Like I get moving on from an aging Staal. But like why not trade for futures and get the cap relief? This makes no sense for them.

What a terrible move for the wild

Where's the option for both teams losing this trade? Stall won't be a long-term solution for the Sabres and Mojo is yet another mid-6 forward for the Wild, which is the least of their concern.

How were the Penguins and Jim "I'll keep trying to find a third line center" Rutherford not completely all over Staal if he was available for so cheap?

sure they won the skinner trade, but they followed it up with a horrible contract. hard to count skinner in buffalo as a net positive

I see Paul Fenton is still the GM of the Wild

And BUF still wins the trade.

The trade was good, contract was rough.

he would've been a good fit. even though I assume a decline in staal next year, he still should be good for 40 ish points.

I think Stunned is the reaction most people are having. Ha ha.

Johansson is not a center yet...

Johansson carries $1.25M more of a cap hit at $4.5M.

Guerin acquired him to play center. He moved from LW to C in his only year in Buffalo, and that didn't go too well

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) September 16, 2020

This has to be a precursor to another trade. Johansson is a clear downgrade from Staal

What the f*ck is Guerin doing??

This makes no sense for Minnesota, Johansson is a best as winger and Staal is top6 C.

W
T
F

If he retires I am officially dropping the sabres asy favorite team...but this is a huge trade if he plays for us! I think it makes us alot better definitely a contender with a few more moves.

I seem to remember Friedman saying that Eric Staal had previously chosen his no trade list so that he had the lowest chance of getting traded, by including the 10 good teams he would think would be interested in him. If that’s still the case with how he picked his teams, it appears to have backfired.

Think just about everything has already been addressed. Absurd trade for Minnesota.

They Got younger and that's what they wanted.

When was the last time the Wild made a good signing or trade? The organisation is a dumpster fire

With what Staal still brings and his meager cap hit finding a trade partner would of been easy - there's more to this story -

Cause he has the 2022 1st rnd pick to rid himself of and even the wild were like come on Jimmy that's crazy

minny got butt ****ed

Minnesota must want the #1oa next season cause they could have done better

same happened with Phaneuf a few years ago.

So when dealing with Pittsburgh:
Well I know we really need that center, but given his injury history, and the flat cap, we just can't afford $4.1M, so we would need you guys to hold back half his salary, and even then we want some conditions on that 7th to make sure we aren't giving it away for nothing.

Dealing with Buffalo:
You mean it!! we can have that busted up 40 point winger? And he only makes $4.5M.... Yeah, take our best center, what do we need him for, we just got one off Pittsburgh anyway

For sure, I think moving Staal was a must, but he had so much value. He's a cup winning, gold medal winning, big center on a sweetheart deal with 1 year left, and has put up high end 2nd line center numbers over the last 4 years. Contenders would certainly pay something pretty nice for Staal as a rental. Instead they got back a player who is roughly the same calibre as the guy they just paid a conditional 7th for with 50% salary retention. That's insanely dumb.