Like the thoughts. Wonder if Johnson would waive his NTC for Boston? Boston just might be one team he would waive for. Gourde's NTC starts July 1, I think he is the guy that is traded, though don't know if Tampa would trade him to the division rival Bruins. Don't know if Detroit is a 8 team trade list that Backes would go to on his NTC

Tampa won’t trade with boston

I don't know any of these things either, and it's speculative of course. I think Killorn might be the easiest piece to pry loose, and he would most likely accept Boston as well, but from my understanding it's comparatively a pretty attractive location to play/live. Regarding Backes it's closer to home at least, but not sure about that one either.

Personally I think Studnicka is gonna be ready to take the jump next year and if not I think Coyle centering the 3rd line is fine. I also think they will want to move Backes out without bringing in another player. Just shed that 6 mil cap hit. And they can use that money elsewhere whether its debrusk and Krug the following year or a 3RW next year. I really like the idea of that Johnson trade, just can't see Tampa dealing him to us, who are their biggest threat (if you want to call it that LOL) in the division.

I do think there's some representation of this line of thinking, but if we reason a bit: Why would you make a trade you don't think you're winning? And if you think you're winning a trade, wouldn't it make more sense to trade with your division rivals?

If there's one thing I wouldn't do it's to sign FA players in the 3m-range instead of playing the kids. I think Studnicka is probably one more year out, but these things are so hard to predict. Regardless - worst case then is you have two good players instead of one. I agree on Backes, but I think this sort of move kinda makes sense too, since you'd probably have to give up less for an otherwise decent piece in your lineup. Maybe it's doing both that move and the Tampa one that's a bit scuffed

Three guys that have a "big" cap Kilhorn, Palat and Johnson all have NTCs. Tampa would probably love to rid themselves of at least one contract., but then again why would the players want to leave Tampa? Callahan and his modified NTC. is another guy in that group. But you're right about Boston, gotta think it is one of the more desirable places to play/live in the NHL.
And yes, I would think Boston is the Tampa's biggest threat in the Atlantic. Though right now, I can't imagine any team beating Tampa this year.

I understand this line of thinking, and people just assuming NMC's get waved left, right and centre are probably more often wrong than right. What I will say though is that I think there's a mental aspect to all of this. These are guys that are used to being the best. If you get a NMC you've generally performed at some point in your NHL career too. If your team doesn't want you all of a sudden, I think a lot of these guys would love to prove them wrong - in fact maybe even morse so at the disposal of a division rival. This is just how it makes sense in my head though, I could be completely wrong, but if my employer said "not sure I want you here, but I'll let you stick around for your contract" I'd probably take the option to work for another employer and prove my worth.

Callahan is probably getting moved or even bought out regardless

You said in the description that Krug might be undervalued in the league.

Just out of curiosity, how would you value him? If you were the GM of the Bruins, what is your ask for him?

I don't think my opinion is representative of the general Bruins fan. I rate him as a top-30 d-man in the league, a legit #1. He's not great defensively, but not as bad as people make him out to be, and his impact on the pp and 5on5 more than make up for it. He's also super solid with the puck on his stick in his own / the neutral zone, enabling a guy like Carlo to be much more effective on his pairing. I think Carlo would get stuck in his own zone and look a lot worse with a different partner.

Thing is the only thing that I see making sense is another d-man on a managable contract. I'd try to get Klefbom or someone in return, but if you're asking for a less situational trade value I'd want a 1st and a good prospect. He's much, much better than Brandon Montour for example.

I see. When you said about his offensivity and some PP help that he might bring to a team, I somewhat thought of Nashville, because they've been struggling with it. They could have a D to spare in a trade, although I think their TOP4 D-men (Josi, Subban, Ellis, Ekholm) are ranked higher than Krug is in value.

Perhaps Krug+something like Bjork for Ekholm would benefit both teams?

Don’t like the idea of Nielsen.

Not only do I think Studnicka is on the team next year, I think he’s one of their best players. 4th on the team in scoring.

Chara will be back.

Tyler Johnson is an excellent target for a lot of teams, but I doubt that Tampa even entertains the idea of shipping him to Boston

I don't think it helps Nashville, as their issue at least in my head is trying way too hard to integrate defencemen on their pp. Josi is a lot like Krug honestly, and the Ekholm contract is just straight up great. I think Boston benefits from having Krug specifically as well - I think their pp would be a lot worse if he wasn't on the team, and he's not being traded for Josi. Again, I just think keeping Krug is the best move going forward. I want to entertain this idea, but I don't see it making sense for either team tbh

Well it's also the idea of Backes, but would love some elaborating here.



Well Frederic was the last guy mentioned like that, and we absolutely couldn't trade him in a package for Tarasenko. They don't always pan out, and counting on it is an unnecessary risk in a lot of scenarios. Regardless the Nielsen contract would line up with Studnickas RFA, wouldn't it?

I'd like Chara back too, but they have to start resting him for periods and there's so many bodies on LHD. Moore should already have been shipped.

I would like most Tampa guys on this team and they decide their fate with the abundance of NMC's on that team. I could see Johnson specifically holding out for Seattle though