But Mantha is top of the lineup goal scoring power forward in his prime. Can’t see the Wings trading Mantha without a top prospect coming back. I understand the unwillingness to give up Holloway, but replacing him with 3 lesser prospects doesn’t make up the value.

He has never scored 30 and is frequently injured, so he comes with certain risks. At 26 he is at his peak, but he is not an elite NHL goal scorer. Bottom line, I am not trading Holloway for him, I'd rather try for Filip Forsberg who is apparently available, is the same age, has scored almost twice as much as Mantha, and would likely also be easier to acquire.

I agree.

@SweetRevenge19

Lavoie is the prospect equivalent to Mantha, not Holloway. Big, good skater, great shooter, not very impactful in other parts of the game. Holloway is a much more complete player and since he'll probably be in the NHL next September, this trade doesn't make much sense for the future.

Buying out Neal costs the Oilers just $1.9m in cap space, I don't think it's worth giving up a 1st for just $1.9M - especially when they aren't cap-strapped this summer. I've made lots of AGM's with the Oilers keeping Neal AND adding marquee UFA's, so there's no pressure at all to make this kind of deal.

https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/2205990
https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/2152757

Giving away Holloway is stupid but I like bringing in Mantha and Ekholm would just leave a Gap at 3C and Goal remaining.