Why wouldn't you just resign Namestnikov at Killorn's cap hit and keep your draft picks?

The cap won't stay flat next year ('21-22)

Think trade value coming back for Jost is probably high, same for Zadorov won’t get Montreal to give both picks from same year, maybe make the 2nd pick in each trade conditional on production.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Gauging what Jost might be worth via trade is tricky. He's still young, and has shown flashes of what he might become (eg. against SJ in last years playoffs). He's also cost-controlled, and his next contract has the potential of being a steal if he breaks out. Whatever the case I was simply illustrating that he'd be traded for futures in this roster scenario, whatever those picks may be.

As for Montreal, they have 9 picks in the first 4 rounds in 2020 versus 7 in 2021, so I thought it made more sense for them to trade two 2020 picks to keep the picks balanced. That said, in principle I totally agree with your point.

Namestnikov performed well with Colorado since the trade deadline (4g, 2a in 9 games) and is 3 years younger than Killorn, so there's a really strong case to be made to simply resign him rather than make that trade. If it's virtually a choice between Killorn and Namestnikov + 2nd + 3rd, then as you say it would be logical to simply keep the picks.

That said, I think the intangibles Killorn brings probably make him a more valuable player, especially given his playoff pedigree.

Playoff record:
Namestnikov --- 1g 3a in 29 games
Killorn ----------- 21g 20a in 64 games

I think either alternative would be a good outcome for Colorado.

I mean I could be biased cause I love Namestnikov since he's such a smart, underrated two-way player and I think it was a great pickup by Colorado to get him. Also those playoff games Namestnikov only got like 9 minutes of ice time on average

As annoyed as Colorado fans are for Habs asking for Timmins in a trade, Habs fans are equally annoyed at the Zadorov offers. We do not want a bottom pair D who likes to make goon plays. We have Weber, Chiarot and Romanov who are all physical D. We want a good two way defenceman.

Are you interested in Graves instead of Zadorov, and if so, what would you offer?

Note that Bergevin was heavily scouting Colorado at the deadline, reportedly LHD... which means Zadorov or Graves.

Graves is more of a possibility. I honestly don’t know what direction Bergevin is going to take this offseason. It’s very likely that Romanov joins the team this year and I know he’s not going to come in and be a top 4 right away but Berge might be more confident in our left side with him and we have some good depth coming up soon so maybe he doesn’t make a LHD trade. Graves is an interesting player who had a great season but it was only his first good season so I’m not sure how much Berge would be willing to give up if he decided to make a trade.
It seems like a lot of talk involved Domi and personall I think if that’s who you’re after it’s going to take a bigger name than Zadorov or Graves to make that happen.

Thanks for your reply and thoughts, much appreciated.

What sort of offer would you want for Domi?

Regarding LHD's, I can see why Graves would be more attractive. He'll likely resign at a lower cap hit than Zadorov, mostly due to his limited experience, and as such would be more suited to sliding into a bottom pairing role in the future if needed.

In general Montreal and Colorado seem like great trade partners, as they have an abundance of what the other needs:

Montreal needs: LHD
Colorado has: Graves, Zadorov, Zhuravlyov (one of Russia's best two-way Dmen at the recent WJC, already playing against men in the KHL), not to mention Byram and Girard (though they are definitely off limits).

Colorado needs: Top 6 forward, 3C
Montreal has: Drouin, Tatar, Domi, Danault.

Although bottom 6 wingers aren't as much of a need for Colorado I could also see Lehkonen and Armia being of interest and perhaps included as part of a larger deal if one were to be made. Montreal also has tons of draft picks which could help balance a deal.

We can easily get 1st rounder for Killorn.

What if he blocks the majority of playoff potential teams and leaves the bottom teams as only acceptable trades in an attempt to not get traded. Do you think the bottom teams would be willing to give up a mid round first for him? I definitely don’t. Killorn may have value but the modified trade clause might be harder than you think to work around, I wouldn’t count on getting good return and be happy with any deal you get to get rid of him.

It's a Catch-22 for Killorn though.

By listing only bottom teams as acceptable destinations he probably makes it more difficult for Tampa to trade him, but he then risks ending up on a terrible team in a not-so-desirable city.

Conversely, if he lists a handful of contenders in nice places to live he might actually end up liking the outcome as he gets to go somewhere desirable where he can potentially enjoy himself and contend for a cup.