Hawks would probably have to retain on Keith, and I don't think EDM has the cap space for Saad.

You moved Keith and Gus...bad move. Dahlstrom, Forsling and Koekk are a combination of 3rd line RHD and borderline 3rd line RHD guys. Gus and Keith, while really are 2nd line guys, can at least step up and play 1st line.

Move Kunitz for a 5th to 7th rounder.

Edmonton would need us to take a cap hit back to swallow Saad's contract. Likely a player (Tobias) at a minimum and maybe retaining on Saad a little.

Why would you not move Keith and Gus? Yes, the defense will be even worse than it is now, but this team is horrible even with them. Move on and look to the future to get this team back to contention.

Because Gus is on a very friendly contract of $1.2M. He has single handily turned around the powerplay. Paired up with a stay at home defender (Murphy) he looks good. We can always move him next season too.

Keith is movable because Seabs is not and we don't need 2 veterans leading the locker room. That said, highly unlikely Keith waves to go anywhere but closer to his family and kids in Canada.

Making this defense worse is not the goal especially with Krys, Mitchell and Boqvist coming up and a young Jokiharju. Forsling is a crap shoot and Dahlstrom is a borderline 3rd line guy.

This team isn't going anywhere in the next couple years...might as well maximize your assets while you can. Like I said, the defense is brutal as it is. Losing Gus doesn't hurt that (the DEFENSE) at all. Yes, losing Keith would hurt, but again, have to look toward the future now. If those two guys can get you nice pieces for the future, you have to strongly consider it, at least. Neither has a long-term place on this team, IMO.