With Minnesota being in need of Cap space and to retool to appease Karill, this trade for them opens up cap space to do a sign and trade for Nemas.

For Carolina this addresses their desire to get a return for Nemas who through arbitration would get an expected 7-7.5 AAV return that they dont want to pay. With their D-Core on its way out, they lock in a Top pairing D-man who is looking to be on a contender for a few years to come, thus allowing them to further address D-sided Roster needs with more safety. Plus a second round pick.

For Nashville, they get a younger Back-up Goalie (Starter if Saros is traded, rumor is he will be) for a 2nd Round pick when they have abundant picks. This allows them to safely trade Saros if they desire and command a greater haul as they have a goalie in place once he leaves.

I don't see Necas getting over $7M next season, but if CAR doesn't want to pay that much to a forward hitting his prime, why would they want to pay that much to a broken down and injured 34 year old? That's a brutal return for them.

NSH isn't going to give up a 2nd for a back up, when they can just re-sign Lankinen. He's better than Gustavsson, and won't cost $3.75M.

The probably bring up Askarov to learn behind Saros. But they certainly do not need another goaltender

In the OP's premise, Saros is getting moved in a separate deal.

Even without Saros going anywhere, there's still a very good chance NSH decides to keep Askarov in MIL another year, to get a starter's workload. Trotz did say "you can never over marinate goalies", when talking about Askarov, at the end of season press conference.

Either way, giving up a pick for an overpaid backup isn't the way to go.

I agree that amount does seem high, but that is what a lot of speculated amounts are for what he will command in return should it go to arbitration. Carolina has said they feel that will be "too rich for their blood" and that they have intention to acquire right shot Centers and prioritize Defense this off-season above all else. Given their roster's Defense is all up for renewal, or has 1-yr left this gives them a longer standing piece plus draft capital which is what they are rumored to want (more so the draft capital than anything else for a future retool down the road)



Goalies make no sense to me in how they impact draft pick values but a late 2nd, early 3rd is what back-ups go for it seems (also fits with rumored expected return for Gus). And with how Nashville is a team I see making playoffs for the next few seasons atleast, I would put them as a late 2nd round pick. But your point is totally fair. This more so would be to open them up to controlling the conversation more around a Saros trade (with no signed Goalies, they have less control then if they have one signed, but they could address this with that resign you mentioned too), which they are rumored to do in order to get either draft capital or younger talent (Gus also fits that "younger" approach they are rumored to favor).

I'm typically willing to give players of any position a chance to come back from a down season. The year prior, Gustavsson looked like an absolute steal, a prime number one (granted, in only 39 games played), then had a down year. Give the guy a chance, he might surprise some folks and look like a solid starter. One down year isn't enough for me to believe gmgb when he says Lankinen is a better goalie...

Yah the trade I put together is just addressing a lot of rumors I've been seeing in one go that fits the ask for all teams.

For the Preds it gets them the younger aspect but also now gives them full negotiation control around the Saros trade they are looking to do for a big return (kind of hard to control that with a rookie or no signed returning goalies on roster imo)

For the Canes it gets them free of a painful arbitration that they won't be able to stomach when they want to address their defensive need that they even acknowledged again the other day in a press conference.

For the Wild, they get a new offensive tool, but lose their defensive main stay in order to not get wrecked by their cap hell situation. Plus they lose their back-up and expected starter next season in order to get that offensive tool they need to help keep Karill happy (He is allegedly threatening to leave if the secondary scoring does not improve, which is fair)

Gustavsson didn't look great prior to arriving in MIN either. I don't see a guy who had one down year, but rather a goalie who's had one outlier good season.

Lankinen's more consistent, which is an important quality for a backup (having to go long stretches without a start, coming in off the bench cold isn't something every goalie handles well). Lankinen's better for that role, should cost at least $1M less than what Gus gets paid, and wouldn't cost any assets. It's an easy decision for NSH.

I'll counter by simply reminding you which team Gustavsson played for prior to arriving in Minnesota lol. If Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires, Ottawa is the graveyard of goalies.

Lankinen paid his dues for a couple seasons on a tire fire team too. He's played a lot more consistently than Gus, in the two seasons since. CGY can overpay for him, if you think you see some untapped potential in him. I don't want to see NSH giving away a good pick to get Raycrofted.

If Markstrom and Vladar both disappeared, I probably would take a chance on him to tandem with Wolf. Wolf is our very own Gustavsson, playing inconsistently as a young goaltender just breaking into the league. If all it would take is a late 2nd (in Calgary's case, the Stars' 2nd round pick we got in the Tanev deal), I'd do it 100% if we moved on from Marky and Vladar as well, both guys I do believe we need to move on from.

Yeah, this doesn't address any need the Preds have. If Saros is dealt, they'll roll with Askarov and either Lankinen or his replacement.

Maybe LA will take Gus Bus. Or Pittsburgh.