I love Oshie but I'd do that deal so fast for the Caps.

a) not sure Boyle offers anything to bolster the 4th line.
b) Vrana has grown comfy on the left, let him develop on the left.
c) not Oshie...no.
d) still not Oshie. He's a heart and soul guy on a team that did not have a ton of that when he arrived. You can take Eller and groom Gersich at C...but not Oshie.

Big Oshie guy eh

Agreed - would hate to see Oshie go, but this gives more flexibility in the long run, especially with all of his injuries the last few years.

Gusev led the KHL in points last year. Like Kovalchuk the year before.

Kovalchuk got 34 pts in 64 NHL games last year. Oshie got 54 in 69. 14 of Oshie's were on the power play, as were 17 of Kovalchuk's.

Even strength points/game? Oshie=.58 Kovy=.27. So Kovy is about half as good as Oshie, at offense.

Two years back, Gusev and Kovy both played in the KHL. Kovy had one more point. Last year, Gusev improved by a third, making him about 2/3 as good as Oshie, unless league scoring just went up a lot.

Would McPhee give up a younger, potentially more talented player to get an established NHL 30 goal scorer who is obviously better right now, even if they need a big contract and have a couple question marks? That describes the last three big trades he's made, so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say yes.

I see Vegas fans on here claiming Clarkson has to be involved for Gusev, but that's in trades with scrubs and duds coming back. Oshe alone could get Gusev, Merrill, and a 2nd. Adding Clarkson gets another 2nd, or raises the pick to a 1st.

Eh, hard to compare Kovy's PPG this year vs. KHL and then translate expectations to Gusev - you can easily do a similar comparison using Panarin and the stats would favor Gusev over Oshie. Not to mention VGK isn't looking to add another high price/long term contract that could potentially turn into an albatross contract with injuries/declining play. I don't think this trade would work for either team based on the "intangibles"

Vegas signed Paul Stastny last summer, who's a year older than Oshie and hasn't hit twenty goals in the last five seasons. Oshie has had 26, 33, 18, and 25 in his last four. Oshie's game is based on having the best hand eye coordination in Olympic hockey history, and being tough as nails, so even if his skating slows down, he shouldn't have much trouble keeping up his point totals. His deal ends with him two years older than Stastny's, but it's 750k cheaper per year, so I think both teams see it as more of an asset than a liability, still.

And you're right.... Panarin adapted pretty well to a new language, league, and continent. But he also lucked into a perfect line combination featuring an NHL MVP and a Russian-speaking center. Vegas cant provide that for Gusev. Washington can. So for intangible reasons, both teams might be happier with Gusev in Washington and Oshie in Vegas. But not at the above trade price, and not on just a two year tryout deal. At 35M over seven? Sure.

Then hopefully Alexeyev rocks training camp, the Caps build the best five man Russian unit the NHL has seen since late '90s Detroit, and there's an intangible good enough to justify trading an elite NHL goal scorer for an unknown quantity.

The trick after that is to add a wing with as much checking as they lose with Oshie. Brouwer at 750, anyone?