Speculation: 2026-27 Trade/FA thread - Waiting for the SCF to be over….

[Kariya 9]

Stripping a guy of the captaincy is just needless controversy though. Why go through that for a player that isn't good enough at this stage of his career?

I think Gudas would probably understand that his Captaincy was a short-term bridge. Tell him we’d like to have him back in a reduced roll but that the C will be given to one of the core players of the future. He already didn’t feel like the captain anymore by the end of the season.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

And he did it at a near .50 PPG pace almost entirely at even strength. I chalk this year up to never being healthy enough to establish a spot in the Sabres lineup. Let's not forget he was the centerpiece of the Peterka trade. You can't teach that kind of size and skating.

He scored at a .35 PPG rate, I don’t think a 40% bump qualifies as “near”. I also don’t think he was the actual centrepiece of that deal, I think Josh Doan was just always very under appreciated until this year in Buffalo going all the way back to his draft year.

 

[robbieboy3686]

I wouldn't have expected him to be RD1, but an RD who can play 18 minutes competently with (presumed) room to grow at 26 years old would have been worth a second rounder to me.

Parayko/murphy/lueanu

 

[The Duck Knight]

He scored at a .35 PPG rate, I don’t think a 40% bump qualifies as “near”. I also don’t think he was the actual centrepiece of that deal, I think Josh Doan was just always very under appreciated until this year in Buffalo going all the way back to his draft year.

Yeah that's on me I thought the 29 point season was the year he played 65 games. Doesn't change my opinion that he was worth taking a flyer on to play with Minty. Still an alluring set of tools with untapped potential.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Count me among those that doesn't want to be burning more assets on a 33 year old dman after we burned a 1st on a 36 year old who isn't coming back

 

[Leo2Cutter]

Count me among those that doesn't want to be burning more assets on a 33 year old dman after we burned a 1st on a 36 year old who isn't coming back

The sweet spot is 24-30 for this team right now... but unfortunetly idk how many of those dmen exist.

 

[AngelDuck]

anyone in favor of wanting to overpay Trouba (in term or in $) didn’t learn a god damn thing from:

Souray
Allen
Stoner
Bieksa
Gudas

There will be other opportunities out there.

Connor Murphy is a guy I expect us to put a bid in for on a 3 year deal.

Dougie Hamilton makes sense as a Carlson replacement if Vatrano goes the other way.

Ristolainen or Parayko would be good adds depending on the cost coming down.

 

[Static]

 

[robbieboy3686]

Count me among those that doesn't want to be burning more assets on a 33 year old dman after we burned a 1st on a 36 year old who isn't coming back
[/QUOTE]
It’s easy to come to this line of thinking. But we have a huge need. And if Trouba wasnt willing to play ball, and wants massive term and aav. It is what it is. Parayko is still a legit perfect partner for Lacombe ( more so than Trouba even ) have to give to get.

 

[The Duck Knight]

Count me among those that doesn't want to be burning more assets on a 33 year old dman after we burned a 1st on a 36 year old who isn't coming back

Obviously. But do you expect the Ducks to be a playoff team next year? Because if they don't find a top pair RD that can at least do what Trouba did I can assure you they won't be.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

I wouldn't have expected him to be RD1, but an RD who can play 18 minutes competently with (presumed) room to grow at 26 years old would have been worth a second rounder to me.

Why? There’s already guys on this team that might be able to do as much and Kesselring is as every bit of a question mark.

 

[Leo2Cutter]

anyone in favor of wanting to overpay Trouba (in term or in $) didn’t learn a god damn thing from:

Souray
Allen
Stoner
Bieksa
Gudas

There will be other opportunities out there.

Connor Murphy is a guy I expect us to put a bid in for on a 3 year deal.

Dougie Hamilton makes sense as a Carlson replacement if Vatrano goes the other way.

Ristolainen or Parayko would be good adds depending on the cost coming down.

If pv is pretty againts signing older guys long term (which i agree with), i feel like risto/Parayko are just new trouba/carlson, and both will bolt next season in free agency.

 

[AngelDuck]

McTavish++ for Robert Thomas

Vatrano+ for Dougie Hamilton

Viel re-signed

Sign Connor Murphy to 3 years, 6 Mil AAV

Ilya Mikheyev signed

Kreider shot to the moon for a bag of pucks

That’s the dream offseason…

Granlund -Carlsson-Terry(McQueen could start here until Terry gets back)
Gauthier-Thomas-Sennecke
Mikheyev-Poehling-Killorn
Viel-Washe-Moore

LaCombe-Murphy
Mintyukov-Hamilton
Hinds-Luneau
Helleson

That’s a cup contender

 

[robbieboy3686]

If pv is pretty againts signing older guys long term (which i agree with), i feel like risto/Parayko are just new trouba/carlson, and both will bolt next season in free agency.

That’s the appealing part of parayko. He’s signed already through 2030. Don’t have to worry about him not re signing. If Risto was our guy, beeker would’ve just traded the 1st at the deadline for him instead of for Carlson.

 

[The Duck Knight]

McTavish++ for Robert Thomas

Vatrano+ for Dougie Hamilton

Viel re-signed

Sign Connor Murphy to 3 years, 6 Mil AAV

Ilya Mikheyev signed

Kreider shot to the moon for a bag of pucks

That’s the dream offseason…

Granlund -Carlsson-Terry(McQueen could start here until Terry gets back)
Gauthier-Thomas-Sennecke
Mikheyev-Poehling-Killorn
Viel-Washe-Moore

LaCombe-Murphy
Mintyukov-Hamilton
Hinds-Luneau
Helleson

That’s a cup contender

Probably need a gun with 3 bullets to pull that off. 1 to convince Steen to trade Thomas. 1 to convince Dougie to waive for California. 1 to convince Kreider to move again.

 

[Static]

Why? There’s already guys on this team that might be able to do as much and Kesselring is as every bit of a question mark.

Kesselring has one more season of that level of play than any RD we have under contract and brings a size element that we plain don't have at all.

I don't have any confidence at all that drew helleson or Ian moore are second pair dmen for a full season next year, but I could be wrong.

Maybe luneau does, but that's also a big ask.

 

[flywithme]

-Disappointed to miss out on Kesselring, he's cheap and would have been a good 2RHD. Sucks even more that he's going to the Sharks.
-Carlson leaving was expected, he's definitely NOT worth $10M x 2
-Trouba not resigning would suuuuck. Hopefully that's just noise from his agent. Maybe Verbeek is working on getting Hronek??
-Parayko too old imo. Same with Hamilton. Better than nothing but we'd likely only 3 good years.

 

[robbieboy3686]

 

[AngelDuck]

-Disappointed to miss out on Kesselring, he's cheap and would have been a good 2RHD. Sucks even more that he's going to the Sharks.
-Carlson leaving was expected, he's definitely NOT worth $10M x 2
-Trouba not resigning would suuuuck. Hopefully that's just noise from his agent. Maybe Verbeek is working on getting Hronek??
-Parayko too old imo. Same with Hamilton. Better than nothing but we'd likely only 3 good years.

Trouba leaving would suck but Parayko and Hamilton are too old?!

They’re less than 1 year older than Trouba.

The issue with Parayko is cost to acquire. He’s a better hockey player than Trouba by a decent margin.

 

[AngelDuck]

I also wonder if Verbeek is higher on Zellweger then the fan base thinks he is.

Is might not be a foregone conclusion that he’s gone or that Hinds is ahead of him in managements eyes. We’ll see.

 

[DavidBL]

At this stage id try and get Parayko with one of Zelly or Minty. Im not more attached to either and I think only 1 is here in the future. I dont like our forward depth when you take McTavish out without replacing him. Id target Carlo from Tor if theyre trying to clear room for Raddysh. Then with what's left if we can get a Larkin deal done go for it.

 

[The Duck Knight]

I also wonder if Verbeek is higher on Zellweger then the fan base thinks he is.

Is might not be a foregone conclusion that he’s gone or that Hinds is ahead of him in managements eyes. We’ll see.

If the coach isn't going to play him Verbeek isn't going to keep him. Q clearly favored Hinds (with no experience) down the stretch in must win games.

 

[robbieboy3686]

If the coach isn't going to play him Verbeek isn't going to keep him. Q clearly favored Hinds (with no experience) down the stretch in must win games.

+1000 unless the beeker goes out of his way to convince coach Q that he must play zell because he’s here to stay. I don’t see how zell isnt gone

 

[AngelDuck]

If the coach isn't going to play him Verbeek isn't going to keep him. Q clearly favored Hinds (with no experience) down the stretch in must win games.

I don’t know if agree fully with this take as if it’s some set in stone thing. We’ve seen players be benched before and then bounce back the next season and find their game.

I didn’t get the vibe that Q hates Zell or anything. And Zell did get a chance in the end.

I’m 50/50 on how I see it going - could see it either way.

 

[ducks8]

I never want to hear someone say taxes don't mean anything anymore. California taxes, plus small market is a turn off to a lot of players. I've said this in the past on here and people went off