Quoting: michelin345
This Tkachuk trade is presuming he tells Ottawa he wants out. It's reasonable to expect that to be the case given the franchise's terrible ability to surround him with any resemblance of talent plus the fact the Sens have not sniffed the playoffs in 6 seasons of him being there. Obviously the Senators would have no reason to trade him otherwise. If that is the case, what would Sens fans reasonably expect in return? The Sens would be motivated to move him this offseason before his NMC kicks in and they lose even more leverage.
This trade gives them:
A top 4 defenseman (probably top pair on Ottawa's roster? Bottom of the league in goals allowed) with proven leadership qualities at $4M/year. Provides just as much grit as Tkachuk but actually has postseason experience if you want to talk intangibles.
Three proven NHL players all under the age of 25. Each has their question mark but IMO more valuable than a first round pick (especially a late rounder) or a prospect at a similar age not yet in the league.
A 21 year old prospect who just scored 25 goals in his first pro season in the AHL.
Lets also not pretend this isn't the same franchise that once traded the Rangers a 23-year-old Mika Zibanejad AND a 2nd round pick for Derrick Brassard and practically gave the Knights Mark Stone for nothing in return. There's not a great track record.
I get it; it's fun to crap on teams that haven't made the playoffs in a while. But be realistic here - this trade is horribly lopsided and would be beaten by basically any team in the league who had interest in Tkachuk. It is also based on an incorrect assumption that Tkachuk has asked for a trade.
From the perspective of someone who isn't a NYR fan it seems like you SIGNIFICANTLY overvalue your own players.
1. Kakko is not good and, while still having potential, is not worth anything in this deal. Adding him to the trade does absolutely nothing to move the needle. There may be interest in him for maybe a 3rd round pick? Otherwise feel free to keep him.
2. Cuylle is meh. 21pts this year, is still young so has upside as a power forward. But plays LW - meaning that he is a worse version of Greig. Why would OTT downgrade from Tkachuk to a player that fills a middle-6 power forward role when they already have a better middle-6 power forward? Redundant and doesn't fill a need at all.
3. Chytil is one hit to the head away from his career being over. Not worth anything.
4. Berard is interesting. I don't know much about him outside of his stat lines and what I can find from quick Google search, but he does not appear to be of interest. What he offers, a scoring LW, is already under contract in Batherson plus in the pipeline through Jarventie. So, again, pass.
5. Trouba w/ retention is tempting. Would slot in nicely next to Chabot as a 2RD because OTT has Zub as 1RD who is far better for what OTT needs. This is the only piece I'd have any real interest in.
So, at the end of the day, you offered four pieces that are either completely irrelevant or completely void of value to OTT and 1 piece that is tempting but not worth Tkachuk. That one piece, by the way, has been the frequent subject of cap dumps by NYR fans, so lets not pretend that this package has anything of substantial value.
Sure, OTT has made some horrid trades recently (what organization hasn't?), but that was under a different GM and a different owner. Furthermore, they also did the Karlsson trade which turned out to be a fantastic trade. If your defense for this trade is that OTT has made bad trades in the past, perhaps it just goes to show there's nothing of worth in what you've suggested.