@MNBassman @TanSor @RazWild

Danault fits the Minnesota MO but idk if that’s going to stay the same. Monahan would be fine, but I think they’d like to see what else is out there. As far as compensation, it’ll be players and picks to balance. As for Stephan and Stastny, they’re rentals so I don’t see the draw and Kuz has some off ice issues.

Danault is tricky, because he's the only experienced center Montreal really has, so, they'd have to feel confident in the progression of Suzuki and KK over an 82 game schedule.
Likely the need is a RD, and Dumba would be a piece of interest given Minny might not be able to protect him in the expansion.

Kuzi would cost you way too much, but probably be the best option.

Stepan is a little old, and he's been on a bit of a decline, that could be due to Arizona's style of play

Stastny is Staal 2.0, too old to build anything around, better have a replacement in 2 years but I think he's the worst fit, though would likely be the cheapest.

Monahan is a solid option, decent term, and decent cap hit, he just has tendencies to disappear, and you'd likely have to pay a premium for the contract as well.

Kuz with Kaprisov would be nasty good. As a Caps fan I don't know what I would want in return though. Nothing MIN has really entices me. MAYBE Fiala?

In on Monahan and Kuznetsov, more so Monahan. Out on Stastny, Stepan, and Danault to an extent. I like Danault, but he's more of a middle 6 C and now that we acquired Johansson and are reportedly planning for him to be a center, I think he's penciled in as our second top 6 C and having him along with Danault as your top 6 centers doesn't sound like a contending group imo. I know Danault can play as a 1C, but I think he's sort of like an Eriksson Ek where he is awesome defensively, can chip in on offense, but ultimately not someone you want leading your center core. Stastny and Stepan fall into the same group for me, both players are stop-gaps and we need a long-term solution and can't afford to give up the picks/prospects for rentals (Fletcher butchered our prospect pool doing that).

As for compensation, I think Dumba and a bit of an add for Monahan is fair. I've thrown out Dumba and Kunin for Monahan and Kylington which makes some sense to me (I'm not super hot on giving up Kunin since we are already thin on right shots), otherwise maybe Dumba and Greenway for Monahan gets a deal done. Kuzy is tough since I'd rather not give up any of our 5 promising prospects for him (we need the youth) and they don't really need Dumba with Carlson. I just don't see a great fit between us and the Caps as trade partners. The other thing with Kuzy is that he's a bit older than I'd prefer and as I alluded to we need to get younger. I've seen some Caps threads trade Fiala for him and to that I'd say over my dead body.

Stepan is who I've been thinking MN ends up with. Cheap to get (2nd/3rd or Donato), use him and let him walk at after the season. Then sign Denault as a UFA for the next year.

No interest in Stastny or Monahan.

If I was willing to pay the price for Kuznetsov, then I'd rather go after Cirelli from TB instead.

After the second half and play-in series that Fiala had, he probably is (and should be) untouchable. He's on a great deal for next year and will hopefully continue the pace he was on during the second half of the regular season and the play-in round. As much as I'd love Kuzy in MN, I'm not sure if the Wild have the right assets to make the trade. They'd likely want to send Dumba the other way, and I don't think Washington needs Dumba with Carlson in the lineup.

100% agree. Brodin would have made some sense but not anymore.