Around the NHL 2025-2026

[Xerloris]

So, I have a different thought: Buffalo was initially trying to be both CP and RT. Do you think they now circle around now that they have the 4th overall pick.

CP/Thomas to Buffalo

Quinn, Helenius, Mrkta, 4th overall. Does this change the direction of the team? Again, not saying I would do it, but...

There is nuclear arms race out east. with Florida making a large all in move and now Buffalo having a hole to fill.

Thomas is not going anywhere. I doubt they will give up all that for Parayko but I would take Mrkta and a 1st.

 

[Brian39]

I'll be shocked if Buffalo drafts at #4

I wouldn't.

They have $21.3M of cap space with 21 guys on the roster. They need to extend Benson and probablly Krebs, but they have the space to extend them and still have a good chunk of space to make 1-2 more additions. They also have picks 20 and 45 in this draft, all of their own future 1sts, and some quality prospects.

I think they could add a nice roster piece or two via UFA and/or trading some of these other assets without giving up the 4th overall.

If I were them, I'd pick my (at worst) 4th favorite prospect and use some other futures/money to address the NHL roster unless I get offered a player I love for the 4th overall.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

 

[AjaxManifesto]

SJ's top two picks are better than our top pick. They aren't trading with anyone. They can build an excellent team very quickly.

 

[BrokenFace]

View attachment 1258546

I just like seeing the note 4 times in this pic

 

[Beninnola]

A little birdie told me that Pastrňák might not be happy in Boston and that a trade is not out of the realm of possibility. Zacha could be on the outs as well.

I'm mainly posting this so I can look smart if it happens, even though I can't take any credit for it whatsoever. How close were they to Montgomery?

Since I doubt the Blues would be his destination I wonder what teams could realistically make a trade for him.

We’d be an extremely good fit, yeah?

Rare to see ideas that are this good: we’ve got roster holes, cap space, assets galore, the coach…

I think a lot of the premier teams have made huge commitments to wingers. Hard to see Minny, Dallas, Vegas, Florida, Tampa adding another giant impact winger, yeah? We’re in the next tier imo. We eat when they’re done and they’re full af on Rantanen, Kaprisov, Marner, Kuch, Guentzel, the Tkachuks. Colorado just signed Necas.

Were next and we just made room. Why wouldn’t we want the best available?

I’d rather pay insane price for pasta plus zacha than pay insane price for questionable Petey, probably. Maybe not. Petey is young-ish, just so unknown, but probably way cheaper.

 

[Spektre]

So what does Buffalo do at this point. They just traded one of their top 2 dmen and are trying to become contenders.

What do you think they do with the 4th overall?

We convince Miss Imos and Parayko to move their asses to Buffalo so the Blues get 4th overall.

4th, 11th, 15th, 16th, 29th… here you go Steener, welcome to being a GM with a completely stocked first round

 

[Dr Robot]

Anyone who wants to draft a player between 10 and 20 has to ask us first.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Looks like Washington is also trying to get Tuch as well.

 

[STL fan in MN]

So what does Buffalo do at this point. They just traded one of their top 2 dmen and are trying to become contenders.

What do you think they do with the 4th overall?

Was he? Would he be going forward? I’m not so sure. He averaged less time than Samulsson on that team. And a bit more than Power but Power’s finally starting to ramp up his game a bit.

Dahlin is the clear #1 there but then the 3 lefties basically split the rest of the time in the top-4. To me, Buffalo likely didn’t value Byram as much as Byram valued himself and saw how much he’d likely command in his next contract and smartly cut bait (and got an amazing return. Stupid trade by Chicago IMO). My guess is BUF tries to add a solid RD to fill out their top-4. They chose Power and Samuelsson as the 2 lefties they want to stick with going forward.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Buffalo soon flips the 4th for a more immediate impact asset. Or maybe they use it and then have a young stud player coming soon and that then makes guys like Kulich, Helenius, Mrtka, Ostlund etc more expendable and they try to upgrade the current roster with that group of prospects.

 

[WeWentBlues]

Was he? Would he be going forward? I’m not so sure. He averaged less time than Samulsson on that team. And a bit more than Power but Power’s finally starting to ramp up his game a bit.

Dahlin is the clear #1 there but then the 3 lefties basically split the rest of the time in the top-4. To me, Buffalo likely didn’t value Byram as much as Byram valued himself and saw how much he’d likely command in his next contract and smartly cut bait (and got an amazing return. Stupid trade by Chicago IMO). My guess is BUF tries to add a solid RD to fill out their top-4. They chose Power and Samuelsson as the 2 lefties they want to stick with going forward.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Buffalo soon flips the 4th for a more immediate impact asset. Or maybe they use it and then have a young stud player coming soon and that then makes guys like Kulich, Helenius, Mrtka, Ostlund etc more expendable and they try to upgrade the current roster with that group of prospects.

With Calgary wanting to trade up and Buffalo's need for RHD, something around #4 for #6 + Whitecloud with other assets to balance makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[Reality Czech]

We’d be an extremely good fit, yeah?

Rare to see ideas that are this good: we’ve got roster holes, cap space, assets galore, the coach…

I think a lot of the premier teams have made huge commitments to wingers. Hard to see Minny, Dallas, Vegas, Florida, Tampa adding another giant impact winger, yeah? We’re in the next tier imo. We eat when they’re done and they’re full af on Rantanen, Kaprisov, Marner, Kuch, Guentzel, the Tkachuks. Colorado just signed Necas.

Were next and we just made room. Why wouldn’t we want the best available?

I’d rather pay insane price for pasta plus zacha than pay insane price for questionable Petey, probably. Maybe not. Petey is young-ish, just so unknown, but probably way cheaper.

I just assume that Pasta would wanna go to a contender as he's not getting any younger, but who knows? Personally I never even thought of him being traded but my friend wrote me that earlier. It's more of a "friend of a friend's neighbor told me" kind of thing but my friend does know a lot of connected people.

While I'd be thrilled to get Pasta, I'm still very intrigued by Petey assuming the price is low. I just have a feeling he'd be rejuvenated on a new team surrounded by Swedes in a lower pressure environment. If he can regain even 80% of his previous form that's a pretty damn good player. And while the money is a concern, at least Army/Steen wouldn't have to take the heat for giving it to him.

 

[Reality Czech]

Apparently the Caps just landed Tuch and signed him to 8 x $10.5 million.

That's crazy but gotta give em credit for going all in for Ovie's last ride

 

[GoBluz24]

Apparently the Caps just landed Tuch and signed him to 8 x $10.5 million.

That's crazy but gotta give em credit for going all in for Ovie's last ride

For a 3rd round pick and that's it. Washington Has really improved the forward group so far.

 

[Reality Czech]

For a 3rd round pick and that's it. Washington Has really improved the forward group so far.

True but that's a shit load of money for a dude who's already 30. Teams don't generally get much for UFA rights.

 

[Brian39]

SJ's top two picks are better than our top pick. They aren't trading with anyone. They can build an excellent team very quickly.

They reportedly tried to trade pick #9 and #27 for Byram until Chicago beat their offer.

I very much don't see them trading down from #9 for more futures, but I think that pick is still very much in play to get good NHL players. And I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them package 9 and 27 to move up a couple spots to make sure they get the "right" D man depending on how the draft is going.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

They reportedly tried to trade pick #9 and #27 for Byram until Chicago beat their offer.

I very much don't see them trading down from #9 for more futures, but I think that pick is still very much in play to get good NHL players. And I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them package 9 and 27 to move up a couple spots to make sure they get the "right" D man depending on how the draft is going.

I think they will try and move up for Verhoeff as Reid will be out of range. But I can see them moving up if they can find a dance partner.

 

[Brian39]

Apparently the Caps just landed Tuch and signed him to 8 x $10.5 million.

That's crazy but gotta give em credit for going all in for Ovie's last ride

Happy to see Tuch get his bag.

Not excited to see Washington fans hate him in 3 years when his game starts to fall apart.

 

[stl76]

So what does Buffalo do at this point. They just traded one of their top 2 dmen and are trying to become contenders.

What do you think they do with the 4th overall?

I wouldn't.

They have $21.3M of cap space with 21 guys on the roster. They need to extend Benson and probablly Krebs, but they have the space to extend them and still have a good chunk of space to make 1-2 more additions. They also have picks 20 and 45 in this draft, all of their own future 1sts, and some quality prospects.

I think they could add a nice roster piece or two via UFA and/or trading some of these other assets without giving up the 4th overall.

If I were them, I'd pick my (at worst) 4th favorite prospect and use some other futures/money to address the NHL roster unless I get offered a player I love for the 4th overall.

I keep thinking of Hellebuyck to Buffalo centered around the 4th overall.

Hellebuyck + X?

For

4th OA + UPL

IDK just spitballing. Could see it making sense for both sides if Winnipeg is willing to retool.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

What in the world is that COL-NSH trade? Svechkov, L’Heureux, and a 3rd for... Jack Drury and Chase Bradley? Is MacFarland a mole for Colorado? I understand centers are a hot commodity right now, and I like Drury, but holy moly that's a steep price.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Apparently the Caps just landed Tuch and signed him to 8 x $10.5 million.

That's crazy but gotta give em credit for going all in for Ovie's last ride

That contract is going to age like sour milk. And yes, I’m factoring in the cap continuing to go up when I say that. Tuch just isn’t that good of a player at age 30 and they signed him to age 38. This has boat anchor contract written all over it.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

What in the world is that COL-NSH trade? Svechkov, L’Heureux, and a 3rd for... Jack Drury and Chase Bradley? Is MacFarland a mole for Colorado? I understand centers are a hot commodity right now, and I like Drury, but holy moly that's a steep price.

Svech isn’t very good. Drury is much better bottom 6 center. I liked zlh, but he is bottom 6 energy guy. And the 3rd goes to Preds.

 

[TheDizee]

Apparently the Caps just landed Tuch and signed him to 8 x $10.5 million.

That's crazy but gotta give em credit for going all in for Ovie's last ride

LMAO what a terrible contract

 

[Beninnola]

The capitals could be a bit biased about age and potential as they just watched Ovi score over 70 goals while at or above the age of 39.

Tuch Dubois Wilson is a gigantic line. Maybe it’s worth the tail end risk to see this marvelous huge body line in action for a few years.

 

[PJJJP]

Benson signs a 7 year 7.5 Mil AAV contract with the Sabres. I think that will age very well for the sabres