Would love to see Meier here...but with that type of package for him- gotta be looking beyond this year...and another RFA looking to get paid is not what helps this team going forward

Im not saying Meier is not worth it, I just hope they don't pay this much for any rental honestly. It would suck to not have any picks in the first 5 rounds lol.

They 100 % will pay for a rental but they will still sit there young players in favour of veteran player.

Do I think they should do this? No! But that is one of the things that pains me being a blueshirt

If they win the Cup- then you live with that...but the NHL is so random that no move (or moves) can guarantee a Cup...so the most likely scenario here is a barren cupboard after getting bounced from the playoffs at some point because Igor was unable to maintain a .950 save percentage!

If it was to be beyond this year. I do not know how they could that off with the Cap the way it is going to be. If it were Lafreniere or Kravstov going in return it would at least remove a guy that needs a contract this off-season. Drury would have to pull of some jedi mind tricks in order to get Meier. Would love to have him long term. My thinking is damn the torpedoes. Cup or bust.

I mean if they get a guy like Meier I am not going to argue that Lafreniere should get ice time over him. Laf is not there yet. Love Kakko and Chytil is coming along nicely. Kravstov is expendable, but I do like what he has brought, he just needs to get stronger and older, which of course takes time.

It is alot. But if we are going to go for it, might as well go big.

Ottawa accepts.

Yeah, but currently Goody and Blais get chances over him. And bottom line is, Laffy wasn't drafted to be a top 9 checking forward. So why have he played most of his 176 games on that position.

If they actually played them on the top 6 to begin with they wouldn't have to go for rentals now.
What comes around goes around

CBJ will be looking for a 1st. If you can't do that, it'll need to be replaced with a young, Plus prospect, and I'm not sure these guys are it.

You are probably right. In think Jones makes the 2nd acceptable, but who knows.

You are not wrong Gallant loves his veterans. Want to catapult Blais into the sun.

Cup or bust has worked once in 81 years...so I'm going with the odds here! lol

Of course at some point a team has to go for it- but do that once a 3-5 year reasonable Cup window is entered. They are not yet in this window.

You're not wrong in terms of actual value, but the Jackets don't need any more 20-23 year old mid prospects. For RHD they've got Bjork, Peeke, Blankenburg and Boqvist at 25 and under already and then Jiricek and Ceuelemans on the horizon. Add in Gudbranson clogging up a roster spot for 3 more years and there's really no room. Pretty much every position has young guys in the 20-23 range lined up other than LW where they already have Gaudreau and Laine taking care of things. Any prospect they trade for would have to be clearly better than who they've got in the system otherwise picks are what they're after.

What would the trade look like if Laf was included?

He's a quality prospect but he's not what the Jackets need, so unfortunately that doesn't work for us.

IMO
Laf /Best 2023 1st/2025 3rd/random Low end prospect

Not trading equivalent of 3 1sts, 2 2nds, 2 3ds, 4 4ths for pure rentals!!!

1sts should not be used for rentals...maybe if a condition is met- which by now should be them WINNING the Cup (like the condition TBL had in McD deal). If that takes them out of the running for the top tier of available TDL trade bait- then so be it! Instead, focus on dealing 3rd-7th round picks and distant prospects to upgrade bottom 6, bottom pair, and depth...but if a team is looking to add main pieces at TDL, they're probably not a real contender anyway- so keep building!