What could we reasonably ask for from Florida, NYR, L.A., Vegas, etc.?
NYR: Lafrenniere + NYR 1st round pick in 2025?
I think if there was a bidding war during the draft, the return would be massive.
It'll always be understated on this site where you have a large proportion of people who are certain that if it wasn't for coaches players like Erik Brannstrom would be winning Norris' and anyone over 6'2 is a no skill grinder, but in the real NHL, Brady Tkachuk would have incredible value.
I mean, look at what Matthew Tkachuk returned:
Jonathan Huberdeau coming off a 115 point season
Mackenzie Weegar coming off a 44 point season where he played over 23 minutes per game
A 1st round pick
Obviously Huberdeau has taken a step back, but you have to look at his value at the time.
Now, you could say that Matthew is a better player than Brady, and you wouldn't be wrong. But there are advantages that Brady has over his brother: he's cost controlled in a rising cap league for the next 3 seasons, he's bigger and more physical, he's a captain and more of a "face of the team" type of guy. Plus, thanks to this tournament, his profile is huge right now.
Now, I have no interest in trading him. But if he asks out after the season, we'd get a huge return.
Take the NYR as an example. With how people are talking about Brady now (especially non-hockey media), if he goes to NY, I think he'd vault right up next to Judge and Brunson in terms of being the toast of the town. He'd completely revitalize their brand and get them on TNT every Saturday. He'd be an American Messier.
How much would James Dolan trade for that? A lot. Much more than HFBoards Ranger fans would be comfortable with.