Friedman is a hack and looks for clickbait. Why in the world would the move "prominent draft capital" for a rebuilding team that is 2 or 3 years from competing and meanwhile Kuz is a rental for next season? Logic has to prevail here, makes zero sense UNLESS they can get him for a 3rd or 4th (MAYBE 2nd) and flip him at the TDL next year for a 1st or better. That's the only reason the Hawks would look to give up draft capital for him.

Ok, so I just listened to his on Donnie and Dahli...he did NOT say CHI has been pestering them all season. He did say that after his thoughts podcast some unconfirmed sources have said there was potential discussion and they've done the AB deal...so they could do one, BUT it was all in the context that VAN is trying to free up capspace for a better top 6 forward. I agree its a decent fit. But it DEFINITELY didn't sound like the Hawks were desperate and he's just trying to find cap situation where VAN could send that contract. NOT that CHI was willing to send anything serious for him.

No he didn't... Like at all. He suggested that if he were CHI's GM he would be interested. The end. No one is moving valuable assets for a player that is floundering, is a pending UFA that will be 29 when his next contract begins, and has a cap hit of $5.5M. Especially not a rebuilding team. I'd be willing to bet what he meant was that, if VAN needs to move his cap hit in order to add to their roster before the deadline, CHI should be interested. And that implies that he is a cap dump. In which case, yes, CHI should be interested in getting assets to take on a player that they could possibly flip next year. But paying valuable assets is out of the question.

Friedman is ok. They are all looking for clicks though. But he generally doesn't report something unless it has some sort of substance. In this instance, it wasn't even a report. It was him literally saying "If VAN were looking to move on from Kuzmenko, I would be interested if I were CHI." And that is essentially all he said. Nothing about value or anything like that. But suggesting that VAN might be ready to move on from Kuzmenko implies that he is a cap dump, or at the very least isn't worth a whole lot.

Yeah. This dude is just making stuff up to support his argument. Friedman didn't say anything like that either.

Jiricek is a better prospect than Cutter Gauthier

They are both very good, but yea I would say he is better! Problem is Gauthier was quiet about his refusal to sign, Jiricek coming out in an article online destroying his team hurt his value for you guys a bit.

Really? Exactly when and where did EF report that? I think even EF would think this is ridiculous. If this is even close to the cost for Kuzmenko, Canucks can just keep him.

Or was 39 last year an outlier and this year is the player he really is? Maybe he's another Dominick Kubalik. Just saying.

Are we reading the same reports? He hasn't asked out, and is under team control. It's not the same scenario. Besides, I worded it badly but meant top-5 pick, or a team's top prospect, or more for teams like Toronto or Edmonton who don't really have an equivalent prospect.

THIS!

I like him so I’m hoping it’s a sophmore slump type thing but you could be right.

Ok that far more reasonable. I have PIT 1st plus Cagnioni LD having a strong post draft season and Bordeleau but would be willing to negotiate.
What would be the ask from SJ?
Note if sharks pick was 3rd or later I would consider that pick

It would legit take will smith or a prospect of his level one for one. I don’t think the sharks have anyone on his level besides will smith. Outside of cellibrini they wouldn’t trade him for any pick in this draft

I'm not sure who you're talking about trading back within a year, but you absolutely can. The restriction is about taking a player back with salary retention because that would be cap circumvention. If the Sharks trade Ferraro today and then trade to get him back tomorrow, that would be allowed as long as there's no retention involved. Additionally, that restriction goes away if the contract expires between the trades since that wouldn't be any form of cap circumvention (for instance, Sharks trade Duclair to team A, he re-signs with team A and then team A trades him back with retention to the Sharks in November).

^--- Pretty much that. For the Sharks, definitely either this year's first or Will Smith. None of the other defenseman in the draft are as NHL ready as he is now, and few (if any) have his ceiling. Even for 1OA or Smith, we're losing the trade because we have a 1C in the pipeline with Fantilli, but we don't have a Jiricek replacement.

"We all see where this is going, and if you look at [Chicago] they are looking for guys who don't have a lot of term, they just extended three guys. [They're willing to pay] and Kuzmenko can score, he's struggled this year, but he can score."

"Ever since I blurted it out on [32 Thoughts] I've had people telling me it's [more than] that, they think Chicago has looked into the possibility of [acquiring Kuzmenko]."

"There's a lot of circumstantial evidence. It makes a lot of sense for both the Blackhawks and the Canucks."

So according to Freidman, they're willing to pay to get Kuzmenko. Kuzmenko can score. If you look at similar deals that have gone down in previous years, you'll see its pretty fair. The Canucks are a prime example. In the middle of a rebuild, they sent out a 1st + 3rd + prospect for JT Miller at 5.25M for 4 years left when he was considered a cap dump on Tampa. People screamed about overpaying. Turns out, it was a great trade for Vancouver. Same thing can happen with Kuzmenko with Bedard in Chicago.

If a buyer contacts you multiple times over a matter of weeks about an item you have that could be for sale, I think that's closer to pestering than it is to discussion. With multiple people confirming that to be the case with Freidman (regarding Chicago asking Vancouver) it's safe to say it is more the former.

You don’t win here. When a player airs his frustration for the world it shows utter dysfunction on the team and lowers his value immensely. Smith or a top 5 is out of the question! You’re in triage now trying to recoup what you can similar to Philly with Gauthier. I would love to have him, but not at the expense of a top 3 pick or Smith, abd I bet money you’ll never get from any team what you’re asking here.

Just because you dislike what he's talking about doesn't make him a hack. He's been one of the most accurate insiders over the past decade+.

Why did Vancouver move prominent draft capital for JT Miller when they'd not made the playoffs in 4 years? Because they thought it would help the team.

Why did Edmonton move prominent draft capital for Griffin Reinhart? Because they thought it would help the team.

Why did Philadelphia move prominent draft capital for Rasmus Ristolainen? Because they thought it would help the team.

Teams seek success in the shortest way possible. If the Hawks GM thinks that moving out a late 1st and late 2nd for a 30-goal scorer will help Chicago, that's on them.

So you minced words on what was actually said.....got it...you were wrong....Chicago, a rebuild team, isn't giving up the draft capital you suspect.....MAYBE a 2nd rounder at most

Yes, Freidman did. I've put his direct quotes a couple responses up, along with other examples of basement teams moving out picks to improve their team while still in the basement.

I'm not making stuff up. You don't like what's being reported so you're trying to call me a liar. I'm making a post around comments based on a well-respected insider. Just because it isn't coming from Lazerus or Pope's biased Hawk take doesn't mean it's not real. This isn't coming from a biased-Canucks reporter either. Friedman's as neutral as you can get. You guys cried about overpaying on Beauvillier too, when you expected that he'd come with a 2nd like Dickinson.

I didn't mince words at all. I wasn't wrong in what I said.

Way to double down. You should be a politician!