In what world is Merkulov a better prospect than Brzustewicz? Sorry, I'm not arguing basic reality. had enough of that the last two days.

Lohrei? Huh?

honestly i thought it was lohrei, but why are we talking about brzustewicz?

He's a corresponding piece in a supposed comp trade that was brought up. The piece that corresponds to Merkulov.

i think two conversations got tangled up, and we wound up talking about different Lindholms

That could well be. One can never have too many Lindholm trades of an effectively value.

If I'm being honest, though, I think Lindholm is better than Hanifin.

oh of course he is - i think the two are legitimately in different conversations on a depth chart.

One thing I've noticed on this site is a trend of the big fish getting way less than fans of that team expect.

The mock trades we saw for Horvat were bonkers. The ones for Meier and Hertl before he extended were even crazier.

Generally speaking, the top of the lineup guys seem to get some form of: 1st round pick, NHL roster player that one team sees as a way of making the money work, and the other teams GM can say something about how they're hoping he can be a big piece moving forward (they almost never are), and an additional asset(s) that are almost never a coveted prospect or pick.

Look at the canucks and calgary trade - calgary didn't get wallinder or lekkerimaki
The canucks didnt get one of the islanders top prospects for horvat
it goes on and on like that.

It’s interesting. Brz was a third round pick whose stock has risen because he’s having a great statistical year. He dropped in the draft because of some physical limitations that appear overstated, but his profile generally is tied to a higher risk with this next step up. The AHL conversion spits out players who move up and forces adjustments all the time. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t some struggle in that adjustment, but he has a good chance of surviving it. I hope Calgary fans don’t overreact when his numbers take an expected hit next year.

Hanifans value is a first and a second with retention at most unless they take a bad, multi year contract. When including prospects, you just have to work through the valuation.

I can see why a Calgary fan would rather have a second round pick than Merkulov and a third. I personally value the conversion to the AHL more than that, but it is a viable question. I can’t see how anyone would view Mason Lohrei as just worth a late second round pick.

Most of the prospects that Calgary fans are adding as viable options with a first are utter pipe dreams. Basically, not even worth the discussion.

I’d argue that this package is pretty similar, if not better, than the Lindholm offer once you acknowledge that one of those second round picks was for taking John Moore whose salary slot was used to sign Bergeron plus offered the $value over a minimum salary which was used to sign Krejci over a minimum player.

To be fair, in several of these similar level cases (both Lindholms, Meier, Tarasenko, etc.) the traded player was sort of dampening their recently higher value with so so play.

And then there's the few guys who were actually going ape when traded, like Horvat.

Yeah, we ended up talking about different Lindholms somehow, probably my fault. But like I said above, I think Lindholm is worth more than Hanifin. I think the Bruins got him a bit cheap.

and i think that the horvat trade fitting into that mold shows that GMs don't really care. For example, I think Hanifin is playing at a higher level than he ever has before. I don't think that's really going to come into play too much. I think that boost in value is seen more with lower end rentals. like the 3C thats playing like a 2C randomly (Monahan).

Well, I do not agree about Hanifin's play this season at all, but I can promise you Tarasenko's value definitely took a late hit from it. And I'm fairly sure Horvat's got goosed a bit.

Remove the Lindholm’s and the arguments on the value of taking bad contracts.

My perspective is Hanifin is worth a late first and second at full retention.

You can debate whether a prospect and a third is worth a second or if a very good prospect can be devalued to a 2nd.

In would be better if offers be viewed under those parameters. It would prevent too low and too high of offers. I’ve seen deals that value him as two number 1s and a high 2.

It’s why it is easy for Boston fans to say they won’t include Lohrei or Lysell in a deal with a first, because that’s out of market. It’s also why a Lohrei and a 3rd isn’t going to be sufficient.