Bruins aren’t moving studnicka.

Only can dream lol

value wise with the Avs sure why not but when you consider Avs cant protect him in the expansion draft, its too steep of a deal to make for half a season of Ekholm.

I think you’re right to benchmark a 1st here, but the addition of the top prospects are probably no goes. Think a 1st and Vakanneinen from BOS or a 1st and Lili from TOR. BOS would be my bet here, just fits better than a lot of the other places.

I'd be all over that FLA proposal in a second, but I can't imagine them trading Lundell for Ekholm - even without the 1st.

Of the more plausible ones, I like the PHA offer best. It helps both teams, without decimating PHA's farm system.

I don't get the TOR proposal at all. NSH is giving up too much, and retaining on both guys to boot. Sandin is great and all, but LD isn't NSH's biggest weakness, prospect-wise.

Flames would be very squeamish about parting with Zary, considering that they just drafted him in the first round.

Mangiapane is doing reasonably well with Calgary and is under team control with term.

On the Nashville side of things, Ekholm is on IR and is due 5 million in salary next year.

Underwhelming returns for good quality players happen all the time and are more common than you think.

I don't think this gets it done for Calgary. Sorry

one year of a player isn't worth 2 first round picks and a second. you would be lucky to get a first and a defence prospect.

One year is a bit disingenuous -- it would be two cup runs. I do think some of these deals are a bit too greedy though. Regardless, NSH should be able to get at least a similar deal to the Muzzin trade. I think they'll do better though as they can also retain on Ekholm if necessary and that only increases his value. Flat cap and Ekholm with a cap hit of under $2m? I think a lot of teams would be interested in that.

For MTL I'd to counter with

1. 1st + Struble + Byron
2. 1st + Harris + Byron
3. 1st + Ylonen + Byron
4. 1st + Tuch + Byron
5. 1st + Mysak + Byron

FLA, NYI and CGY have the best offers here imo, maybe EDM too. Will be interesting to see what he goes for

durzi and grundstrom + first would be the equivalent of Chiasson, benson, and a 1st round pick.

I'm not sure how a 30 yr old UFA is equivalent to any prospect.

Not at all.

Chiasson is a 30 year old UFA and Durzi and Grundstrom were former 2nd round pick RFAs. Only 22 and 23 years old right now, respectively. That Muzzin deal would probably be closer to Samorukov + Benson + 1st if it was made today.

Zboril + 1st + Steen/Lauko for Ekholm

Grundstrom is playing his first year this year after doing very poorly in the AHL and the other guy hasn't even played yet and is also not doing well in the AHL.

Samorukov is an NHL ready defenseman his value is huge. Marody and Benson + first.

Although i'd give Jones and benson and a first.

If you don't want to pay it, you don't have to. But I doubt NSH would even accept the offer I suggested. They definitely would not suggest either of yours. We can just leave it at that.

How I'd rank...

1. Florida (Lundell/pick)
2. Edmonton (Holloway/Lavoie/pick)
3. Calgary (Zary/Mangipane/pick)
4. Dallas (Hintz)
5. Philly (Frost/Hagg/pick)
6. Colorado (Timmins/Graves/pick)
7. Islanders (Bellows/pick/pick)
8. Montreal (Guhle/pick)
9. Boston (Studnicka/pick)

One thing to keep in mind regarding the comparisons to the Muzzin deal is that Muzzin was year or two younger. Not much but it should be part of the consideration.

I've been thinking about what a fair deal for Dumba would be and I think its worth bringing that here for context. Dumba and Ekholm are different players but both are top 4 quality. While Dumba is slightly more expensive, but he is 4 years younger and the best value MIN could get for him would be in the range of Frost/1st or 2nd/Ghost. I'd say Ekholm is worth one of those pieces plus, but not both.

If we have to trade Mangiapane we are not interested

I've seen Frost + Hagg + 1st on here and I think that's a pretty good offer for Ekholm.

If I were NSH, I'd jump on it in a second. I think most of the proposed deals favor NSH a tad too much. Frost and a 1st is a big package, I think they could get either/or but not both. Especially since PHI would end up exposing him.

I think PHI has enough pieces to work with SEA and protect Ekholm in the process -- but yes, that is definitely an important consideration when attempting to trade Ekholm to any team.

Muzzin was a little younger at the time, but Ekholm hasn't shown any signs of age-related regression to date. I think it would be more of a factor if he had multiple years left on his contract, but with just a year and a half remaining I don't think it's much of a concern.

Muzzin's cap hit was a little higher than Ekholm's, and that trade was made before the flat cap was introduced. I think that's enough to mitigate the age difference when comparing Ekholm proposals and the Muzzin trade.

Ahh but they can protect him, it would just require some ingenuity... by going 4+4.

Mackinnon, Rantanen, Kadri, Burakovsky (or Landeskog if he doesn't do a handshake deal)
Makar, Toews, Girard, Ekholm
Grubauer

Exposed: Nichuskin, Jost, Compher, Donskoi, O'Connor; Johnson (waives); Francouz

Maybe you lose Burakovsky if Landeskog doesn't play games, but then you simply use Burakovsky's caphit on resigning Saad.