I'm still not sure Hayes is the right guy for the Avs; seems like the price is more attractive than the player. Doubt Malinski gets on the roster next year. Can't see the Avs trading Girard for a 4th-liner and picks; they aren't looking to trade him so the offer is going to have to be good. ERod is said to be asking for $4.75M.

That’s selling way way low on Girard. Bastian is a guy l Nieto is much better.

I'm not sure I'd want the Devils to even claim Girard on waivers at this point in time if the possibility were to present itself, to say nothing of trading picks and Nathan Bastian for him.
Between SIegenthaler, Hughes and Bahl the Devils LHD is set for the foreseeable future anyway.

There could be another taker for Girard around the league though, I could see the Sabres offer up a 2nd rd pick for him if you're lucky.

L take... Sam Girard is a top 4 D on an incredibly good contract... If anything I undersold him here. Girard has the ability to play the right side... so does Luke Hughes.

Nieto is not better than Bastian, and Bastian is five years younger with team control... There's value in that... This trade is probably still too low for G, but don't undersell how good Bastian is/can be.

Bastian is 25 has 46pts in his career. Are you really going to try and sell the difference between him and a top 4 25yr old dman locked up for 4 years who literally averages 30pts a season and plays 20 minutes a game is a 2nd and 3rd. You need to reevaluate how you value players. Guys like Bastian are readily available while top 4 dman are worth a lot just look at what Hronek fetched in a trade.

AFP Analytics has Rodrigues projected at 3 X $3.75M... I gave him an extra year of stability for $500K on the cap. I wouldn't sleep on Sam Malinski. He's not a 20 year old rookie... He's a 24 year old NCAA Captain out of Cornell, who put up strong numbers from the blue line and had 10 points in 14 games for the Eagles after signing.... He was 2nd on the team in scoring in the playoffs..... as a rookie blue-liner. He could very easily have a spot on the team come October, if EJ doesn't return.

Kevin Hayes is precisely what the Avs are looking for. John Tortorella moved him from his natural position at C to LW, and bumped him down to the 3rd line after the team decided to embark on a rebuild so he could give younger players more minutes... Even then Hayes outscored what was JT Compher's career year. He lacks defensively for sure... but that's not nearly the concern it is in this situation, playing alongside two elite defensive wingers in Rodrigues and Nichushkin. He has great hands, plays with good pace, and is money on the PP. He's also likely the best C they can acquire without giving up a 1st round pick... and given the state of their prospect pool, I would imagine keeping that pick would be the ideal scenario. I can't see a world in which Winnipeg or Washington are willing to eat any salary for Kuznetsov or Scheifele, especially without a 1st rounder going the other way.

Interesting offer for the Flyers to think about but I don’t think it’s enough with that much retained on Hayes

I think you're undervaluing how good Bastian actually is... he's a big body who skates well, has decent hands, and is a very good penalty killer. For a team that ranked in the bottom half of the NHL in PK%, he's an attractive add under team control. On an 82 game pace, he would've outscored Cogliano, Nieto, and O'Connor... All that said, I would certainly be willing to take more coming the other way from New Jersey...

Where would you put Girard into...

Siegenthaler -- Hamilton
Hughes -- Marino
Bahl -- Nemec

...and who gets bumped?

NJD has plenty of puck-moving. And our GM has said he wants "long, mobile" dmen.

I think the value of the trade is fine, just not right team.

Right postage. Wrong zip code.

Flyers won’t want Merkley, he’s a head case, talented but a huge ego. Not the kind of player that will listen to Torts

They literally have Tony DeAngelo, and traded for Brendan Lemieux... Both of whom are way bigger head cases...

Going to have to give up a 1st for Hayes

That was the last regime, Chuck made those decisions. TDA was probably the best option for a RD at the time. Lemieux was UFA throw in. They weren’t specifically trading for him. In order for the deal to work they had to take him back

Lol nobody is going to give up a 1st for Hayes.