Quoting: ON3M4N
Boston doesn't really need a LW and I can't see them moving their top prospect. They wouldn't even consider moving Stud's in a deal for OEL
I feel like Boston could use a LW in general (maybe I’m just not familiar with his upside, but Bjork seems to be a solid 4th liner, he’s getting solid 4th liner money, and he’s on the 3rd line when everyone’s healthy), and especially with Marchand and Pastrnak out to start the year and the year being shorter, Boston could probably use some scoring help in the short term, as there’s no room for error and their window is closing. With Marchand/Pastrnak starting on LTIR the Bruins can accrue some space, but this would probably involve a third party team retaining some cap to go through. I do think it makes sense for the Bruins in the short term (immediate top line help) and longer term (great guy to have on the 2nd line, bumps DeBrusk to a very good 3rd line) that gives them a solid shot at a cup this year and the year after, assuming they find a budget goalie tandem and replacement middle six C (plus give Carlo a raise) for less than the 16.5m Rask, Halak, and Krejci get (pretty reasonable to expect they can pull that off). It also means you don’t have to have Bjork or Ritchie in the top 6 to start the year. And ultimately it gives them a better chance to win in the next 2-3 years, which is their window, and they’ll likely have to tear it down after that and try to rebuild around Pasta and McAvoy as quick as they can. As for not wanting to move Studnicka, you’ve gotta give to get, and while Pacioretty’s not worth what they gave to Montreal anymore (equivalent is probably Smith+Studnicka+1st, maybe a little more as Tatar/Suzuki are better than those two) Vegas is going to get better offers if you try to give up worse prospects. Patches is also much better than OEL was last year for his position, he was one of the top wingers in the league and OEL is making significantly more for over twice as long, so they might consider giving up Studnicka if the money made sense and someone else could retain a couple mil.
Quoting: spockrock
CAR has very limited cap space and Svechnikov and Hamilton to re-sign. IF they were interested in Pacioretty, it’d have to be a dollar in dollar out trade. Vegas isn’t going to be able to dump 4 years at $7M and also fill holes in their lineup.
I did mention Niederreiter would likely need to get dumped to fit Pacioretry, and trading Gardiner and/or Skjei next summer (plus letting Dzingel walk) probably gives you close to enough room to keep Svechnikov and Hamilton (maybe you bridge Svech to make it easier), depending on what happens with their goalies (my guess is they try to keep it around the same as they’re paying Mrazek/Reimer, but split between good starter and cheap backup, like Nedeljkovic). Giving up a pick or prospect to get rid of Niederreiter likely won’t be TOO expensive as he’s still reasonably effective (definitely overpaid though), and adding a player like Patches gives the Canes more weapons to play with up front and diversifies their offense a bit, which makes them scarier to face and could push them over the edge (their D is obviously fine, and with guys like Bean/Keane on the way it will be for a while).