Curious if you guys would be interested in Reilly Smith for Copp swap?

Nope. Copp, although overpaid, is needed for his defensive play and can line up at any position. He will be valuable in helping guys like Kasper and Danielson transition to the NHL. Nothing against Smith, he was someone I wouldn't have minded adding this offseason, but just not really good fit. Copp has also been our second-best face-off guy and that is a category we are currently not winning at. Add the fact he's a local guy and younger. I'm sure there are some fans that would be open to it, but I don't think it makes sense for us.

Pretty hard pass for the caps. No real incentive for them to make that move. Fabbri doesn’t solve our scoring problems and we’ve got a logjam on the blue line already, so swapping defenders isn’t really a problem solver either.

Fabbri is a decent offensive player who is getting passed for Kane, Cat, Raymond and Perron. Slotting him on the 3rd line with CMM and Mantha, who he played with in Detroit, would be an improvement over Protas. Not that he has been bad, but Protas could slide into that 4LW spot. Maatta - TVR swap is more just a handedness swap. Similar type players but I think Maatta is a bit more of a two-way defender compared to TVR, not much but a bit, which could help lead to a bit more offense while still being solid defensively. Either way, you have been the only Capitals fan that has said to be against it anytime I've posted it. Could be the little spark needed to help push the team to a playoff spot.

Meh. We should go after some actual impact players IMO. Kostin needs to be in the lineup as well.

I’m a caps fan and I’m against it. It’s a completely lateral trade that does nothing for team. Protas has been great this year

Sharks are only selling high on Sturm. That definitely doesn't get it done

I think he's back tomorrow. Or Sunday.

Like who? Spend big assets on a UFA only to let him walk cause we have more pressing contracts to sign? Spend a bunch to just squeak into the playoffs then get bounced 1st round. I don't think the time is right to be spending big yet. Our defense is trash, goaltending suspect and unless we are scoring goals at the rate we are, which likely doesn't happen when things tighten up in the playoffs, we will be lucky to get a win against a top team. The idea here is to try and improve our defensive depth so that maybe we win those close games or don't need to score 5 goals to win. It's just a slight improvement but I feel it is in areas where we need improving. We may have a decent "deep" prospect pool but in all reality a lot of Yzerman's picks haven't done anything yet, nothing against him just more we haven't really hit other than Seider and Raymond. I wouldn't want to spend a bunch until guys like Kasper, Edvinsson, Danielson, Willander and whoever else can get established.

That is the idea, a lateral trade. Unless picks and prospects are included that is the idea on most trades. Washington gets a bit more offensive, which they sorely lack, and a slight bit worse defensively, which is their strong suit. For both teams it would be a deal to try and spark each club to make a push. I agree that Protas has been good, but Fabbri is a bit better. Also, I could argue that Washington doesn't even really get worse defensively as well.

That's fair. Last time I made this deal it was a 3rd and 5th, I think. I tried to gain a bit more value out of the trade this time.

I think they'd want a minimum 2nd. Sounds a bit high if you look at Sturms counting stats, but when you watch irl him you can really see his value. I'd compare it to how Goodrow played leading up to the trade from the Sharks to Tampa, and that had a first going back the other way

They don’t need to get marginally better offensively (for and additional 3 mil in cap). They need to get significantly better offensively. Legit top six scoring talent. A journeyman Dman replacing a journeyman Dman and a slight upgrade to Malenstyn isn’t worth it

We shouldn't trade valuable assets for rentals. I completely agree with you there.

I just don't get the point in giving up assets for depth players like Sturm, Malenstyn or TVR when we have young guys like Berggren, Edvinsson and Kostin ready to go.
Fabbri is clearly the best forward included and Määttä for TVR is pretty much just a handedness svap.

Fabbri has been playing fourth line, he is not a fourth line type player. Malenstyn is pretty similar player as Kostin but better defensively and takes less penalties. Sturm improves our faceoffs and penalty kill. Kostin can be part of that, but Berggren isn't part of that part of the game. Looking at TVR's advanced stats, I thought they were better, not as good as Maatta's now. Maybe something changed, they are playing him on the left side now. I was looking at a TVR - Maatta swap as a slight defensive upgrade for us. Could be a decent partner for Edvinsson though.

The whole idea of this is to get slightly better at some of the defensive aspects of the game. face-offs, penalty kill (which is improving), forward defensive play so that we don't have to win games 5-4 every night. If you were to swap Veleno's win percentage on face-offs with Sturm's, we would go from 16th to 7th in the league. Just one example.

Sturm worth more to SJ then 2 nothing picks