Kakko Stays.

What is NSH supposed to do with Trouba, Josi, Ellis, Ekholm, and Fabbro all needing protection in the expansion draft?

Speaking of the expansion draft do you think they save, Josi, Ellis, Ekholm and Fabbro? Or just 3 of the 4

Buffalo pass. Johansen is not of great value because of his recent results and a huge contract, Kakko not enough to get Eichel.

NSH has Davies and Farrance who project to be top 4/6 d on the left side (and they should be in the NHL within the next two seasons), so I could see a scenario where Ekholm is traded prior to the expansion draft and they go 7 - 3 -1 and protect Josi, Ellis, Fabbro. I honestly don't know though. It probably depends on what a potential Ekholm extension would look like as well. Maybe they go 4 - 4 - 1 and protect all 4 along with Duchene, Arvidsson, Forsberg, Johansen, but they would likely lose a pretty good forward in the process. It's a tough place to be in, so I'm not really sure what the best direction to go is yet.

preds are also quite likely to draft a defense prospect with their 1st this year as they are very thin on them

tbh I figure you just protect 4:4:1 Duchene, Arvidsson, Forsberg, Ellis, Ekholm, Trouba, Fabbro.

At that point the best player you could lose would be Sissons or Grimaldi depending on your preference. I think that's probably worth Trouba. Especially with Fabbro's massive offensive struggles this year.


Farrance is about a 50/50 shot to turn into a UFA at the end of the year. And Davies is a fringe NHL player (the Rangers have a similar dman in both age/production in Darren Raddysh.)

I really don't see the issue.

Considering how poor the d crop is this year in the 1st compared to the F's (I have 4 dmen on my board in the top 31), I hope they do....

You forgot about Josi...

And Farrance was the d partner to Fabbro at BU, so there is a strong connection there. And I really don't see any reason why he wouldn't sign -- there is an opening on the left side and the Preds are still a playoff team.

Bruins ask you to stop prank calling them after this one

In all seriousness:
Studnicka is a solid top 6 C prospect looking to be pretty much a Krejci level guy. he is worth more than kreider alone. So to also downgrade the pick and throw in Kase its just completely off

I see them grabbing Guhle, they probably pick around 16-25 so its the right range. Preds have had lots of success drafti g from the WHL and may need a replacement for Ekholm in a couple years. His playstyle also fits their playstyle too

Totally going with the NYI approach and protecting all 5 D, haha.

No from Boston, Studnicka is a big part of the future for them, and Kreider's new contract complicates an already difficult situation.

I think its pretty close. Kakko and Cozens the future duo in Buffalo, Pajuniemi is quietly a pretty good prospect, and while Johansen isnt a great 1c, he fills the gap while they likely tank hard next year without Eichel. It is better than some of the ones we've seen out of other contending teams by far

oilers pass.