Werenski>>>Brown
A potential top pairing D before a potential second line C
No way Brown is a top 5 pick either (who's value is starting to get exaggerated now, he should probably be picked 10-14 MAYBE up to 8 or 9). He's made great strides in his game this year but he has only been doing this well for 2 months in the past 2 years with a U-18 tounry that he played over his head good in (he played an entire season this year where he didn't play as good as those 7 games and his post season was nothing spectacular either) .. he has a lot more to prove and PLD would make much more sense, but still not worth Werenski who was ranked with Provorov and Hanafin and has lived up to the hype since last year
I also pick Merkley over Macinnis though value is probably pretty close, Merkley should be a top 6 wing if he can turn his health problems around, most of Macinnis's success this year comes because he's a man among boys out there now and it meshed well with Bracco's huge amount of talent and ability to QB their line, his next couple years in the AHL will be much better for his progress
Probably part of a minority who believes this but i think trying to acquire Barrie for the 7th+Stone or something ( then signing him to a 7-8 year deal) and then trading OEL to Edm for a overpayment like 4OV (PLD)+Nurse +a top 6 roster forward (try for Ebs but might settle for a bit worse) or top 4 D + Laleggia (probably a future 3rd pairing D that will be great in the AHL next year) would be the best bet for the team because OEL is going want 8-9 mill in 3 years and as a team who cant afford to even spend the salary cap, they cant afford to pay him that and have a deep enough team to contend with the other top contenders, so pretty much get a cheaper #1 with Barrie who will cost 5.5-6 mill a year and is the same age as OEL, fill more roster spots and move up in the draft
essentially
OEL+Stone for 7OV-4OV swap, Nurse, Barrie, top 6 forward or top 4 D (hopefully) and Laleggia