Hockey wise, yes. Business wise, no.

Not enough for EDM.

The thing is, if EDM were to trade McDavid, it would be because they didn't feel they could build a team around him - Mack doesn't help that, futures do.

Think Jost + Rantanen + 1st + 1st + Makar.

I think the exact opposite. I think Toronto is a better example, but imagine trading Matthews for MacKinnon. Now you free up 5 mil to fire Zaitsev into the sun, ship Brown for a 3rd/4th and sign Karlsson in the offseason. That team would probably be as much above Tampa as Tampa is above the rest of the league right now

No, Avs would be dumb to trade MacK straight up for McDavid. Obviously McDavid is better than MacKinnon, but the extra $6M+ of cap hit is too valuable. MacK is on one of the most team friendly contracts in the league

Its nearly impossible for a team to trade for McDavid and still be a competitive team. It would take so much value that you would be left with McDavid surrounded with a trash roster. I would rather the Avs stay the course than blow up their whole team to accommodate a single player (even if he is the best in the world).

The difference between McDavid and Matthews' cap hit is 1M-1.5M if im corrected. Based on what I just saw and what you proposed, the Avs will have a hard time to resign Rantanen

I understand wanting Matthews/McDavid from a marketing/business perspective, but if I'm a GM trying to win I'd rather have MacKinnon for 6.3, that's what I was arguing