we don't need a volume of picks/prospects we have enough, we need top-end talent

This. Plus you can get way more for Tatar than a late first. Same thing with Petry even though you don't trade that kind of D. My guess is he's getting a new deal this summer

With that kind of money retained on Tatar I agree you can get more, but if there is no money retained and given it's the offseason (not TDL) and he's a 1 year UFA rental not so sure you'd get that much more...maybe a 1st and prospect without money retained. With money retained then yes.

My worry about re-signing Petry is that it will be at 6.5 or 7 for 4/5 years and that won't be worth it... If they can re-sign him at 5.5/6 at 2 or 3 I'm all for keeping him around. Not sure we get a whole lot more for Tatar. Maybe an additional 3rd if we flipped back a later pick. My thoughts were that the additional 1sts were higher end then all the picks we had and this put us in better shape long term. Flipping out some picks for Sergachev could be a good option as well. Not convinced we can get a #1 center at a reasonable rate. I think we're better off grooming our current young guys and bringing in more higher end picks.

Allen doesn't have negative value. Plus we can move Bozak/buyout Steen, even move Schwartz as he's coming into the last year of his deal.

It's not that he is negative value, it's that the others are less expendable... To keep him knowing you'll lose Dunn or Pietrangelo, it's not worth it. Binnington is playing 2/3's the games anyways. To pay a guy 4.3 mil to back up, just isn't feasible. Buying out will still count some towards the cap. Schwartz is too valuable to move. Steen and Bozak , i agree, their contracts are hurting more than helping.

The time to get a 1st for Petry and Tatar has passed - it was at the Trade Deadline.
You won't get a first for these players during the summer or at the draft. Teams aren't desperate at this time of year.
Most you can expect for any of those two during the summer is 2 x 2nd round picks for each.
But then again I have to agree with the original comment.......forget picks - we have and have had enough - so many that this year MB has said we only have room to sign one of our CHL prospects from 2018.
That's bad asset management from MB and his team.....and in 2 years time - with all the picks we have this summer - we'll find ourselves in the same position.
There's only so many contracts to go around (50/year).
So let's start using our picks/assets and start to get legit NHLers to compliment what we already have and put us over the hump.

For example:
Offer sheet Sergachev for 4 1st rounders - make it too rich for TBL - that;s picks/assets well spent IMO

I'm all for upgrading/higher end players. In particular I would love to see Sergachev in a Habs uni. But to spend 3 or 4 1st rounders is too much. We need to either get Petry and Tatar re-signed at manageable contracts as i mentioned above or we trade them off. There's no doubt the GM is going to use the extra 2/3/4/5th rd picks to move up into the 1st or 2nd rd again which will be good. Another option with the extra picks is to use them in combination with one of our younger D-men for an upgrade of say Sergachev, Dunn, Bear, Myers or Fabbro. We're missing top 4 d-men and a #1 Centre. I get it the depth/surplus of picks isn't going to get us that, but re-signing Tatar and Petry to big $ long term hurts those chances even more, especially without the return we would get for them. I like these two guys, don't take me wrong. But with the way the cap works now, you can't have guys on the wrongside of 30 signed for big money long term. As it is we still need to get Gallagher and Danault significant pay increases and probably 5 or more year terms (and Domi).