Ottawa doesn't have the "mid-to-late 1st" that we've been asking for for Gavrikov in the event we can't resign him (that 1st is, ah, considerably higher ), so the only likely available route is an equivalent-value prospect at a position and/or with a skillset we need. Which would make it difficult to come up with an agreement. Personally I think it works for the Jackets if Grieg is offered straight up, but that could easily be seen as a Bad Idea.

Despite Ottawa's off season, their 2nd is somehow tracking to be pretty close to a late 1st in value (Thanks DJ). Ottawa Definitely has the assets to bridge that gap, but certainly not Greig imo.

What would CBJ be looking for in terms of prospects?

top-3 protected 23 1st for orlov from Ottawa, or 24 1st unprotected and B+ prospect (anything but a LD tbh). I think even if they decide to sell, they would prefer to keep Orlov and re-sign him -- its going to take a lot for him to be moved.

Two-way "reliability" centers - that part of the pipeline basically consists of Voronkov and that's kind of it (unless one still counts Sillinger as a prospect). Thus why I mentioned Grieg. We're full to busting on wingers on either side (some of which are also transition guys like Gaudreau and KJ), we've got plenty of prospect blueliners developing, and we've got a few very nice nuclear-boom-or-bust folks mixed in (*cough*cough*dumais*cough*). But we're a bit short on Quality Worker Bee and/or physical space-defining centers. (Hence also why we've had some interest in Horvat, despite the timing of acquiring him being potentially awkward and the extension price possibly being out of reach.)

We're also possibly a tad short on goaltending prospects behind Tarasov, but I can't imagine a goaltending prospect being considered an adequate substitute.

Zach Ostapchuk fits into that mold. 19, 6'3 205. Big two way C with good skating and pretty soft hands. Had pretty pedestrian offensive production in the regular season last year, but he more than made up for it by being a double point a game player in the playoffs. Off to a rocking start this year. Doesn't have the top 6 upside that Greig has, but he's got a better NHL frame. I think he will be that kind stereotypical 3C. Size, faceoffs, PK1, some PP2. Play against top lines.

Zach Ostapchuk also (so far as I've seen) doesn't reach that "mid-to-late 1st in 2023" value level.

Sure, but Zach Ostapchuk + a 2nd in the 35ish range is very much in that zone. Maybe Ottawa chucks in another pick or something, but as a base for a deal it's valid imo.

Nope. We're not doing Makeup Adds. This is a "single asset" scenario.

Sorry Jarmo, didn't realize who I was talking to.

Let's dispense with the thought-terminating cliches. The whole point for the Jackets is to get quality, not quantity; we have quantity bursting at the seams right now. Going with two 2nds instead of a 1st (or a 2nd-equivalent prospect and a 2nd instead of a 1st-equivalent prospect) is axiomatically a quantity-over-quality move and thus the opposite of what is needed. This is not a difficult concept, nor is it one that requires that one be in telepathic contact with Kekalainen to understand.

Unfortunately, Orlov and Gavrikov are LDs and Ottawa has Chabot, Sanderson and even Brannstrom (great analytics, also good on eye test)

Wish Orlov was RD but Washington going to find a way to keep him, they have to

I think either would be fine to play the offside tbh. Orlov played the right side early in his career I believe, when he played with Brooks Orpik and Nate Schmidt. And Gavrikov's game would compliment the Sens two top LD, even if he's playing off hand.

Also adding a big minute LD could let you experiment with Jake and Thomas together. I really want to see how Sanderson-Chabot would work.

Ideally, yeah you'd find a big body RHD who can soak up minutes like Zub, but for this post there are three guys in the whole league who are Russian, Ottawa has two of them and one of them is the guy you're looking to replace. The other one is Ilya Lyubushkin

Can we get Zub a Russian forward instead? I feel there'd be more choices

For LHD playing RD I don't know, it doesn't always work out as well as we'd hope. I would need to see the player for a while in that position or to be certified on the play quality by someone who did.