Carolina have already retained on Kruger. Odds are you'd have to pay more then that to get them to retain. With no retention I like the trade

Why do people want to trade Burakovsky so bad. He got potential and we just won a cup with him on the roster and he did good. I think Skinner is good but by doing that your removing time for Vrana on the second line and send a bad message to the team. If your trying to get a cup back to back you have to try your best to keep the roster the way it is.

What's so special about Skinner being a one year rental?

Because people are dumb dumbs haha Bura is about to have a huge season.

If Bura has a 50 point season I will get the Swedish flag tattooed on my forehead. He can only score on breakaways. All he does when he enters the zone is a button hook and then gets muscled. He's also injury prone. I'd be surprised if he plays in 60 games. Don't get me wrong...I'd love for him to play up to his potential but he has done nothing for me to believe he will.

Think the Canes win pretty easily on this trade, unless WSH re-signs Skinner but they're tight on cap even after getting rid of Burra. But this trade would definitely benefit both teams.

Bura needs to stop blocking opponents shots with his hands/wrists or learn to take a slash better. that breakout will come if he can play 78 games someday.

He does waaaaay more than just get in the zone and button hook. He's our best vision passer after Backy and Kuzey, it's why his underlying stats are so great. He'll hit 50 points if he stays healthy like you said. The fact he said 2 of his injuries have been due to poor equipment (which he's getting fixed), I'd bet he stays healthy. We'll see.

Well that's just a terrible trade off. You do realize he scored 35 points in 64 games two years ago right?

His shot is so underrated as well. Like you said if he stays healthy he's going to have a great season.

Remember when coach Trotz came to DC and promised not to tell the Caps anything about offense, but to help them with their defense? I think some of the Caps could use a coach who is willing to give them helpful hints like this about offense, again. Just really basic stuff, like, "don't do the same thing every time, because the other teams' defensemen watch videos of your old games. Try doing different things, and looking for passes from the circles sometimes, or even from behind the net. Or just try dumping a shot on net from the blue line, and following it up, every other time? Reirden acknowledged in an interview that he had that kind of a talk with Karl Alzner once upon a time (although to no great effect on the scoresheet). Maybe with someone like Burakovsky who has the skills and has previously put up some decent numbers, just saying something as simple as, "shoot more," or, "carry the puck thirty feet into the zone sometimes, before passing, instead of just ten," could lead to more points?

They might also sit down with him and go over the video of how he scored 17 even strength goals in a season, that one time. If it was all just due to playing with Kuznetsov, then how good would Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, and Burakovsky be, together?

Skinner tops out at 20 even strength goals. Burakovsky tops out at 17. Since the Caps' top power play hasn't changed in three years and is doing pretty well, they don't need to trade for guys that get ten power play goals. Skinner wouldn't get that opportunity in Washington. I think the Caps could add more offense by signing Chris Stewart for one year at 1M and playing him in their top nine than by making the above trade.

Burakovsky doesn't have to double his goal production to equal what Skinner would do in just 17 minutes of even strength in Washington. He just has to add 3 to 5 even strength goals to what he's been doing. At 24, if he keeps improving his conditioning, and if the departure of Trotz means he stops being a healthy scratch, he'll get the same 20 ESG next year as Skinner, at a lower cap hit, and then you've still got that first round pick, plus RFA rights to a guy who scores as many goals in Washington and costs less to sign. The above trade isn't just a win for Carolina. It's a loss for the Caps.

Adding Paul Byron, who also gets 20 ESG a year, without losing Burakovsky, would add a ton of offense. Adding Anders Lee would be interesting because he got 25 even strength goals each of the last couple years. Maybe trade NYI a 2nd for Brock Nelson.

Burakovsky is almost as good as Skinner at the role available with the Caps, and because of his age, cap hit, and RFA status next summer, he is individually more valuable to the Capitals than Skinner. I really believe that a coaching change gets Burakovsky to 20 ESG, the same as Skinner's career best, but that Burakovsky then has better odds of signing at 5 years x 4M, or of being traded for a first pick, whereas Skinner costs at least twice that, and definitely walks for nothing.

I think the Caps might contend again next year, or, the way they've been drinking this summer, they might have a hangover year and miss the playoffs, so trading that pick now to add three to five even strength goals, and get someone who is just as much not going to crack that top power play unit as Burakovsky is going to hurt the team for a decade, with possibly no gain.