A resounding no from MTL.

I disagree. MTL accepts

desmith isnt worth that much.

2 contracts we don't need for the one other contract we don't need, and we add a 3rd? No. Nobody involved is anywhere close to a difference maker, or blows our in house options out of the water. I'll keep the 3rd everytime.

Bruins take that deal in a heartbeat.

Dallas accepts that deal

You can get a better deal than that from B’s for Elias.

Take out the 3rd and add Armia

Eh, Ruzicka is relatively young (24), has size and is cheap, he's the kind of player Montreal's FO likes to acquire. Vladar with retention is cheaper than DeSmith.

Its not an exciting trade and Montreal still has too many forwards, but there's more than enough there to consider it. I'd personally pass, but its definitely not a "resounding no from Montreal".

We're trying to remove salary to fit Price on IR for TDL savings, this doesn't accomplish that nor does it make us better. The 3rd is the most valuable piece here. Getting a 3rd for any of the 3 players above would be a win. This move would handcuff MTL more than it would help, if they want DeSmith just send a pick. So imo, it should definitely be a "resounding no from Montreal."

Adam Ruzicka is a very good forward with size who can help us out, especially after we move out Armia.

Not that Montreal needs to still clear cap, but it absolutely reduces Montreal's cap burden. Montreal would replace DeSmith's 1.8 mil (only 1.15 mil of which can be buried) with Vladar's 1.1 mil with Calgary retaining 50% (all of which can be buried) and swap another forward with Ruzicka (which would be anywhere from no cap savings to around 400k in cap savings depending on who is waived/sent down). That's around 700k to 1.1 mil in cap savings right there.

Montreal's also not necessarily trying to get better, they're trying to get younger and get players they think they can help develop. I'm not a big Ruzicka fan, but he's definitely the kind of player the front office likes to take chances on and they'd prefer to get him on the ice than a guy like Armia.

I'm also not sure that hockey guys think a mid to late 3rd is more valuable than a 24 year old 6'4" 220 lbs. winger on a cheap contract, even if. 3rd round picks aren't worth very much.

Fair enough, maybe it will help with cap burden but it's still not a return I would want. It seems overly redundant to swap goalies and add more bottom sixers, massive human or not. Would I move a 3rd if we needed more "grit" for a playoff haul? Yea. We're not going for a playoff haul anytime soon so imo there's better uses for that pick. DeSmith + 3rd could theoretically get us an upgrade to a 2nd which would be more valuable than any single piece in the above proposal.

You do realize that not every deal made in the NHL has to be a blockbuster "blows your house out of the water" deal right? Beside Vladar is younger and better than Desmith and in this deal the Habs save some cap space. You also get a strong 3rd or 4rth line center, young, big with upside that can play both wings and played center all through juniors. Calgary opens up space for Wolf, the 3rd could be a 4th I'd that makes the deal bit I think you are way over reacting IMO