There is no way you think this is an actual plausible trade.

a MTL trade for Eichel HAS to have Suzuki or Caufield

no it doesn't. it has to have four firsts of total value and for a rebuilding team - futures are worth more than burning entry level years on players anyway. we have more picks to offer now. HELLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOO JACK!!!!!!!!!!!

I don’t know what was going through Waddell’s head. Sure the Habs wanted to keep KK but a 1st and 3rd is close to fair value and at 6m he has negative value now. Just shot himself in the foot.

Sabres will want Suzuki and Caufield for Eichel. If they lose Kotkaniemi, all leverage is lost for the Habs

Habs fan need to realize that they're still not getting Eichel. Any off for Eichel would have likely started with Kotkaneimi because Suzuki and Caufield are off limits. Not with Kotkaneimi gone, Montreal doesn't have anything interesting to offer Buffalo.

The rumour that the value that Buffalo is looking for of "the equivalent of 4 1st round picks" gets blown outta proportion in this site - the key word in that quote is "equivalent". Buffalo isn't just looking for 4 1st round picks and call it a day - they want young players that are NHL quality. Any offer from any team will start with a young player with NHL experience and still has upside, otherwise Buffalo has no interest at all. From Montreal, if Kotkaneimi isn't matched then the only other 2 pieces that would likely start the conversation are Suzuki and Caufield and both are completely off limits from Montreal's standpoint (I can 100% guarantee that). There is no offer from Montreal that will entice Buffalo to make a deal, it's just Habs fans trying to overhype the situation because they can.

Side note: I believe it's still in the CBA (it could have been updated but I'm not sure), that teams are not allowed to trade players that have been tendered an offer sheet by another team for a minimum of 1 year to the day the offersheet was signed - thus making Montreal ineligible to even trade Kotkaneimi in an Eichel deal for at least a year. This could be the way that Carolina throws back at Montreal for their offersheet to Aho before.

Wouldn't say Kotkaneimi has negative value at all. Still a young player that can develop and has shown to be a playoff performer - just because a player is overpaid doesn't mean they have negative value. The offersheet is also only 1 year in term so he won't be making that after next season if he doesn't perform, he'd likely sign a bridge deal with more term and less AAV at that point. It's actually not a bad move by Waddell at all.

At 6m… yes. Negative value. I am 100% sure of this. Unfortunately yes he will make 6m after next season. His QO is 6.1m.

Now he most likely doesn’t get qualified but as far as value goes he has none.

Kk pushes the needle absolutely nowhere for Eichel. Habs have plenty of other prospects they could add. Eichel is injured and Habs need someone now. So I would say Hertl is a better target.

Jack Eichel trade with the canadiens is a joke. Laughable.

Having "no value" is significantly different than having "negative value"... the negative value guys are generally guys that don't have the ability to play in the league in the league anymore and are overpaid... ie Lucic, Neal, etc. Just because a guy is significantly overpaid, doesn't mean they have negative value. Guys like Jones, Marner, Toews, Panarin, etc are all significantly overpaid (all of the ones I listed besides Panarin are overpaid by about $2M which is the same as Kotkaneimi) but they don't have negative value.

As far as next season, who knows if Kotkaneimi is offered a qualifying offer or not. I expect Montreal to actually match the offersheet because if they let Kotkaneimi walk, they have virtually no dynamic centres (I consider Suzuki a much better winger) on the roster, and it sets them back quite a bit in their build. Bergevin wouldn't move Kotkaneimi for Laine, I doubt he lets him walk for a couple of picks when it's only a 1 year contract.

Would be the worst decision of MB’s career… and he has made some bad ones. Like I said. He has no value because his value is negative at 6m.

Which better prospects have better value than Kotkaneimi? None that would interest Buffalo. Basing an offer of what Buffalo needs in their organization, Montreal has very little to offer that's better than Kotkanemi. Buffalo mainly needs high end forward prospects (likely more centre than wing), and right handed defence prospects - so that cuts out all of the following that people seem to think have value:
Kaiden Guhle
Alex Romanov
Jan Mysak
Mattias Norlinder
Ryan Poehling
Luke Tuch
Cayden Primeau

So outside of Suzuki, Kotkaneimi, and Caufield, who does that leave? Josh Brook is the only valuable name left and he wouldn't be the centre piece in a deal. It'd likely be one of the big 3 names + Brook + 1st round pick just to get things started.

Montreal just doesn't have the pieces to get an Eichel deal done.

Its a 1 year deal to a young developing centre. Is it overpaid? Absolutely. Are you overreacting? Absolutely. It wouldn't be a negative value because a team can renegotiate as of January 1, 2022 and then they could have him long term at a different dollar amount. A 1 year deal is very rarely a "bad deal" or "negative value" on a player. On a 21 year old centre that went 3rd overall and has shown playoff success, that is definitely not one of those rare situations.

Kk going at 3oa was another mistake by MB. Why would kk negotiate a lower deal when he is owed 6m or go ufa?

If Montreal signed KK to this deal I’m sure you wouldn’t be defending it.

Players prefer term over a 1 year higher salary. He could very easily be offered a $4M x 3 years offer next contract and take it. That's more guaranteed money than a 1 year $6M offer.

Taking Kotkaneimi at #3 was definitely not a mistake. Montreal was in desperate need of centres at the time (and still are), and they took the beat one available. Not other centre in the draft has made an impact at the NHL yet. So not taking him doesn't make sense. And losing him now for a couple of picks when you still need centre's isn't smart either.

No, you take the 6m this year and either the 6m or ufa the season after.

Number one rule of drafting. Don’t draft positional. Take the best player available. Players take years to develop. If you need a centre go get an nhl centre. A centre prospect won’t fill the hole.

Giving up a 1st and 3rd for a 6m KK is just absurd.