Sorry, not passing up on dahlin.

Yeah Tavares is staying with the Islanders, So all of these fans outside of the Islanders. That think JT is signing with their team. Sorry not a happening.

1st of all, there is no way TO would make this trade.

2nd if they did put it on the table, Buffalo pulls the trigger immediately. Sure they'll still have major holes but they would have the best 1-2 punch at center in hockey in the very near future. Only Pittsburgh would be able to contend with them in centre depth and not for that long since both Malkin and Crosby will likely start declining a bit in the next couple of years.

Elite Franchise Generational Centres are so rare. There are maybe 5 of them in hockey! You just don't trade people like that.

Only Pittsburgh? Ever heard of McDavid and Draisaitl?

I'd rather have Dahlin over Matthews and Tavares is on the verge of resigning with the Islanders. So you can give up any notion that John Tavares is heading for UFA because it's not happening.

Draisaitl hasn't proven he can be elite centring his own line. Most of his points come on McDavid's wing. Until he can prove himself on his own line, he isn't an elite centre. Or really a great centre even. Also both Matthews and Eichel are better than Draisaitl by a large margin. Chairelli messed up that contract negotiation, paying him elite 2C money despite him never showing any signs that he can be an elite 2C.

ever hear of Danault and Shaw????

Damn this mans right

I mean drai spent most of the year centering his own line so plus he did all playoffs in 2015-16 I'd say drai is quite the force

good meme.

I'm not saying he won't ever be an elite 2C, but currently more than half his points have come while skating on the wing with McDavid. Its also well documented that when McDavid is on the ice Edmonton dominates, when he isn't they bleed chances, shots and goals. McDavid last year was the only Oiler who could generate sustained offence. Granted Draisaitl has basically no wingers to play with but Matthews dominated as a rookie with two other rookies on his wings. Eichel has dominated at times and he also doesn't have the best forwards to work with.

Agreed an very true hard to produce when drai has no wingers I mean hey you give drai Hyman and nylander I'm sure he would put up elite numbers to

Definitely always a ballsy move on these threads when you try to include Matthews in any sort of deal. I would say, Matthews has established himself in the league while Dahlin, a super prospect, has not. It's an unfair discussion point because of all the hype surrounding Dahlin, but it's just that, hype. Not only would it be incredibly unwise to try Matthews within the division, but even adding Tavares (and that's a big if) to replace Matthews, you're basically placing all your cards on one horse. Had Arizona won the lottery, maybe it would be a little bit more talked about, but that's not what went down. Additionally, unless the Leafs acquire Tavares's rights, this deal could not go down until after he was signed.

It'd be better than Lucic, lol