- Apr 2, 2008
- 27,166
- 16,157
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Draft Day Trade
- Jack Hughes (5 years, 8M)
- Luke Hughes (RFA, likely in line for 5M-8M on a long term extension)
- Brady Tkachuk (3 years, 8.2M, NMC in July 2025)
- Josh Norris (5 years, 8M)
Context:
- Sens make the playoffs and do alright, but don't go on a deep or substantial run.
- Tkachuk hasn't asked out, and the Senators aren't explicitly shopping him, but there is some blood in the water and they feel a bit uneasy about the power that a member of the Tkachuk family having a NMC could grant them.
- Tom Fitzgerald sniffs out the situation because he is an avid follower of Brady's wife's Instagram, and one too many "no where like home" memes lead him to believe that Keith Tkachuk may have put her up to convincing Brady to ask for a trade. It's a full press family effort. Matthew Tkachuk even liked the posts.
- Fitzgerald calls up Steve Staios. He knows the Senators aren't shopping Tkachuk, and aren't in a position to trade him without a real big name superstar coming back. With the falling Canadian dollar, he seduces Steve with spreadsheets showing the front loaded nature of Hughes contract. Hughes has less salary than Tkachuk, more term, and most of all he has almost no trade protection.
- The final addition is that the Devils will take the Norris contract and send the Senators Luke Hughes. The Devils have tremendous depth on defense, and they need to make room for a bigger role for Simon Nemec. Luke is in line for a big money extension, which makes the trade close to cap in/cap out.
I'm on record saying if we trade Brady we'd get an absolute haul, as NHL GMs are obsessed with players like him and would do insane things to get him in their team's jersey, but c'mon dude we're not getting the Hughes brothers for him and Norris.
Gotta be more realistic. If Brady were traded to the Devils we'd probably be looking at a return consisting of Mercer, Nemec/Casey and multiple 1st round picks or similar-valued pieces.