky, DJoos and Stephenson. It doesn't round out the roster enough to make up for the gaping hole in the lineup.

I don't see where the Caps would consider a Backstrom trade. An elite center on a team friendly contract is something that we need to cherish right now. Considering how two high end centers is essential to winning a Cup and we have no one to fill that spot in the waiting, there is no point for this to even be considered. Unless he explicitly says he wants out of DC, he's going nowhere.

If the caps win the cup I would like to see a Backstrom for Montreal’s first round and maybe small peices

As krakowitz said, Backstrom isn´t likely to be traded right now. And IF he would get traded, Caps would accept no less than what Duchene netted Avs.

IF we were to trade Backy to MTL I'd rather get Galchenyuk than Pac who will hit UFA in a year.

Not a problem. Honestly, Caps are in the drivers seat. It's up to them what they do, and there is way more than just MTL who'd be looking for Backstrom.

When I proposed this last offseason (after Caps failed in 2nd round again), the trade was something like:

WSH Gets:
A. Galchenyuk
M. Pacioretty (when he still had 2 full seasons)
B. Davidson

MTL Gets:
N. Backstrom

LINK: https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/424474

Also, I agree with all of you to some extent. WSH doesn't need to do this trade, and there may be other better options available. They also lose the 1-2 C punch.

It's a hypothetical case where Caps GM loses his mind at 2nd round loss again (if that happens).

I think Caps would pull the trigger on a deal similar to that if they were to move Backy.

I do not see Montreal retaining salary like that. ESPECIALLY if you are dumping Orpik on them. Taking Orpik would be the salary "retention".

If they win, they just keep everyone. If they lose, painfully, they consider trading from their core for youth.

We have the cap space. Why WOULDN'T we use that to our advantage? If it's what it takes to get Backstrom, I'm all for it.


Agreed, Eli. Caps winning retains their core. Caps losing in the second round again probably leads to some MAJOR ballsy trades.

Is it the following?
A. Galchenyuk (retained 50%)
M. Pacioretty (retained 50%)
J. Benn

for

N. Backstrom
B. Orpik

I got no clue. They might have better options available, but I have no crystal ball to tell you that. But whatever the deal is, they're going to think at least a few moments about it, in the event of a 2nd round outing.

If they're trying to get young, Galchenyuk, Lehkonen,ete, Juulsen, and picks could all be pieces. I don't see the *Habs* trading Danault to add depth at center, or a rebuilding club pushing hardest to land Patches. He's going to a contender. Could be Washington, but not without Backstrom.

That's assuming a full blowout, but playoff teams typically don't do huge blowouts when they fail to get ahead. They do major retools (NHLers for NHLers).
So really, it depends on how management feels.

But an alternative (if prospects is the preferred route) is to do a 3-way, where Pacioretty+ goes to a contender, youth+ goes to Washington, and Backstrom comes to us.
I don't know, I'm just toying around here. This deal made most sense last season when those players had more length on their contracts, IMO.

If the Caps can get through Pittsburgh, everyone gets a raise (which, realistically, means Grubauer leaves). If they get swept, and feel gutsy, this fan says rebuild around Kuznetsov, Djoos, Bowey, Grubauer, Smith-Pelly, Stephenson, Eller, Orlov, and four or five top twenty picks.