Going to take more than that to get Paul as I think the team really wants to sign him anyways

You take that and run if you're PD. Prospect that fills a need in the minors (Sens have 0 depth at RW) that 1-2 years away from the big leagues and a 3rd is a good haul for Paul who isn't guaranteed to re-sign because management doesn't want to overpay for a role/depth player.

I get that COL moved Helleson yesterday, but dont think Ranta or Compher are what they want/need. PHI has O'Brien, Brink, Foerster in AHL next year, all probably higher rates than Ranta (not to mention Allison, Ratcliffe, Tuomaala, or Desnoyes).

And 3.5mil Compher doesn;t add tons, PHI when healthy has 5 better wingers than COmpher, in fact with PHI retaining they'd probably want Jost more than compher.

I really believe PHI will want Barron or Olausson and not Ranta.

Its not what youre willing to give, its what PHI is wanting to take

Kaut is ready to be in the NHL right now; the Avs just aren't willing to give him a real shot. He'd probably fit well on the Sens bottom six and he'd be cheap.

Anything over Austin Watson at this point is nice.

if the Sens end up moving on from Paul, a deal like this I'd sure as hell be happy with

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

What do you think Paul would fetch on the market? I figured a 2nd or so, but Avs don't have any 2nd rounders so a 3rd + prospect might be needed to get it done. Kaut + 3rd might be a bit of an overpayment though depending on how you value Kaut. I'd imagine that he's the prospect the Avs are using as a trade chip the most this week.

I think it'll be roughly in that "worth a little bit more than a 2nd" range. 2nd and a 7th, 4th and a B prospect, that sorta deal. I think he'll probably end up costing more than he's actually worth. I'd say your offer is probably a bit of an overpay, as you say, but not by a ton. If I were to guess, Sens would probably either add like a 7th to this deal, or the 3rd would be a 4th.

Thanks, sounds reasonable.

I think you're right that Paul will probably get a return slightly more than what he's worth. He ticks a lot of boxes for contenders, like being big, defensively solid, faceoffs, can play wing or center, etc. Probably a fall-back option when teams miss on Copp, Giroux, Lehkonen, etc.