Blues Trade Proposals 2021-2022 Part 1

[Brian39]

I don't think I could stomach trading both RoR and Buch in a deal for one player.

I agree for all but a very small handful of players. The league's best player is absolutely in that handful. McDavid is the league's best player and amazingly I don't think he gets enough credit for how large the margin is between him and everyone else.

McDavid has a 79 point lead on the next highest scoring player in the league since he fully actualized in 2016/17. #2 is Drai, who has benefitted a ton from playing with Connor. #3 is Marchand, who is 110 points back. The gap between McDavid and Marchand is the same as the gap between Marchand and Sebastion Aho (who is 21st on the list).

Reduce that sample size to the last 3 partial seasons since the Blues won the Cup. Drai is only 7 points back of Connor with a few extra games played. MacKinnon is #3 in the league and is 55 points back. The gap between Connor and MacKinnon is the same as the gap between MacKinnon and Tavares (who is 25th on the list).

The gap between McDavid and the league's other top 5 players is the same as the gap between those top 5 players and guys who are really good players, but not quite superstars. He has scored at a 120+ point pace in each of the last 3 seasons and is currently on pace for 124. There have been 14 total 100 point seasons since the lockout shortened season in 2012/13. He accounts for 4 of them and that includes doing it in last season's 56 game season. He was 3 points shy in 2019/20 despite playing just 64 games.

He turned 25 last week and currently has the same number of Hart trophies (2) and Ted Lindsey trophies (3) as Crosby does. He already leads Crosby in Art Ross trophies 3-2. Sid had 1 of each by the time he turned 25. The gap between McDavid and every other elite player is substantial. He's not just the league's best player. He's the league's best player by a margin we haven't seen before in the cap era.

I love ROR and Buch. They are wonderful players. But you trade them in a heartbeat for a guy like McDavid.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I agree for all but a very small handful of players. The league's best player is absolutely in that handful. McDavid is the league's best player and amazingly I don't think he gets enough credit for how large the margin is between him and everyone else.

McDavid has a 79 point lead on the next highest scoring player in the league since he fully actualized in 2016/17. #2 is Drai, who has benefitted a ton from playing with Connor. #3 is Marchand, who is 110 points back. The gap between McDavid and Marchand is the same as the gap between Marchand and Sebastion Aho (who is 21st on the list).

Reduce that sample size to the last 3 partial seasons since the Blues won the Cup. Drai is only 7 points back of Connor with a few extra games played. MacKinnon is #3 in the league and is 55 points back. The gap between Connor and MacKinnon is the same as the gap between MacKinnon and Tavares (who is 25th on the list).

The gap between McDavid and the league's other top 5 players is the same as the gap between those top 5 players and guys who are really good players, but not quite superstars. He has scored at a 120+ point pace in each of the last 3 seasons and is currently on pace for 124. There have been 14 total 100 point seasons since the lockout shortened season in 2012/13. He accounts for 4 of them and that includes doing it in last season's 56 game season. He was 3 points shy in 2019/20 despite playing just 64 games.

He turned 25 last week and currently has the same number of Hart trophies (2) and Ted Lindsey trophies (3) as Crosby does. He already leads Crosby in Art Ross trophies 3-2. Sid had 1 of each by the time he turned 25. The gap between McDavid and every other elite player is substantial. He's not just the league's best player. He's the league's best player by a margin we haven't seen before in the cap era.

I love ROR and Buch. They are wonderful players. But you trade them in a heartbeat for a guy like McDavid.

Don't get me wrong. I completely understand your POV. I just think it would be kinda slimy to trade your top center and one if your top wingers. Especially after you just traded for one of them earlier that season.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Jarmo is having a helluva time in CBJ.

 

[Brian39]

If we're dreaming in the McDavid trade scenario, why not assume that Schenn would love to go back to Western Canada and send him in the deal instead of Buch. I'd much rather keep Buch and deal Schenn even though it weakens our center depth, but I'm in the minority that thinks Schenn is better on the wing than in the middle.

If Edmonton does get desperate enough to trade one of McDavid or Draisaitl, I'm guessing that an absolute stud #1D is going to be the top thing they're looking for as part of the return.

I excluded any guys who could veto a trade when coming up with it. I don't know why any player with a choice would approve a deal to go to a McDavidless Oilers.

That limits the stud #1D men they might target. Fox, Makar, Heiskanen, Chabot, McAvoy and Hughes are all young enough that they don't have trade protection yet. Hedman, Josi, Ekblad, Petro, Hamilton, and Doughty all have full NMCs.

I don't think that the Rangers could swing it with the other contracts on the books. The Rangers have Zibby, Panarin, Kreider, and Trouba locked in for $34.6M for the life of McDavid's deal and they have full NMCs. Add Connor's $12.5M and their up to $47.1M on 5 guys with a pretty thin D group. Suddenly they are getting into the same depth problems the Oilers have had, don't have an adequate D and the other futures required to get McDavid prevent them from addressing it.

The Avs could probably make it work, but McDavid, Landy, and Rantanen would be a $28.75M trio up front. Add in MacKinnon and Johnson's deals and you're spending $41M on 5 guys. Mac is going to get pretty much every dime of Johnson's expiring deal when he hits UFA in 2023, so then it is $41M on 4 guys. If Makar is gone, can they really build a D group and forward depth around that?

The Bruins could make it work financially, but their core is aging and I don't know that they have the pieces internally to build a good enough D group without McAvoy.

I don't know how the Stars make it work with Benn and Seguin. That D group would be brutal after losing Heiskanen (and Klingberg who they clearly aren't paying what he wants) and I don't think they have a great plan in net. I see them running into the same issue as the Oilers trying to plug half a dozen holes around $30M+ on 3 forwards.

The Sens probably could fit McDavid, but I don't think that they have the pieces internally to build a good enough group around him after they lose Chabot and the boatload of picks/prospects/young guys needed to make that appealing for the Oilers. And unless they are content losing the remaining youngsters when they are do raises, they aren't solving many issues in UFA.

I don't see the Oilers even consider moving him inside the Pacific.

I'm sure they want that stud D, but I think it will be really, really difficult to acquire in a deal that also nets multiple additional quality assets. They just couldn't do another 1 for 1 deal where they lose out on obvious value just to target a position of weakness. I think trading Connor would signal a clear "burn it to the ground and rise from the ashes" rebuild where they would be hoping to get a couple good D futures that could be the stud D of the future.

A result of Army's "death by a thousand cuts" plan is that our money is spread out pretty well. Our top 5 highest paid guys would combine for $39.5M if you swapped ROR+++ for McDavid, but it would be a mix of 2 forwards and 3 D. Our 2nd highest salary would come off the books when some young guys are due raises and then trade protection starts disappearing on the $6-6.5M deals and you can make some cap moves. We have more ability to take on a single big contract than most good teams.

 

[BlueMed]

I excluded any guys who could veto a trade when coming up with it. I don't know why any player with a choice would approve a deal to go to a McDavidless Oilers.

That limits the stud #1D men they might target. Fox, Makar, Heiskanen, Chabot, McAvoy and Hughes are all young enough that they don't have trade protection yet. Hedman, Josi, Ekblad, Petro, Hamilton, and Doughty all have full NMCs.

I don't think that the Rangers could swing it with the other contracts on the books. The Rangers have Zibby, Panarin, Kreider, and Trouba locked in for $34.6M for the life of McDavid's deal and they have full NMCs. Add Connor's $12.5M and their up to $47.1M on 5 guys with a pretty thin D group. Suddenly they are getting into the same depth problems the Oilers have had, don't have an adequate D and the other futures required to get McDavid prevent them from addressing it.

The Avs could probably make it work, but McDavid, Landy, and Rantanen would be a $28.75M trio up front. Add in MacKinnon and Johnson's deals and you're spending $41M on 5 guys. Mac is going to get pretty much every dime of Johnson's expiring deal when he hits UFA in 2023, so then it is $41M on 4 guys. If Makar is gone, can they really build a D group and forward depth around that?

The Bruins could make it work financially, but their core is aging and I don't know that they have the pieces internally to build a good enough D group without McAvoy.

I don't know how the Stars make it work with Benn and Seguin. That D group would be brutal after losing Heiskanen (and Klingberg who they clearly aren't paying what he wants) and I don't think they have a great plan in net. I see them running into the same issue as the Oilers trying to plug half a dozen holes around $30M+ on 3 forwards.

The Sens probably could fit McDavid, but I don't think that they have the pieces internally to build a good enough group around him after they lose Chabot and the boatload of picks/prospects/young guys needed to make that appealing for the Oilers. And unless they are content losing the remaining youngsters when they are do raises, they aren't solving many issues in UFA.

I don't see the Oilers even consider moving him inside the Pacific.

I'm sure they want that stud D, but I think it will be really, really difficult to acquire in a deal that also nets multiple additional quality assets. They just couldn't do another 1 for 1 deal where they lose out on obvious value just to target a position of weakness. I think trading Connor would signal a clear "burn it to the ground and rise from the ashes" rebuild where they would be hoping to get a couple good D futures that could be the stud D of the future.

A result of Army's "death by a thousand cuts" plan is that our money is spread out pretty well. Our top 5 highest paid guys would combine for $39.5M if you swapped ROR+++ for McDavid, but it would be a mix of 2 forwards and 3 D. Our 2nd highest salary would come off the books when some young guys are due raises and then trade protection starts disappearing on the $6-6.5M deals and you can make some cap moves. We have more ability to take on a single big contract than most good teams.

McAvoy is trash.

 

[Bluesnatic27]

McAvoy is trash.

I guess that means every Blues defender is worse than trash?

 

[Xerloris]

I wouldn't want Mcdavid. He makes to much money and it hurts the depth you can have on the team which is our strength. On top of that he seems rather useless when he's not on the PP or an odd man rush. I mean does he even know where the defensive zone is?

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I wouldn't want Mcdavid. He makes to much money and it hurts the depth you can have on the team which is our strength. On top of that he seems rather useless when he's not on the PP or an odd man rush. I mean does he even know where the defensive zone is?

he might not know where defensive zone is, as they are almost always in offensive zone when he is out there.

 

[BlueMed]

I guess that means every Blues defender is worse than trash?

Charlie McAvoy is one of the most overrated defensemen in the entire game. Go back and watch the cup finals. He was pretty unremarkable outside of game 1. Lots of times, he made bad plays and lost his coverage leading to key goals. Don't be a sheep and listen to the mainstream media. Watch the game and form your own opinions.

Completely lost his coverage on this one. Schenn burns him.


Really bad turnover in the D zone.


Even Zach Sanford is having fun with him out there.

 

[tfriede2]

Jarmo is having a helluva time in CBJ.

I haven’t been following - what’s going on in CBJ land?

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I haven’t been following - what’s going on in CBJ land?

There a few posts above mine that are about the Rangers and Blue Jackets and how CBJ went all-in when they really weren't contenders and lost big. They've let too much high-end talent leave and are floundering, in part, because of that.

 

[BlueMed]

There a few posts above mine that are about the Rangers and Blue Jackets and how CBJ went all-in when they really weren't contenders and lost big. They've let too much high-end talent leave and are floundering, in part, because of that.

I think Columbus is another team that will need to consider relocation in the future. It's very clear at this point that players don't want to go there, and they don't have the same fanbase that Minnesota can provide for a perpetually mediocre franchise.

 

[execwrite1]

Not a trade - free agent signing possibility

Any thoughts on Brayden McNabb, LHD, Vegas Knights, 6'4" 215

Good size, good plus/minus numbers, 31 years old, $2.5 million contract this year.

Could be a good fit as a third-pair d-man.

 

[WeWentBlues]

Not a trade - free agent signing possibility

Any thoughts on Brayden McNabb, LHD, Vegas Knights, 6'4" 215

Good size, good plus/minus numbers, 31 years old, $2.5 million contract this year.

Could be a good fit as a third-pair d-man.

He will retire in Vegas. He's from there IIRC.

EDIT - think I just made that up

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

I get what you're saying. If we can upgrade Scandella/Mikkola without adding too much salary it would help us greatly. I'm sure we could fit Chychrun and I would probably be ok with that, especially if Perunovich is part of the return package. He would be worth more to us in a trade package then he would on the team if we have our top 4 locked down for the near future. I'm still on board the Mayfield train although Lou might not be so willing to part with him.

I think Mayfield would be awesome, but coupla probs, the first being he's RH'd. dunno if he plays the left side or not.
but the elephant in the room is to bring such an asset in, Scandella needs to go the other way. dunno who has what we need/want, that's willing to do that, without having to revisit a Lethera type deal
and isn't Gavrikov just a more expensive Mikkola? I know some here have a problem with Mik, but I'm not one of them. I think he's progressing nicely, and maybe the need to replace his spot isn't as dire as some think

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

Like looking through the bottom teams in the league these are the players I'd think were large enough upgrades and ranked how much I want them and my biggest issue with acquiring them.

Ari-Chychrun (1) (most expensive)
Phi-Provorov (2) (large caphit for four more years)
CBJ-Gavrikov (3) (good caphit 26yo but is he ready to be a minute eater on a team looking for a cup)
NJD-Graves (4) (same as Gavrikov)
Sea-Gio (5) (too old)
MTL-Eddy (6) (I may just be too attached and Bias towards wanting him back)

ARI - I'm not sold on that ONE season making Chychrun the 'generational talent' that some say he is, especially their fans. it screams "sell high" to me
PHI - not sure they'd trade their guy, and not sure how STL fits that cap hit in
CBJ - isn't he just a more expensive Mikkola (I stated this in another post.. sorry for the repeat)
NJD - I don't remember Graves being a top 4 defensive minded dman, but admittedly it's been a while (since he was in COL) that I watched him much
SEA - agree
MTL - might not be the worst thing in the world IF he puts playing in front of partying

add one in here:
SEA - Soucy. is he available, what's the cost and would he fit the bill?

 

[Linkens Mastery]

ARI - I'm not sold on that ONE season making Chychrun the 'generational talent' that some say he is, especially their fans. it screams "sell high" to me
PHI - not sure they'd trade their guy, and not sure how STL fits that cap hit in
CBJ - isn't he just a more expensive Mikkola (I stated this in another post.. sorry for the repeat)
NJD - I don't remember Graves being a top 4 defensive minded dman, but admittedly it's been a while (since he was in COL) that I watched him much
SEA - agree
MTL - might not be the worst thing in the world IF he puts playing in front of partying

add one in here:
SEA - Soucy. is he available, what's the cost and would he fit the bill?

I don't see Soucy fitting the bill. He plays less minutes than Mikkola. I don't see anyone in Seattle that fits the bill. The only true fits imho are Ekholm or Lindholm but I don't foresee either of those two ever being available unless Lindholm goes to FA this offseason.

I think Graves and Gavrikov are better. Both play 20+ Minutes a night, both should be fairly cheaper to aquire with good caphits. And both expire at the end of next season so it helps with resigning players like Kyrou and Thomas.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I could see gio fitting nicely with Parayko.

 

[Spektre]

I could see gio fitting nicely with Parayko.

Only if the cost is a 7th.. he looks slow

 

[Stealth JD]

Jarmo is having a helluva time in CBJ.

Yeah, but guess what. Hes’s going to point to STL when talking to ownership and say, “look at those guys. They won a Cup with the guys I identified, drafted and developed.” And when the alternative to Jarmo are days as dark as Pepto-bismol poops, aka, the Scott Howson/Doug MacLean reigns of error; he’s going to get a leash longer than most.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Yeah, but guess what. Hes’s going to point to STL when talking to ownership and say, “look at those guys. They won a Cup with the guys I identified, drafted and developed.” And when the alternative to Jarmo are days as dark as Pepto-bismol poops, aka, the Scott Howson/Doug MacLean reigns of error, he’s going to get a leash longer than most.

I mean, outside of Pietro most of everyone else was picked by his replacements.

 

[Chojin]

I don't think we're in on this, but just for fun, what would this be from the Blues? Kostin and Neighbours?

 

[542365]

I don't think we're in on this, but just for fun, what would this be from the Blues? Kostin and Neighbours?

Bolduc is basically the only other first even in consideration because Thomas isn’t going anywhere, and Bokk, Thompson, Fabbri are no longer around. Technically Tarasenko is a former 1st rounder….Don’t think that’s what he means, and he’s no waiving to go to Arizona.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I don't think we're in on this, but just for fun, what would this be from the Blues? Kostin and Neighbours?

I don’t think we are either. They mentioned several teams in on him (fla, lak, Ana, cbj…) and we weren’t one of them.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

The top pairing guy we need is Parayko. If we add someone it will be guy who we think complements colt and helps him reach his best level, as JayBo did. I don’t think chycrun is that guy.