Voracek, Johnson, Kerfoot, and Oshie give this team more proven offense than Vegas started out with (Perron, Tatar, Smith, Marchessault). McDonagh and Kempny on the blue line as well would be a dream. And all those young centers? Not sure any of them will turn into William Karlsson, but there should be ice time for one or two to develop into something. Good depth at goalie. If Koskinen isn't happening, Holtby might.

(that said, not sure TBL/WSH kick in so many picks, to go with the top six forward and top four defenseman they're giving up from recent championship squads. If Seattle wants that much leadership, that might be what they get from those two teams)

That's fine. Your play then is to go with option 1. Seattle takes Caleb Jones as the Oilers will look to protect Koskinen if no trade is made.

I get that. As a Pens fan, I think Pettersson is worth it, but I feel like a lot of people would say I am biased since other teams have to pay to lose good players while the Pens wouldnt. I think maybe just a late pick to confirm them actually taking a guy with cap off the team.

You think Kahun/Archibald are more valuable than Jones? RNH is a UFA, so not much to worry about. So its either you protect those 2 guys or you protect Jones.

Jones is a luxury at this point. If Klefbom really is returning, it's to play second pairing. Kulikov/Lagesson have the #3LD on lockdown and both Broberg and Samorukov are very close to being NHL ready. Samorukov probably already is tbh. A lot of Oiler fans - myself included - are under the assumption the Klefbom's last interview was more posturing than anything in order to hopefully make the expansion draft a bit more 'easier' for Edmonton by instilling uncertainty in the Kraken's management. He's on track to be ready no later than November.

I'd rather not lose him for nothing, but it's far from the end of the world if they lose him.

The point about going 7-3-1 as opposed to 4-4 is to ensure that Edmonton doesn't lose Benson or RNH for nothing: there's a much more pressing need for the Oilers to secure more depth scoring than to worry about the guy that would be their #3LD next season. Archibald is merely a consequence of that protection format, given that they need to protect 7 forwards. Not the first name I'd look to protect, but he definitely has utility.

I think the Blues are fine with losing Dunn, if not they might trade him before the expansion draft to someone like Detriot. Blues have Krug, Walman, Scandella, Mikkola, and possibly Perunovich next year at LHD.

The picks aren't the issue so much, it's the prospects, and the other player they lose instead. Fast for example might be worth a 3rd, but I'm not sure he's worth Lorentz, Geekie, and a 3rd. IMO that's too much, and the Canes would likely prefer to just let Seattle have him. Or for the Jets, they wouldn't like losing Stanley, since he's been a solid bottom pair Dman, Harkins is a good 4th line forward, and both are U25 so still have some upside. Sundqvist I believe has been a really important piece for the Blues, so I think they'd actually like to keep him, or get a pick back if they have to move him.
For Ottawa I would probably just switch Logan Brown to a less important piece, and say the compensation is for drafting them as opposed to any of Ottawa's younger prospects.