I don't think Brodin will be the expansion pick.

I got a little silly with this one. I don't think the deals are unrealistic (May be a little slim on the CBJ trade...Would like their take on it), but doubt we see all of it happen. Also, slim chance the NHLPA agrees to inflate the cap by 5% again (I believe they just did it for the past season?). But it would certainly give a lot of teams flexibility. Bruins take advantage of the extra cap here above.

Lots of youth, speed, and physicality added to the lineup. For this mock, Anders Bjork and Jake Debrusk beat out their competition, in camp, and win NHL jobs. You could easily switch either if you wanted. The "rebuilt" 3rd line is now centered by the veteran Backes, and he is given a big physical winger in Anderson, who showed some nice potential this past season with Columbus. We saw Backes take Kuraly under his wing in the playoffs, and they fueled each other. I think Anderson would be perfect with Backes. He's got skill and those two on a line would be awesome to watch. Talk about hits! Debrusk (Or Bjork) has the skill, and smarts to be a nice compliment to both.

Justin Williams is brought in as a veteran presence for the top 6, or top 9. He's really a guy who could fit in a few spots in this lineup. The two veterans would be given a young rookie, for this example being Anders Bjork. The Marchand/Bergeron/Pastrnak line is kept intact as one of the best in the NHL. The 4th line could have a lot of competition come camp, but for this mock, Kuraly and Acciari win the job, building off solid playoffs. Acciari seems like a lock to me anyway. He ended the year with Boston strong (finding some offense) and it carried into the NHL playoffs. Kuraly gives the line size, and speed, along with some grit. Nash, a very undervalued player, is a cheap center who can win draws and be versatile. He's back as one of the teams top PKers. Also a chance you see Moore brought back.

For defense, the big addition is Jonas Brodin. Like I said in the above, I'm sure Minny will not be a fan of the package, but I think it's a pretty solid offer. They get a expansion protected left winger with upside and a defenseman with top 4 potential who they can watch in their own backyard.

Who are they protecting Brodin over?

Suter, Spurgeon, and????? Dumba, Brodin, or Scandella. Unless Minnesota is going 8 skaters, but not sure why they'd do that.

At least explain your reasoning.

See its not that us MN fans don't understand that we are in a tough spot for expansion, we just know that the players we have to trade will be highly sought after. Even on this site tons of trades revolve around these guys, and so that will drive the price back up to normal levels even if people know that we have to trade one of them. Taylor Hall for Larsson last year kind of says it all when it comes to cheap young defensemen getting traded. I actually don't think your trade is that far off in value, but your logic for lowballing isn't correct

Fair enough. From a Minnesota fan's perspective, what more would have to be added to the deal?

Minni besides having protection issues seem to having cap issues. Trading 4.16m Brodin, as Brekel suggested, Minni might take "futures" if it might little or no cap being returned.

The logic is on point as palhal indicated. Minnie might be amenable to a "futures" laden deal for Brodin or whichever Dmen they leave exposed. That would give them assets without affecting their tight cap. A cheap plug and play guy like Vatrano, who does not need protection, can replace a wing that slides into the 3C slot. Add a young Dman with upside and maybe upgrade the pick to this year's #1 and "git'er done"!!. I like the Beleskey salary dump with an added pick (epic Sweeney fail). The system is flush with prospects now and B's need some relief. You could also spin McQuaid out west for a 4th or sign Iggy or vet for a year to hold RW spot for Senyshyn.

The Wild deal is bad for them. You're trading into their strongest team depths LW and LHD.
-Vatrano doesn't really fit anywhere on their NHL lineup (maybe 4th line). Granny, Nino, Parise, and Zucker are all LHS already playing the wing. The also have Kaprizov and Greenway as future LHS FWDs (pending signing contracts). They can fill the role he'd play on the Wild in house for nothing.
-Lindgren hasn't impressed me: almost 0 offensive upside, and he's a LHD (Wild have plenty).

As for the expansion draft. Wild could lose Brodin for nothing to Vegas and keep Scandella. Or the Wild could make this trade and lose Brodin for potentially nothing (I'm really not high on either of the prospects) of NHL use, and lose Scandella to Vegas for nothing. The cap savings are nice, but not worth making this trade.

Vatrano actually plays both LW/RW so if you wanted to you could put him on the right side.

Coyle; one of Nino, Granny, or Zucker; Pommer, Stewart are there next season. Tuch and Kunin are in the AHL for callups or challenge for a roster spot out of camp. Vatrano still doesn't really fit anywhere. The Wild are already a small/soft (Vatrano isn't soft) team, and BB wants them to get bigger and more physical.

Wings with 3 or more years left on contracts:
Coyle (3 yrs)
Granny (RFA)
Nino (RFA)
Zucker (1+RFA)
Parise (forever)
Tuch (AHL)
Kunin (AHL, C/RW not sure where he'll play)
Haula/JEE (RFA/ELC, C/LW, one plays center the other wing next season)
Kaprizov (KHL for 1 more year)
Greenway (College)
Sokolov (Jrs. darkhorse candidate)

Vanatro would probably be somewhere in the mix with the AHL/prospects, but nothing that set him apart in that grouping. I'm not saying he won't turn out to be a fine NHL player, he just doesn't do much of anything for the Wild.

1C (JEE and Kunin seem more likely to be 2C quality players) prospects are the weak spot for FWD depth (no to Spooner), wingers are set up nicely for now and the future.

I think the Minny deal is weak. No way they protect Scandella or Dumba over Brodin, so the deal should be for one of the other two. That's probably a bit much for Scandella, but at least it'd be more realistic then. I like Lindgren as a prospect, but Vatrano is basically a shooting specialist who has good speed. He has very little hockey sense or skill and completely disappeared in the playoffs. In a trade for a legit top 4 Dman who's not even in his prime yet; a 2nd round pick is nothing, especially a 2nd round pick from a playoff team. If you adjust the deal to Scandella being the Defenseman we acquire and maybe take Lindgren out, while adding something a step down from him, I think it'd be really solid to both fanbases. Scandella is pretty good and could potentially move into a top four spot a year from now if Chara retires.

I like Justin Williams a lot, but you're paying a huge amount for him. I'm going to make a mock with him too, kind of situating him like Recchi was for us, but I don't think he's gonna get over 4M.

I like getting rid of Beleskey, but I don't want to give a mid round pick away just to dump him. That'd be like admitting we were wrong in signing him and I don't think Sweeney will go down that path until Beleskey proves he's incompetent in a top 9 role. Sweeney is far to smart to give up or give in before it's necessary. I think Beleskey gets another chance next year and if he has a better wing pair than Jimmy Hayes; he should produce more.

I think Khudobin only moves if McIntyre beats him out. If McIntyre proves he's better then I have no problem with getting a low pick for Khudobin.

Basically: I believe this Mock has a solid foundation and some good methodology. Some parts of it are a bit of a stretch, but I didn't get offended while reading this. I guess that's kinda the goal in all of this. I'll be somewhat generous and give you a 4.

Scandella is the odd man out. There's no point of even including him in it. It's Dumba or Brodin. Not sure why you think there's no way they protect Dumba over Brodin. Looking at player uses and depth charts, Minnesota seems stronger on the left side than the right. I've seen plenty of reports out there that Brodin will be the exposed defenseman. Supposedly Boston and Minnesota are talking trade for Brodin as well. So that's where I went with this mock. I don't want to adjust the deal for Scandella since I don't want Scandella. I'll be happy to change the 2nd to a 1st but that's as much as I'm changing it for this one.



Well Williams made 3.25M AAV on his last deal. I'm sure he'll warrant an increase in pay. So I'm 250k over what you think the max he gets. It's a weak year for free agents, so i wouldn't be surprised if someone gives him a little more. He's a leader, a veteran, and a guy who wakes up come playoff time. There are some teams out there that would kill for that.



Thanks for the generosity lmfao.....

That's not really how NHL free agency works. When you're over 30 you gradually get less money than your last contract. He had full seasons of 57 59 43 41 with LA then had 52 48 with Wsh on a 2 year deal for 3.25M.... is there something I'm missing or does that more likely merit a decline in pay? Due to age and similar production thats more truthful. Just thinking everyone gets a raise every time is lazy thinking. Sure, some team could be stupid and overpay him by a wide margin, but I don't think Don Sweeney is that guy. He's not the sucker people talk about a few years from now for overspending on someone who was nearing their last lap. We already added our UFA leader in Backes. Some Leadership has to come from within and Justin Williams is not a 4M player anymore. He's a 3rd liner. That's like going for another Beleskey. Who knows if Williams' legs will hold up or if he'll stay healthy. He could just naturally decline or possibly pull a Mike Richards and completely fall off. I've got years under my belt on HF boards telling everyone Scott Hartnell sucks and isn't worth more than 4M and this was like 2 years ago. Everyone was trading him around like a top asset and legit 2nd liner who was never going to decline and it made me crazy. Look at him now, not even producing 40 points. Williams is a year older than Hartnell and more of a risk to drop off. In my mock Williams will sign for like 2.5M.... a deal like Jason Chimera got because he's old, if he wants something bigger, he'll probably end up in a trash hole rebuilder. We'd be a great fit for him on the cheap, something like Stempniak got, but to pony up 4M is not wise. I'm also aware it's a poor UFA market, but that's not a reason to spend more than someone is worth, it's more of an excuse that'll make you weaker if you accept it. We don't even need to add anyone if we just keep Beleskey so perhaps I should be harder on you next time.

I can already tell you're going to be one of these "**** doesn't stink" posters. It'll be fun lmfao

And free agency market does matter. It's not lazy to say that Williams could get a decent deal here at all considering the market.

Right, but only the weak GM's pay a player more than he is worth just to acquire him. Don Sweeney is not weak IMO. Everybody's got a value, if he wants more than lets say 3M I'd be fine letting him walk to another team. There are other options that aren't that much worse and it's obvious Williams was not going to be a long term solution anyways. It's funny, you say I think my **** doesn't stink, but I believe the voice you write with is arrogant and condescending. As if you think you are better than everyone else. like a housewife would be, or someone who doesn't work much, but thinks when they work they are great. Brodin to Boston is such a cupcake take. If you really are better than everyone else, shouldn't you come up with something no-one else thought? Wouldn't that be the best person? The one who comes up with things that came out of nowhere but suddenly makes sense? I don't see any of that here. The Josh Anderson take was okay, but wouldn't they have to expose Collin Miller and lose him if the trade happened before the draft? If it happened after the draft it would be impossible because Josh Anderson is likely to be taken by Vegas. Seems like you didn't think it through, you gave them a guy they lose immediately, which has no value to them, and a lesser player just so they don't lose him for nothing. Why wouldn't they trade him for a draft pick or an exempt player better than Cehlarik? This is hilarious, you trade them a player who has no value because he gets taken in the expansion draft and offer them a middling replacement for a guy who's really a legit player already. I'm sure you're going to find some way to try to talk down to me, but this is just the funniest thing ever to me. Great job with your overall concepts.

Why would they lose Colin Miller? Vegas will have much better options to choose from in Columbus...Jack Johnson, Joonas Korpisalo, and William Karlsson? But they're going to take Colin Miller? Just because it helps your narrative here to 100% assume Miller would be selected by Vegas doesn't mean you're right. So clearly, I thought it through a bit more than you do. I'll agree, if they can figure out a way to protect Anderson (having Hartnell waive his NMC or buy him out would help) they lose him for nothing....Or they trade him for a couple pieces, one of which has a good chance to NOT be selected, along with a prospect with upside.

Brodin to Boston is currently a rumor out there, so obviously people are going to mock ACGM's with potential deals. That's how this site works. I don't try to be the best person on this site. I couldn't care less actually. I just think it's funny that your first few spam posts on here all ooze the same thing, Writing these long written responses on every mock that just give off this sense that you're the one who thinks they're the best.