Because you literally have no nhl calibre dmen I think it’s pretty obvious 🤔that’s literally the reason teams like the leafs have never won anything. Also why Chicago made sure to flip some assets to draft Korchinski. But keep drafting forwards I guess lol.

I agree with your comment about them needing to draft defenseman and i do think all the top defenseman will be gone when they pick 14 but will smith looks too good to be traded away, i was going to post actually today a question to sharks fans who would they be willing to trade for some of Montreals D prospects

Yes the Sharks would trade someone who would likely go #2 in this draft for #5 plus something else? No defensemen in this draft are worth Will Smith. They have alot of time to draft and develop defensemen. One of the other biggest issues with teams is centre depth, why would they trade away one of the hardest positions to fill?

Defense is as important and they must draft a top defenceman this year draft because they do take longer to develop

BPA is always the way to go. Smith is likely a better player than whoever is available at 4 .

San Jose is in a rebuild and won’t be competitive for another 4-5 years. They have time to find a 1D

"Give us your 4th OA in a loaded draft for our 5th overall in a meh draft."

I agree but they aren't trading Smith for one. They will draft one at 14 likely and look at future drafts or other trades. You don't trade someone who is supposed to be as good as Smith. You look at other options or possibly they use some assets to try and move to and grab one if the defensemen.

The Sharks suck they are starting their rebuild and Celebrini Smith as their centers is the foundation. Smith is better than everybody in this draft other than Celebrini and maybe Dmeidov that kind of move doesn’t make any sense.

Hot take : this draft is better than last year’s. Way deeper. But habs still add quite a bit in this deal

Which defenseman will be available at 14 ? Cole hutson ?

Hell no, Smith goes 2 maybe 3 in this draft

Hopefully they trade up from #14 to draft one of good defenders available in this draft

lol. There are other ways than giving up your future 2C behind Celebrini. Like trading 14 and 33 to move into the top 10, or 14 plus Bordeleau. Trading a future 2C for a middling 1st round is malpractice.

No way Jose