No

I saw what you said never mind

Doubt Benson holds any interest to Montreal. Another winger, and he'll completely bust out of the NHL because he won't get enough opportunity.
Asking price not being high for Lehkonen is likely off the mark as well. He should be a popular target and he isn't a pure rental. I don't think the Oilers are prepared to make a play for him.

Lehkonen is being watched by many teams and he's RFA, why MTL would do this trade if they would benefit more from just keeping him ?! Asking price for him is high because habs dont need or want necessarily to move him

Let's just go one by one, shall we?

- You are not getting anything for Kassian. In fact, you'd have to pay to move him, probably at least a 2nd.
- Nobody is giving a 2nd for Barrie until Jason Botteril returns somewhere. In fact, he's quickly careening toward "have to pay" territory. Not there yet, but...
- Yes, Dallas takes that in a heartbeat... but considering the first two asks you won't have the cap to do it.
- Benson has no value, but take him out and you're not too terribly far off. Of course, you also don;t have the cap for it.
- Bro... as nuts as it sounds, there's a case to be made that he's been the Devils best D-man this season, and for dirt cheap. Not a chance in hell.
- Okay, that one you can probably pull off (even if Safin is a nothing throw-in)

To add here, Dallas definitely should take that but I don't think they will. DAL front office seem to think Stars is a playoff contender so I don't think we're selling. Especially with retention.

This^

Siegenthaler is not being traded

Lehkonen cost a 1st and 2nd / 2nd round caliber prospect

You Habs fans will have to come to grips with reality at some point. It's going to be fun to watch!

Just wanted to point out that Edmonton could easily fit Holtby in without any other trades.

Smith will be back on Tuesday. They currently do not even have enough cap for him. So unless I'm missing something or they can shed somebody (which does not happen in the trade above), no they cannot.

Lol caps don’t have cap space for a bum and we don’t want him

I just created an agm to show you. When you get up to $1.1M cap relief from sending a player to the minors, it's pretty easy to fit a $1.5M player in.

I think there will be just as much outside the fanbase.
Yes, there are Habs fans that overvalue their players.
There are also enough non-fans that undervalue those same players.
Reality lies somewhere in between.

cbj pass

Habs fans are wildly overvalue their players, more than any other fanbase from what I see on here. Then consider that this is a buyer's market, not a sellers market, and the result will be a lot of disappointment.

Every overvalued Habs post is greeted with several detractors crying cap dump, old, decline, contract, etc.
It's two extremes with little basis in reality and it's in every fanbase. The Habs fanbase is simply more prevalent.
Yes, a lot of Habs fans will be disappointed with the returns. There will be just as many detractors eating crow.

I agree that Barrie and Kassian would be cap dumps but it's not that far out there that a team would actually trade something for them. For some reason there's been a lot of bad trades recently that leave you wondering why some GMs have a job and if the oilers can take advantage they should (doubt it though).

The lehkonen trade is close to value, Benson probably has the value of a late 3rd or 4th round pick. Kinda just a solid bottom 6 guy for his career. Both guys put together will probably make the trade a better deal for MTL as they get a 2nd and an NHL player.

I know Siegenthaler is good, but I was aiming for a trade like the Stephenson or Marchessualt (when he was moved to Florida) trades. A guy who was decent but didn't have much value due to volume of better players on the team. WIth Graves and Smith playing on the left side and Hamilton and Severson on the right, Siegenthaler would be on the bottom pair. Any team should be taking advantage if he os available.

1- Hahaha what??? Benson is an AHLer. Dude has all of TWO points in 26 NHL games. You could probably fart two goals in that many games by accident - he has none. He's a perimeter player who is also a weak skater, which is only the worst combo one can have at this level. The guy has no value. Of all the people the OIlers have tried on the wings of McD and Drai, they won't let this guy anywhere near them. He makes Kassian look like an All-Star. Sorry to be so... me about it, but it's true. He bad. And he not of this league for long.

2- He's not.

Benson is a gritty bottom 6 guy who is still young. He should be in the oilers lineup over a few guys so I wouldn't base anything off of the oilers' lineup decisions. He belongs in the NHL as a 4th line guy who can stir it up and chip in offensively. He's too good for the AHL being a point per game guy. You also have to add in the fact of his minimal ice time due to Tippet's horrible coaching overplaying McDavid and Drai giving the bottom 6 less than 10 minutes a night and not playing his younger guys. Plus Benson is only 23 giving him plenty of time to improve. AND due to the oilers' bottom 6 guys not getting their ice time, their play level has gone down (if you've seen RAPM charts comparing Ryan and Foegele before and after coming to EDM you'll see why I say this). I'm not saying he has much value but Benson is better than what you make him out to be.

We've seen weirder trades happen that make you wonder why teams are moving guys. The logic behind my trades aren't far fetched but it's a doubtful outcome knowing oilers' managment.

Haha yes!!! Less ice time for McD and Drai, and more for Benson. That's their problem! You've solved it!

Heh. Seriously, he's terrible. The guy plays against the worst competition possible and has a career 30% on-ice goal share. Hey, appreciate who you want to appreciate. That's your right. But if you really think he's currently worth a 3rd, I'd suggest you get used to disappointment.

Siegenthaler currently plays on the top pair with Severson due to Smith's sophomore slump

I'm just saying the bottom 6 deserves better than their 8 minutes a night and McDavid and Drai shouldn't be playing 22+ minutes a night. Balance is better for the team but Tippet is an idiot lol.

For Benson, the chances of drafting a guy better than him in the late 3rd or 4th round is extremely slim. Not even half of those guys drafted make the show, and yes Benson isn't the best player out there but still a relatively young guy who should be in the NHL giving him a lot of time to improve his game which has been taking steps over the years. I'd take a guy who's closer to the league than a gamble on a draft pick any day.

Going forward though the team is youth built and if Smith improves (pretty much a 100% possibility), the devils don't have LD space so I can see them trading him away. Maybe not for a pick, but possibly a mid level prospect who is close to NHL ready.

Okay, man. Whatever you want to believe is fine with me. I tried.

You're not completely off base, but I would argue it's more about usage than ice time distribution.

You have two of the best players in the game. They don't Need to start 60% on offense.
Simply starting them in the defensive zone more frequently, should produce better results at 5v5. On the flip side, your bottom 6 can get some easier deployment. Give them a mental break and an opportunity to contribute at the other end of the ice. If you treat them like backup dancers for the McDavid and Draisaitl show, then they are going to perform as such.

One simple adjustment that can have a ripple effect through the entire roster.