Gotta admit i like better what we got from Vegas.

Tatar is 27 and could be a good trading asset in 2 years on his last year of contract while Steen is older and has a full NTC.

I'd also take Suzuki over Kyrou just because of the draft position.

Suzuki and Kyrou are about even I think. Your definitely right about Tatar and Steen though.

I think it’s a better deal from St. Louis. Tatar did have a NTC and still does, not sure how it was circumvented, cap friendly just says it was not honoured. Will need to read up on that.

Either deal would be nice. Think the jabs got what they needed.

I have to agree.
The equivalent IMO would have been more like J. Schwartz who's 26, R. Thomas who's 19 and drafted later same draft year and a 2nd rounder.
Maybe a bit better than the VGN deal but closer.

Hahahaha. Schwartz is better than Pacioretty on his own.

I guess we are both a bit biased on this one. Schwartz has yet to put up the numbers Pacthes has and he would look great eating smoked meat in MTL, I mean c'mon!

Schwartz put up Patches point totals from last year by December...

I thought @STLBlues17 did a good job equating the deal to what it would look like coming from STL (Kyrou, Steen, 2nd). You're completely out to lunch if you think the same thing from STL includes Schwartz and Thomas. That's like us asking for Gallagher and Kotkaniemi for Schenn or something.

That said, if Patches cost Kyrou and Steen and a 2nd, I'd pass on the deal. Pretty steep cost for a UFA-to-be that will likely become overpaid, just looking at the comparables.

5 out of 7 years with 30+ goals and 60+ points for Patches! Playing without a real Center his whole career.
1 season of 60+ points and never more than 28 goals in any season for Schwartz!
Ya sure better.

I mean Schwartz is probably better, equal at minimum and like 3.5 years younger. And Thomas is a better prospect by FAR than Suzuki.

Liking a guy based on draft position is lazy and ineffective. That being said, I think Suzuki and Kyrou are very similar and I could see Suzuki doing exactly what Kyrou just did in his D+2 year in the OHL.

Schwartz led the league in even strength points for 30 games before his injury. This goes along with the fact that Schwartz is an elite puck possession player and a fantastic forechecker and backchecker..

You guys have to read the last lines in both quotes!
If that's what St.Louis was offering you now see why they dealt with VGN, better deal!

They're about even, but Suzuki is more center material than Kyrou so he makes more sense that way

Either way it's a good deal for Montreal

You guys have to read the last lines in both quotes!
If that's what St.Louis was offering you now see why they dealt with VGN, better deal!

Agreed

I think Montreal got a better deal from Vegas just because of the ages, Kyrou is a year older than Suzuki and they are putting up similar numbers in the OHL, Steen is older than Tatar and I dont think he would be as easy to move.

When did Thomas become FAR better than Suzuki? Was it when he was drafted ahead of him? or when he outproduced him in the same league? Ow wait he didn't do either of those things. Suzuki is the better prospect.

No he's not. Thomas made the World Junior team, Suzuki didn't. Thomas won the OHL playoff MVP and beat the most loaded CHL team I've ever seen while playing with a high ankle sprain, Suzuki didn't. Thomas will be in the NHL this season (on a much deeper team) Suzuki won't. I have yet to see a prominent prospect writer say Suzuki is better than Thomas.

I didn't think this would be controversial lol. He's rated higher by pretty much every single respectable prospect writer. Thomas is like a top 5-10 prospect in the NHL right now.

FAR is the only part thats controversial, prospect writers just favor him because of his size and he made team Canada. But comparing a 100 point OHL player to a 75 point OHL player is a close contest. I will also trust the scouts, who all had him above Thomas on their draft board over writers who don't necessarily watch every game and tend to put more weight into WJC selections and the teams playoff performances.

Thomas played 17 less games than Suzuki and was traded mid-season. Thomas had a much better points per game in the playoffs as well.

Im not surprised with the playoff stats, Thomas played on a London team that loaded up for the playoffs, I think Owen Sound was surprised they were even there lol But my point was more that their not FAR apart, I do think Thomas is better just because he is more NHL ready but Suzuki will be interesting to watch

I agree with you but fyi thomas got traded to Hamilton where he was the only player on the team picked in the first 3 rounds of the draft.