I like that trade for Buffalo. The key is to get Levi on board with it if you sign VV to a 3 year contract. Honestly Portillo could be in the deal instead of the pick, and he’d instantly be the best G prospect in WSH

Sabres should do it

Sutter is a nothing prospect at this point - hard to get excited about a 22-year-old winger with 3 goals and 21 points in 89 career AHL games. I know it kills your other deal, but if you're looking to move Vanecek I think a Vanecek-Varlamov swap works great for both sides, with the Isles having some room for retention if you need it. Fill out the margins with whatever picks you think (I'd say Washington throws in a 4th unless retention kicks it up a little bit.)

This is fine, not a huge fan of trading Vanecek now but I will admit that it may be the Capitals best chance to get full value for him. I'd want to try and get a 2 year deal for Sammy but that's not a huge deal.



I like this idea a bit more than simply picks, so I'll second this. I'm a big fan of Portillo and I think he could be an amazing fall back plan should the goalie situation go sideways, or simply become the starter in a few years time when Samsonov wants the big bucks.

For my own interests, how would you feel about Kody Clark instead? I haven't seen a lot of hype or hate from the Capitals side of things, so I'm interested to hear other fanbase's takes on him.

I'm gonna keep harping on this but Eller is still a beast and Backy might retire after the year so I think the Caps should be prudent and not trade Eller.

He looks a little better, but actually illustrates something I've been thinking about and that seems to have specifically affected that 2018 draft class - a lot of prospects from that draft have completely stalled out, what with the 2020 AHL & juniors seasons just stopping mid-March, to basically having a summer stuck at home without a lot of interaction with your organization's development team, to a weird truncated season for most of those leagues. When you look at that draft class, you've got some decent results through about pick 25, and then it's a wasteland of guys that haven't really done much. I know it's only a couple years, so it might be too soon to tell, but I think you've got to be confident in your ability to develop players to make a trade featuring someone from the 2018 or 2019 draft classes - which means that in Clark's case, he'd be going to Bridgeport to be developed by Brent "the only good forwards I've made are my sons" Thompson, so i'd be less than enthused about him being the main return for Varly.

Fair enough, but I'd say that the 2nd rounder is the main return in the trade.