So reason for all this mess. First, Bozak if a good centre and we would be selling high right now. Long term he doesn't fit so by signing Thornton, we get a much better player at slightly more that can mentor Matthews, Marner, Nylander and even Kadri. We get 2 2nds for Bozak which is mainly because of his cheap contract and columbus' need for centres.
Next we can look for some cheap LW options. Duclair has fallen out of favour in Arizona and acquiring him wouldn't take that much. He could develop really well on a line with Thornton and Marner who can mentor him while also setting him up for goals.
JVR is our biggest trade chip which we can flip for a first, a second and a prospect. Now it may seem like a lot but given the depth of the draft I believe it is a fair ask. Especially considering the salary retention.
Marchenko, Marincin, Martin and Live don't look to me like they have a future in Toronto. We can flip em for picks and prospects. We end up having to take Halak but he could suffice as a backup for a year and we have the cap space.
We can then use Komarov and our first (plus maybe a prospect like timashov) to move up in this years draft and snag Liljegren and really shore up the Defense. And the last trade is essentially to get rid of Carrick and Soshnikov. Both can play just we don't need them so we get a decent prospect in return but really I wouldn't care much if it was a lower prospect, main idea is to trade them to a rebuilding team for a pick or a prospect.
Long term, our centres could be Matthews, Nylander, Kadri, Gauthier. LW are Duclair, Grundstrom, Rychel, Hyman . RW are Marner, Kapenen, Bracco, Brown
Defense is more along the lines of get as many prospects and let them develop. A top four of Rielly, liljegren, Gardiner, Zaitsev is strong enough to compete and if any of the others (Dermott, Pulock, Neilson, Pokka) develop well, we could essentially have 6-8 different defensman that would be #2-3's on other teams similar to Pittsburgh right now.
I get our LW is weak but we have another first rounder where we can grab someone late like a Comtois or Vaselainen who are high risk but high potential LW prospects. We really only need on star LW and we would be set in every single position for the next decade.
Also I included a 5th line and a 4th pairing for the first callus incase of injuries of trades!!
BUF has no interest in that trade. Not worth it to drop down in a bad draft just for Komarov. Only way BUF moves that pick is for a top 4 defenseman or a young top 6 forward. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense for us.
Some of this logic astounds me. Columbus needs a centre by your analysis and Thornton is so much better than Bozak, why doesn't Thornton just sign with Columbus? Besides Is Thornton better than Bozak now?
Leafs trade two NHLer for a prospect with Vancouver? Not sure if rebuilding Buffalo would drop eight positions in the draft for one year of Komarov. Two minors leaguers who are questionable NHLers are traded for Duclair?
Hawks give up three assets for one year of JVR. There is no way Liljgren (who you drafted 8th) Bracco, Grundstrom are NHL ready. And AAloten, Rychel and Franson are debatable better additions to the the team.
Gauthier might be on LTIR for the whole season. Glad that Matthews and Nylander are on the team though.