Larsson at 50% retained starts with one of Cowan or Minten. Sorry Leafs fans - you can’t offer subpar prospects for top pairing defenders

If Sunny goes, and that is a HUGE if, pretty much every contender will come after him. You are going to need to do better than that.

Do not have to pay that much for larsson half retained this ain't like a jeannot last year

I disagree, Leafs will not give up Minten for a 31 year old d-man and It wouldn't start with Cowan I would say Cowan would be enough or too much for the Leafs to give up

Just because you think Toronto wouldn’t give up a player, doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t. It also doesn’t mean that it’s not what Seattle asks for.
& Cowan is overhyped because he’s having a strong offensive season in junior as an overager. Hia ceiling is a second line player, but likely settles into a high end 3rd line player - those aren’t that valuable. But because he’s a Leafs prospect he gets more attention and is overrated

Cowan is 100% untouchable, Minten on the other hand is available but only in the right trade and I'm pretty sure for a 31 year old d-man would not be that. Cowan is only 18 years old lighting up the O and I don't think hes one of those overated prospects, the kid is legit. Niemela who has potential to be a Top 4 d-man and a first, second and third is enough. Probably more than enough but you have to overpay for d-men

Cowan isn’t untouchable. I can guarantee you that. Would it take a lot to move him? Absolutely & it’d have to be the right deal. But he’s not untouchable. He doesn’t have as high of ceiling as fans think. He’s not going to be a top line high offensive producer - at very most he’s a second line secondary player that works the corners and chips in a bit of offence. But more likely he’s a third line primary player that still works the corners and kills penalties, again those aren’t highly valued prospects. Just because he’s producing offence in his overage season in junior doesn’t make him a high end prospect. There’s many guys that are out producing him that no one talks about but because Cowan was drafted by Toronto he’s overhyped.
Niemela isn’t a high valued prospect by many GM’s in the league but maybe only Dubas values him high. He’s a small defender that doesn’t play physical and doesn’t have much offensive upside to his game. He’s solid defensively, but again with limited physicality and size it doesn’t leave much promise. Thinking he’ll be a consistent top 4 guy is quite a stretch. He’ll likely be a #4/5 guy similar to what Brodie is. & those types of guys are very easy to find.

A 1st + 2nd + 3rd isn’t enough when you look at comparisons and what you’re asking. Best comparable would be the Jake Muzzin trade which was a 1st and 2 B- prospects at the time. Both Muzzin and Larsson had about 1.5 years on their deal left, both had a $4M cap hit, and both had roughly the same amount of actually money left on their deal (Larsson would be slightly higher). & both LA at the time of the trade and Seattle now are likely in a similar position of wanting picks and prospects in the deal - so that’s the similarity between the two. But then there’s more that favours Seattle with Larsson - namely the fact that Larsson is a top pairing right handed shot defender and those cost more because they’re at a premium (whether you agree or like it or not, it’s still the reality), and you’re asking Seattle to retain 50% for that 1.5 years. So you’re going to need to add more value for those 2 factors alone.
So if Muzzin was a 1st + B- prospects let’s start Larsson at that and then add a bit more for the other factors. You’re likely looking at:
Minten + Niemela + 1st + 3rd + 6th for Larsson at 50% retained
& that’s really just the market value, then it depends how Seattle views Minten and Niemela and if they’re interested in them or not. But the original idea is not enough nor is a 1st + 2nd + 3rd

I agree with you on Cowan but I think for the time being he is untouchable. It is hard to find players like Brodie actually, not every day do you get a guy that can play both sides of the ice and be one of the best defensive players in the league (2-3 years ago) and if Niemela is anything like Brodie he is going to have some value.

First off you cant think of Durzi as anything more than a second rounder because the it was only the year prior that he was drafted in the second round. Grundstrom was had already been drafted out of the second round for 2 years and wasn't looking like much, so kind of think as him as the third round pick. So that already makes up for the Muzzin trade and then add Niemela onto that I think it's a good deal.

I feel the main reason Niemela is necessary is because Seattle is a lot better now and kind of contending for a playoff spot so it would be harder to make them budge. While Muzzin was on a pretty bad Kings team.

FYI, your presumption about Columbus not needing Timmins is correct.

If I remember correctly Ginning is reported to be heading back to Sweden by the end of the season, but maybe this would convince him to stay who knows.