Anaheim passes, we aren’t moving Zegras

I have seen a lot of Ducks reiterate the same sentiment. However, if Carlsson hits (which he obviously will), how on earth will Anaheim pay for Zegras, McTavish, and Carlsson and still be competitive ?

Easily. Mctavish's next deal is 2 years out, Leo's is 4, bridge deals exist, cap rises, etc. We've got a strong pipeline of cheap talent to support the main cast.

McTavish is way more of a Bruin, I'd personally go for him. But I don't think any of these guys are available anyway, it's more likely Zegras will just move to wing.

It's never a problem to be too deep down the middle, and as mentioned, one could go to the wing to keep them all in the top 6. About the only hard and fast rule will likely be that Leo and Trevor not play on the same line since they are both playmakers. We don't predict to have any cap issues well into our competition window with the ELC talent we have and the role models contracts falling off.

McTavish-Carlsson-someone
Someone-Zegras-Terry

Should be a hell of a top 6.

With all due respect, is your question honestly "how can they possibly pay for all 3"? Alongisde Terry, that's 4 talented scoring Fs which is pretty much exactly the standard for competitive teams. 2 per line with one of the Cs shifting to W. Unless you think McTavish and Carlsson are gonna explode onto the scene as 80pt players right outta the gate.

I can't see SEA accepting that. Coyle will be 33 at the time of the trade and SEA will likely be trying to incorporate more youth at that point, especially at C, with both Wright and Goyette coming up. RW isn't much better as most of the players there are tied up on deals and I can't see SEA trading a 2nd for a guy to get relegated to 4th line minutes.

Absolutely true. I don’t know, I think I’m just jealous of the center depth lol.

My question is more geared towards if all 3 stuck at the center position. I believe McTavish is capable of getting close to 80. I see him as the type of player who will earn his cap number in the playoffs.

Aha, in that case, the eternal truth of Cs being able to convert to W remains true- especially for ones like Zegras. Agreed on McTavish. Strikes me as the ideal Bruin

No, we're not trading Trevor Zegras.


The same way Toronto paid for Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander and stayed competitive, only easier because (1) the cap is higher now and going up, and (2) Henrique and Silfverberg come off the books in 2024, Fowler in 2026 and Gibson in 2027.

I would argue that they have allocated far too much in the forward position. How has their defense and goaltending done for them lately ?

If I'm correct in assuming that you're talking about Toronto, they've gone from a first-round exit to a second-round exit. That's improvement. And Anaheim will have a lot more cap space to add to a much deeper prospect pool to develop the bottom half of the roster.