Nashville drafted Askarov with the long view that he replaces Saros in 2025, and it's highly unlikely that he's ready for prime time now. Kerfoot is a rental and Anderson and Kallgren are very iffy to make an impact at the NHL level. I just can't see the Predators doing this.

According to the draft chart I have, moving from Seattle's second (which is the 35th overall pick, not the 34th) to Toronto's first (#25) should only cost Seattle's third (#67).

How does making Washington even older make sense? Plus, Muzzin is not worth the 20th ovr.

NSH isn't so desperate to dump Johansen (especially when he's coming off a resurgent season) that they'd be willing to give up Askarov to do so. Kerfoot and the AHLers don't hold much interest.

I can see the Caps doing that for Muzzin if the cost is a 2nd, but not a 1st. Any first rounder the Caps trade would be in a deal for a long term piece. If this is the kind of player the Caps are in the market for, it makes more sense to go after Zadorov in FA

Nashville also needs a 2C and whole Johansen is overpaid by a mil or so we aren’t hurting for capspace. Joey had a good season as well. The ahlers are meaningless and Kerfoot doesn’t replace Johansen. Then we lose a future starter for nothing

Why does a team that has the 9th most cap space trade their best prospect to get rid of a player that is about 2 million overpaid but is still a need?

-Washington isn't giving up a 1st for 33 year old Jake Muzzin, even with retention. You maybe get a 2nd and a 3rd for the retention - if Muzzin decides to waive his NTC (doubtful).

-Even if they're 6ths, Seattle needs to build up their entire organization. They're debuting their new AHL team next season and need some bodies to stock it with, so those 6th rounders are perfect for picking overage CHL players that can slot right in. Besides - Holl's value can be easily replicated for the same price in UFA if Seattle needs that depth.

-Draft pick trades: #34 to #25 is about a 0.9 GSVA bump according to Dom @ the Athletic's draft value chart. #67 is worth 1.0 GSVA so technically they might accept it; however, I firmly believe you overpay if you're moving up in the 1st round so Seattle gives #49 (1.6 GSVA) along with #34. But they can save #67 for later.

In the second trade, you have Montreal wanting to move up from #26(3.3 GSVA) to the #20(4.0 GSVA) pick that Toronto owns in this ACGM - a value bump of about 0.7 GSVA. Even assuming that Montreal has to overpay to move up, giving up #33 (2.6 GSVA)is a huge overpayment -they're sending 5.9 worth of GSVA and getting back 4.0. Toronto probably throws back that #49 (1.6) pick back to Montreal and maybe picks up an extra mid-rounder in the swap (so #26/#33/#97? for #20/#49)

-Mrazek costs at least a 2nd but I maintain that Arizona would be unlikely to pick up a contract that costs more than the cap hit without extra incentive. You're probably better off keeping #49OA here and just buying Mrazek out if you want him gone.

-Woof, this Nashville trade. Askarov is Nashville's #1 prospect - he was picked #11 overall in the 2020 draft. He is as close to an untouchable prospect that they have in that system. That being said, he's still only 19 years old and while he has more KHL experience than most 19 year old prospects do, it's still limited. He's not someone I would advocate trading for and putting in net on opening night.

But you'd have to acquire him to do that, and there is a zero percent chance you get him in this deal. Ryan Johansen is still a good player, probably a 60ish point, decent two way game, a high-end 2C who can fill in at 1C if you need him. Is he overpaid at $8M? Sure, probably a little bit. Is Nashville in a situation where they *NEED* to move his deal? No, I'd argue they're not. They have $24M in cap room on July 1st, and even if they keep Forsberg at something like $11M AAV, they still have plenty of room to fill in the margins. Their top 6 minus Forsberg is pretty much set, their top 4 D are set, their goalie is set. They don't need to move Johansen, so you're not doing them a favor by absorbing his cap hit.

And the package you're sending back? Joey Anderson is filler. Erik Kallgren is basically filler. Alex Kerfoot is a fine player but he's a middle-six guy who's a pending UFA, and a worse player than Johansen I'd argue. That early 2nd isn't nearly enough to justify the lack of value you're offering the Predators here.

Habs easily reject that

Caps don't need to get older. Plus we have Orlov and Fehervary already set, and Johansen, Alexeyev, Geisser, and Nardella who are all going to get the shot at the third pair left D spot out of training camp. No thanks.