Giving up Siegenthaler for a pick would get a thumbs down from me.

Arber Xhekaj can't kill penalties, so which of Luke or Dougie are you putting in that role

34 million dollars to Teuvo is disgusting

If Guerin values Holtz enough, I could see this as a possibility. Not sure he does though.

How about throwing out the picks, make it Mercer and Schmid for Gus and Rossi?

If I’m being honest, while making it, it felt forced in order to bring in Chatfield. There’s probably more of a hockey trade out there somewhere, or there’s always running it back with the same d group plus Dougie

Xhekaj isn't for sale, it's been made clear that unless it's an offer that the habs can't refuse they aren't going to trade him

Not sure Mercer is moved this offseason in anything other than more of a true #1 goalie, or a major forward upgrade. And I think the front office has a much higher price tag than a Rossi+Gus deal on Mercer, but that’s purely speculative and based on vibes.

Okay!

Xhekaj is not the answer.

If we add a dman, we need someone who will actually connect on passes coming out of the d-zone. Graves and Severson had their faults, but that was one thing they could do well…and it helped our transition game…which helped increase possession, quality chances for…and limit chances against.

Also, if we are going to play a track meet type game, we will want transition defenders and Siegenthaler is as good as it gets in that regard.

Guhle would be the one dman from Montreal to target if they make him available. Struble maybe as 7D/8D project.

If dealing with Minnesota, another option could be looking for Middleton along with Gustavsson.

Also a VERY big factor of any Xhekaj move.

Penalty killing.

Bahl and Smith had a lot of flaws, but they were elite on the kill. Xhekaj can’t crack one of the worst PKs in hockey even sparingly.

You probably end up with Dougie Hamilton killing penalties on his off side.

Some teams used to play their PK dman on off-hand…easier to keep stick in lane and face right direction. Ken Daneyko would always play on right side.

But I don’t think Dougie would be PK option.

Siegenthaler, Nemec, Marino, Bahl for PK

I’m actually fairly high on WiFi. He’s a just fine 5/6 guy, but like I said I think what I did there just feels forced more than anything. I just didn’t feel like changing it when I came back to this draft

Sending TWO left handed defensemen to Montreal. People are clueless around here.

Okay!

He is really really really bad at the NHL level.

He’s an AHL caliber dman.

If you’re willing to deal with the fact that you’re gonna have to find 4 PKers (because he can’t do it), that he can only play 14/15 minutes, and that you’re gonna have to SHELTER the **** out of him (he plays among the easiest minutes in hockey along with shockingly favourable zone starts).

You are paying for a guy worse than Bahl, worse than Hatakka.

I’d value him the same as around a Brendan smith. Both dog**** hockey players who do 1 thing well.

For Brendan Smith that thing is killing penalties.
For Arber Xhekaj that thing is punching people in the face

I haven’t seen it. Not a guy I would put on the ice over Bahl if up a goal and game on the line.

He's a Brendan Smith caliber player 5v5. DOG****.

The value smith provides is on the PK.
The value Xhekaj provides is in punching faces.

Do more teams win via an elite PK or by elite face punching?

Part of this is correct and part of it isn’t. He’s definitely not an AHL caliber defensemen. Next to a more steady defender, he could cook and contribute to the devils being a better team on the other end, since his microstats and underlyings do show a nice physical offensive defensemen underneath everything, and I have no issue sheltering a #6D.

The talk about penalty kill being a bigger need it 100000% valid though. Definitely not worth making this move when all is said and done

He has mediocre offensive analytics and underlyings.
Horrible defensive underlyings.

With some of the most favourable usage in the NHL. 18% of his ice time comes against elite competition. For context, Bahl plays about 37% of his ice time against elite competition.

And another massive factor. He is the least disciplined player in the NHL.

McDermid = elite face-punching

We need puck protection/control

Minnesota gives up the better forward and goaltender for the right to move up 3 spots and pick the same caliber of player they would likely get at 13. That’s an easy pass for Minnesota.

I’m not fully convinced that the Wild are better off with the counter offer either. Depends on if Mercer bounces back or not. If not, ooooof.