I really doubt LA would include Byfield. Would be Turcotte instead.

i would assume Byfield is untouchable ATM

Unless skinner wants to go to seattle, he wont be exposed, whether its enough or not. Somehow that terrible contract is made just a bit worse by skinner having the ability to refuse any trade, and he apparently wants to be close to toronto.

You're both correct. And not just that. There's no trade that LA makes that includes ANY two of QB/Vilardi/Turcotte. It's one (Vilardi or Turcotte), and then added pieces from there. Otherwise Eichel's not going to LA.

Which probably means Eichel's not going to LA.

I'd rather have Boldy.

Only way Boldy leaves is if it's as part of a Eichel trade.

How about #DieHardForBedard?

Hes great but isn't he supposed to be a LW at the NHL level

Well we don’t exactly need the trade however I’d take it as the jackets. We get a shooting left wing and a right shot defenseman.

Yes, but he's a pretty similar player to Reinhart in that regard. Reinhart can play center but doesn't like to and prefers to play on the wing himself. He was only playing the position now out of necessity for this season.

Boldy to me is just as good of a talent if not slightly better than Reinhart. He's certainly the more well rounded and complete player that's for sure. IMO, Boldy has the higher ceiling between the two.

Agreed, but I doubt hes someone buffalo would covet in a package for Eichel

Possibly, but I'm not so sure about that. But it does explain why I'd rather hold onto Boldy over acquiring Reinhart.

This argument that Boldy wouldn't hold interest in Buffalo is just odd to me, they would require a top prospect back in return in any Eichel trade. That means either Rossi or Boldy.

Boldy makes more sense for Buffalo over Rossi for 3 reasons, or at least it should.

1) Rossi's issues with Covid have cratered any value he otherwise would of had right now. Boldy has significantly higher value between the two, at least until Rossi is back on the ice and any and all concerns about his health are laid to rest.

2) Fit, for better or worse the Sabres realistically don't need a Rossi, as they already have Cozens for their future 2C needs. And will be in the running for one of Wright, Lambert, Savoie in 2022 or Bedard, Michkov in 2023 to replace Eichel in short order.

Both Rossi and Cozens are centers, it's where they deserve to play. But they also are top six talent as well, they both need to play there in order to get the most out of them. But if both are on roster, one of them is going to wind up on the wing which would be a waste of said center talents.

That is a less than ideal fit.

Boldy however does, as he doesn't affect anything other than as a added cog in the forward core for that future top six.

3) And this is more or less an extension of #2. I always like to include Khovanov as part of any trade scenario as the two of them together are a more appealing return than say just Rossi. Khovanov may only be a B prospect, but he's got top six potential either at center or at wing. So that would fulfill the center prospect back with top-six potential card of any potential Eichel trade.

The way I look at it, is this. Sabers should take either a defenseman this year or Kent Johnson, get a package that includes a return like Boldy and Khovanov plus other pieces, draft one of the big three in 2022 or big two in 2023. That goes a long way to shortening any potential rebuild.

People get so caught up with the idea of getting max value for a player or getting the other teams top prospect that they don't consider that prospect's overall fit in their own organization and think ahead and in so doing arbitrarily dismiss a slightly lesser prospect but who is the right talent and fit that a organization actually needs.

Edit: That got rather long, apologies.

Honestly, I think I'd rather have Bemstrom than Olofsson, myself. (Olofsson, IIRC, plays RW.)

He plays both

Even if he does play both, I’d flip him for a pick or play him on his off wing and have him unload from the left side.

It would work if I wasn't already dead inside