Quoting: RaptorDen
I like the trades with the exception of trading down at the draft. You say we need to address the C position. Well you did that with trading for Tyler Johnson, but you want to trade down to get a center? Not likely. There are tons of defenseman and good wingers in the draft. Plus Dallas has plenty of young centers in Faksa, Smith, and Dickinson. That being said I'm not sure Tampa gives up Johnson, regardless the return. Sure they have Brayden Point, but is he ready to take that 2nd line C spot?
Other than that I'm a fan. I would rather Rads stay on the top line and see how Val does on the second RW spot with JVR and Johnson.
When I said we need to address the Center position, I was referencing our prospect pool. We are extremely shallow in that aspect of our prospect system. We have defense, goalies, and wingers, but we have no top-6 potential Centers. Dickinson and Smith are both good, young Centers, but they are both bottom-6 guys. Veleno, Kupari, and Kotkaniemi all have top-line potential. That's a piece we would be smart to add to our prospect pool. The Johnson trade has nothing to do with the fact that Tampa wants to give up on him, but with a lot of their young pieces needing contracts over the next two years, they are in desperate need for cap space. Johnson and Killorn are two guys that they could very well be looking to move at some point over the next season, in order to free up the cap space for guys like Point, Kucherov, Paquette, Miller, McDonagh, Stralman, Koekkoek and Gourde.
And as much as I loved Rads on that top line, I'm a big fan of spreading the wealth. Putting Nichushkin on that top line isn't going to hurt the production much, if at all, and it really bumps up the production of our 2nd line.