San Jose may agree to that.

Sharks shouldn't agree to that. I hope they don't.

Why would they not? Literally only Sharks fan I've seen that hasn't agreed to this. What else do you think you're getting? A level prospect, B level prospect, and a 1st. What else lol

It's simple: from what we've seen out of Holtz at the AHL and NHL levels so far, I don't see him as an A-level prospect anymore in the same grade as someone like Mercer.

Mercer impressed early on in previous seasons too, even if he had his struggles. Holtz is still a good prospect and I"m not calling him a bust, but he doesn't net a player of Meier's calibre. Mercer does.

Mercer is not ANYWHERE. He's not a prospect anymore either; he's a proven integral player in our top 6. Holtz has played 20 games mostly in the bottom 6, but has shown flashes at times. Make a Eklund-Hertl-Holtz line, he'll pot 20 next year. Walsh is also a B level prospect who I've been begging for the Devils to call up all year; he's going to be a Matt Dumba type of player. And finally, ur getting a 1st in a stacked draft. Maybe NJ adds a 2024 3rd, but no more than that

Maybe then they can add a bit more to make it more favorable if Grier is seeing the same things in Holtz you are. NJD is loaded with prospects and picks

I don't see them letting go of Mercer. I hell as no wouldn't

Not sure why you're trying to force a Holtz-to-SJ deal if you're that sure he'll be a top-line 20-goal scorer player. He could be, but I see enough risk there to argue against making that trade and that's a fair take if we're trading Meier for him. SJ shouldn't target him as the centerpiece of a Meier deal. You're forgetting that SJ resigning Meier is still very much in play -- I'd rather hold on to Meier and have him play with Eklund and Hertl if it's not Mercer -- a quality middle-6 NHL young player -- coming back the other way.

One thing NJD fans need to understand from SJ's perspective is that this'll basically be Holtz for Meier because SJ is soooo terrible with their mid-to-late 1st round selections (Merkley, Weisblatt, Roy, Goldobin, Mueller, Petrecki, Wishart), which is what NJD's 2023 1st will be. SJ does NOT need quantity, so adding a few other B-level prospects doesn't make it work.

What's more, SJ can and should try to compete again as early as next season because of how their roster is constructed. Their hand is forced and can't really commit to a rebuild. Mercer fits perfectly in that sense, so I'd even be fine for a Meier - Mercer straight up trade. Mercer, for the record, will never be as good a player as Timo Meier.

That's fine if NJD won't trade Mercer for Meier -- I've never argued that they should -- I'm just saying that Mercer is what Grier's asking price should be for him. If NJD declines, look for other trade partners and if those aren't there either as far as getting back a known quantity in a solid NHL-ready young player, just resign Meier.

Adding picks/prospects doesn't work since SJ wants an NHL-ready young player and isn't/shouldn't be looking for quantity with future picks/prospects.

If not Holtz, then what about Mukhamadulin? And the reason I'm ready to move Holtz regardless of his potential is because we can open our window much sooner with Meier

He's a good prospect and I actually like him just as much as Holtz (whom I still like!) and really wanted SJ to draft him a few years ago if he fell down to us, but neither warrant the return that SJ should want for Meier, which is a young cost-controlled NHL-ready player that's ready to have an impact as soon as next season. Matthew Knies on TOR, less realistically Mercer with NJD or Jarvis (CAR) justify dealing out Meier. Mukhamadulin is also a LDman and SJ's a little packed at that position relative to other positions of need (Ferraro, Megna, Vlasic, Knyzhov, Simek, Kniazev, Hatakka) even if they trade out a player or two.

I didn't think of it that way; I guess you could be right. This last draft Grier filled up his later prospect pool by trading away their 1st, so maybe he now less interested in quantity