I've been dreaming of getting Danault on the Blue Jackets for like six years. If that's your hard minutes matchup center, you're not only winning those matchups against the other team's best, you're freeing up Fantilli and Monahan to feast. The only way I see L.A. selling on him though is if they really stumble during the season. They're too good of a team. Spence is good, I like him, I don't think we want a D-group that small though. That's as many sub-6-foot D as the final four playoff clubs have combined.
spence probably makes a lot more sense if fabbro's contract ask goes beyond where the jackets comfort zone. he's excellent at NZ stopping, puck moving and retrievals.
as for the size thing, that definitely is a concern, but carolina's defense has acquitted itself very well this season/postseason (up until running into florida) and they have three guys who are 5'11 in gostisbehere, walker and orlov.
there could be a version of this d-core that gives up a bit of size/crease-clearing ability in exchange for ice coverage, puck moving and NZ defense. evason had success with spurgeon in MIN. it'd also fit the way evason rolls his lines – the #6 guy rarely sees the ice, so they could use that spot to get someone who is big and mean for the PK.
The big Nashville trade is something that I'm a little iffy on.
reasonable take. that trade is, frankly, the most insane thing i have ever posted.
But then we're making big money commitments to all three - 8 years for Saros, 6 more for Skjei, and 5 for Forsberg. It ties our hands. I'd love to get Forsberg, I'm maybe neutral on the Skjei deal, and I'd rather not take on the Saros contract.
also very fair. the long-term cap sheet on that one looked alright to me (wouldn't have issues filling in extensions for kj, marchenko and mateychuk) although in the long-run they may have to take a more frugal/moneyball-type approach to filling out the roster at the fringes.
i actually initially thought about a skjei-severson swap. they have the same length remaining, both struggled last year, and severson is slightly cheaper while waddell has familiarity with skjei. figured nashville would probably be more motivated to move off of the contract entirely, though.
I think Jet is going to be good, and good enough that we really don't need to spend that much there. I can see how taking on Saros could be part of the price for getting Forsberg, but then you're also spending Sillinger + 3 1sts, isn't that enough?
also fair – the puckpedia folks are saying it's a huge underpay from the jackets but it all depends on how you view the saros contract.
if there's one thing don waddell loves, though, it's having an established veteran goalie. jet's an exciting player – i certainly agree that he's earned a look – but given how long it took them to give him a shot this season it sure makes me wonder if they'll go after one of the big-ticket goalies on rebuilding teams.
there are six goalies who fit that bill (gibson, swayman, sheshterkin, sorokin, saros, demko) – i don't think either of the NY guys get moved, and demko's injuries worry me. there's not really a middle class of goalies who could come share the net with jet outside of jake allen, and i think they'll have a ton of competition to sign him.
There's a five-years-younger Danault analogue sitting on a bad team right now, just like Danault was wasted on the Habs. Waddell just needs to find him and make the move. Someone born 96-99ish and maybe still in his RFA years. Tomasino might be a great target, as a great skating two-way center, although it's unlikely Pittsburgh lets him go. Kurashev is another one. Zary, maybe, too, but Calgary isn't going to let him go cheap.
the guys you mentioned make sense – i'd add poehling to that list too. also wonder how krebs would look outside of buffalo.
another guy who really sticks out for me given his team's cap situation is maverik bourque. graded out well defensively, still very young, and is offer sheet eligible. i assume he'll be in the 2nd round pick tier for an offer sheet, maybe dallas would prefer to make a trade instead and control the return.
