Proposal: Free agency edition Trade Rumours/Proposals [MOD - Stay on Topic] 5

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Hypothetical, NHL expands to a major US city this offseason. The owner really wants Brady.

They propose to swap teams. Meaning, they get all of our players and prospects, including our 2025 draft picks. We get their 2025 draft picks (4th OA or better, etc, and all the expansion draft picks.)

We will assume any NMCs will be waived.

Let's even up things and say it erased the pick we owe Bettman.

So the short of it is, would you rather keep our current roster, or start fresh with an expansion draft?
I'd start fresh.

Keep Stu, Sandy, and Leevi while constructing a better roster that isn't anchored by all the mistakes of the previous GM.
 
Hypothetical, NHL expands to a major US city this offseason. The owner really wants Brady.

They propose to swap teams. Meaning, they get all of our players and prospects, including our 2025 draft picks. We get their 2025 draft picks (4th OA or better, etc, and all the expansion draft picks.)

We will assume any NMCs will be waived.

Let's even up things and say it erased the pick we owe Bettman.

So the short of it is, would you rather keep our current roster, or start fresh with an expansion draft?
I’d easily keep our roster.

Seattle doesn’t have a single player nearly as good as Stützle or Sanderson. Vegas, though they did well in the expansion draft, won the cup largely because they traded for Eichel and Stone, signed Pietrangelo etc - things we would never have the luxury of being able to do. If we started from scratch we’d be in for a long road ahead and with no guarantee that it would work, same as this time around.
 
We need to do our best to trade Batherson for a more physical equivalent.

We need to swap Batherson for a more rounded player. Someone who can give you a 50 points a year and play good 200ft hockey and plays with heart would be a massive upgrade on Batherson.

I’d take Clarke MacArthur over Batherson every day of the week.
 
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We need to swap Batherson for a more rounded player. Someone who can give you a 50 points a year and play good 200ft hockey and plays with heart would be a massive upgrade on Batherson.

I’d take Clarke MacArthur over Batherson every day of the week.

Batherson for Bjorkstrand or add to get Tuch (my dream acquisition).
 
Some minor trades...

Trade 1:
To Tampa Bay:
Travis Hamonic (1x 1.1m, NMC)
COL 6th 2026 (via Ottawa)

To Ottawa:
Connor Sheary (2 x 1.15m)
TB 7th 2027

To Columbus:
EDM 4th 2025 (via TB)
OTT 6th 2027

Reasoning: Tampa gets rid of Sheary's contract (2x $2m before retention) for this year and next, and adds a depth option at D. Ottawa clears Hamonic's contract, which (due to his NMC) has forced them to carry 8D most of the year; Sheary can be used as an expensive tweener who can be buried. Mostly, though, this creates roster flexibility for Ottawa and is not really about adding Sheary. Columbus gets a midround pick and upgrades a late rounder, and only uses their first retention spot.

Trade 2:
To Ottawa:
Oskar Sundqvist (2x 1.5m)
St. Louis' lowest 4th, 2026

To St Louis:
Oskar Pettersson (3x .835m)
Ottawa's highest 3rd, 2026

Reasoning: St. Louis acquires a mid-level, albeit physical and pro-style, prospect, drafted 72nd overall in 2022 and upgrades a pick from ~110-120 to anywhere between ~ 65-80. Ottawa acquires a big, strong, bottom 6er who is locked up for this year and next at a reasonable price.

IN: Sundqvist (2 x 1.5), Sheary (2 x 1.15), 4th 2026, 7th 2027
OUT: Hamonic (1 x 1.1, NMC), Oskar Pettersson, 3rd 2026, 6th 2026, 6th 2027

Sens' roster:

Tkachuk - Stutzle - Giroux
Greig - Norris - Batherson
Amadio - Pinto - Perron
Gregor - Sundqvist - Cousins
Inj: Gaudette

*Reinhardt, Highmore and Sheary are sent down and recalled as needed.

Sanderson - Zub
Chabot - Jensen
Kleven - Matinpalo
JBD

Ullmark
Forsberg
 
Batherson for Bjorkstrand or add to get Tuch (my dream acquisition).

My primary fake inside source is telling me something about a Batherson for Karlsson @ 5M trade, but I can't reach my secondary fake source to very whether it isn't fake true.

Anybody who has a fake Sens rumour Twitter can roll with that one. Batherson and Crosby train together in the summer. Dubas will have a difficult time getting value for Karlsson, so he swaps him for Batherson, who he hopes he can get more value from after pumping his numbers.

Dubas can throw Batherson on Crosby's wing until the 2026 trade deadline and give him top PP deployment to pump his value, then shop him at half retained. At 2.5M for a playoff run and a season, he would get them a return that would be much greater than what Karlsson will get them. They will get a 2026 1st++ for Batherson at 2.5M if he does well with Crosby.

If Hamonic would waive to go to Pittsburgh, they could bake in a Hamonic for Beauvillier swap to equal out the depth on both sides.
 
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Offensive inconsistency and last nights major blunders aside, I've found Batherson to be one of the more improved players on our team and one of the more consistent and reliable forwards, too. If he's dealt, it needs to be for major value or a perfect fit (a la Chychrun for Jensen, but Batherson holds far more value than Chychrun did).
 
Some minor trades...

Trade 1:
To Tampa Bay:
Travis Hamonic (1x 1.1m, NMC)
COL 6th 2026 (via Ottawa)

To Ottawa:
Connor Sheary (2 x 1.15m)
TB 7th 2027

To Columbus:
EDM 4th 2025 (via TB)
OTT 6th 2027

Reasoning: Tampa gets rid of Sheary's contract (2x $2m before retention) for this year and next, and adds a depth option at D. Ottawa clears Hamonic's contract, which (due to his NMC) has forced them to carry 8D most of the year; Sheary can be used as an expensive tweener who can be buried. Mostly, though, this creates roster flexibility for Ottawa and is not really about adding Sheary. Columbus gets a midround pick and upgrades a late rounder, and only uses their first retention spot.

Trade 2:
To Ottawa:
Oskar Sundqvist (2x 1.5m)
St. Louis' lowest 4th, 2026

To St Louis:
Oskar Pettersson (3x .835m)
Ottawa's highest 3rd, 2026

Reasoning: St. Louis acquires a mid-level, albeit physical and pro-style, prospect, drafted 72nd overall in 2022 and upgrades a pick from ~110-120 to anywhere between ~ 65-80. Ottawa acquires a big, strong, bottom 6er who is locked up for this year and next at a reasonable price.

Sens' roster:

Tkachuk - Stutzle - Giroux
Greig - Norris - Batherson
Amadio - Pinto - Perron
Gregor - Sundqvist - Cousins
Extra: Gaudette

Sanderson - Zub
Chabot - Jensen
Kleven - Matinpalo
JBD

Ullmark
Forsberg
Spending assets to acquire more bottom 6 forwards is not the solution imo. With Giroux looking like he's 85yo and Greig clearly not ready for a consistent scoring role, the top-6 you typed out is still very thin and one injury away from not being NHL caliber.

The best course would be to acquire a top 6 forward (doesn't have to be a star) that can push everyone down a notch and improve the bottom 6 de facto. Example:

Tkachuk - Stützle - Palmieri
Halliday - Norris - Batherson
Greig - Pinto - Giroux
Amadio - Gregor - Perron
Cousins/Ostapchuk/Gaudette

Sanderson - Zub
Chabot - Jensen
Kleven - Matinpalo
JBD/Hamonic

Merilainen
Ullmark​
 
Spending assets to acquire more bottom 6 forwards is not the solution imo. With Giroux looking like he's 85yo and Greig clearly not ready for a consistent scoring role, the top-6 you typed out is still very thin and one injury away from not being NHL caliber.

The best course would be to acquire a top 6 forward (doesn't have to be a star) that can push everyone down a notch and improve the bottom 6 de facto. Example:

Tkachuk - Stützle - Palmieri
Halliday - Norris - Batherson
Greig - Pinto - Giroux
Amadio - Ostapchuk - Perron
Cousins/Gregor/Gaudette

Sanderson - Zub
Chabot - Jensen
Kleven - Matinpalo
JBD/Hamonic

Merilainen
Ullmark
I hear you, but I feel the assets being sent out are pretttty meager.

Essentially just Pettersson (low value), downgrading from a 3rd to a 4th, and a 6th rounder, and it's not for a rental. Someone like Palmieri, who will not get us over the hump and would almost certainly walk to FA, would cost significantly more. I just dont think it will be feasible/make sense to make major changes before the summer.

This is not "the solution", and we still need to improve our top 9, but this trade takes care of some other, less important business - namely, adding depth so we don't have Highmore, Gaudette, Reinhardt, Halliday, Ostapchuk and Gregor all in the lineup at the same time.
 
Offensive inconsistency and last nights major blunders aside, I've found Batherson to be one of the more improved players on our team and one of the more consistent and reliable forwards, too. If he's dealt, it needs to be for major value or a perfect fit (a la Chychrun for Jensen, but Batherson holds far more value than Chychrun did).

He is the next Zibanejad. A player who after traded, will have a few monster seasons if he lands in the right place.

I am not sure about this value. I think that teams will salivate to buy low on him, but I think he needs to have another season like 21-22 before teams would seriously look at him as a superstar. He's been too inconsistent since that injury, and he has the stink of coming up in our failed (until proven otherwise) rebuild.

I hate the idea of trading him, but I am resigned to the idea that he might not reach his ceiling here. He's also our only right handed top 6 forward, which is a major issue. He is also a player who we could probably move because his cap hit is low with only 2 years remaining after this season. It's never easy to make a trade in season, but as far as contracts go, that's an easier one to find a way to move this close to the trade deadline - Especially in a hockey trade.
 
He is the next Zibanejad. A player who after traded, will have a few monster seasons if he lands in the right place.

I am not sure about this value. I think that teams will salivate to buy low on him, but I think he needs to have another season like 21-22 before teams would seriously look at him as a superstar. He's been too inconsistent since that injury, and he has the stink of coming up in our failed (until proven otherwise) rebuild.

I hate the idea of trading him, but I am resigned to the idea that he might not reach his ceiling here. He's also our only right handed top 6 forward, which is a major issue. He is also a player who we could probably move because his cap hit is low with only 2 years remaining after this season. It's never easy to make a trade in season, but as far as contracts go, that's an easier one to find a way to move this close to the trade deadline - Especially in a hockey trade.
I don't think he has superstar value, but he is having a positive impact at both ends of the ice, has drawn consistent praise from the coaching staff, is pacing for 65+ points for the 4th straight season despite our team scoring less, and he is paid like a high-end 3rd liner.

I get that he is one of our few assets of value that is not of superstar level, but there are other ways to change the composition of the team and I don't think you trade Batherson simply to "make a change" or bring in a different type of player without exhausting those other options (which should include walking away from Giroux and overpaying in FA if rumors of a $4.5m multi-year extension are close to accurate).
 
I hear you, but I feel the assets being sent out are pretttty meager.

Essentially just Pettersson (low value), downgrading from a 3rd to a 4th, and a 6th rounder, and it's not for a rental. Someone like Palmieri, who will not get us over the hump and would almost certainly walk to FA, would cost significantly more. I just dont think it will be feasible/make sense to make major changes before the summer.

This is not "the solution", and we still need to improve our top 9, but this trade takes care of some other, less important business - namely, adding depth so we don't have Highmore, Gaudette, Reinhardt, Halliday, Ostapchuk and Gregor all in the lineup at the same time.
Palmieri is really just an easy name to throw into the conversation as a cheap, short term solution.

It could be a Jared McCann, Rickard Rackell, Brayden Schenn, Trevor Zegras, Lawson Crouse or Alex Tuch, for a medium term, albeit more expensive solution.

The point is that we should focus on fixing the top 6 and the bottom 6 will take care of itself. There's no purpose in bringing in more experienced depth players if the top of the roster is still anemic due to the lack of offensive options.
 
Palmieri is really just an easy name to throw into the conversation as a cheap, short term solution.

It could be a Jared McCann, Rickard Rackell, Brayden Schenn, Trevor Zegras, Lawson Crouse or Alex Tuch, for a medium term, albeit more expensive solution.

The point is that we should focus on fixing the top 6 and the bottom 6 will take care of itself. There's no purpose in bringing in more experienced depth players if the top of the roster is still anemic due to the lack of offensive options.
All of the options you proposed would cost a ton of cap space and/or premium assets, and I completely disagree that improving the bottom of the roster a) won't help and b) isn't necessary if we improve the top of the roster.

I've been banging this drum for half a decade and we have finally started to cultivate depth under Staois, but we still seriously lack depth.

It seems like you think I am saying we shouldn't upgrade the top 6... that's not the case at all. But you just through out a bunch of options that would be almost impossible to fit without sacrificing a key roster player or top asset, at least during the season, and I think that's exactly what we will avoid.

Right here, right now, we can upgrade our bottom 6 without sacrificing anything of significance, and that's what I would do. The chances of us adding to our top 9 in-season are slim to none, imo, and while I am fine with just standing pat, I see no reason not to sacrifice a guy like Pettersson for an actual bottom 6 upgrade with term.
 
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I hear you, but I feel the assets being sent out are pretttty meager.

Essentially just Pettersson (low value), downgrading from a 3rd to a 4th, and a 6th rounder, and it's not for a rental. Someone like Palmieri, who will not get us over the hump and would almost certainly walk to FA, would cost significantly more. I just dont think it will be feasible/make sense to make major changes before the summer.

This is not "the solution", and we still need to improve our top 9, but this trade takes care of some other, less important business - namely, adding depth so we don't have Highmore, Gaudette, Reinhardt, Halliday, Ostapchuk and Gregor all in the lineup at the same time.
Valid points.

Unless some Staios can really take advantage of some GM trying to move a legit middle 6 guy for peanuts, the best Staios can do is grab depth guys like Pettersson or Sheary and hope they can be better fits for us than what we already have.

Staios isn't likely to move any of our current top 6 guys so we're kinda waiting on him to make these depth swaps.
 
:sens
Erik Karlsson (3 years @ 6.5M)
Brock Boeser (Pending UFA, Rental, VAN retains to make it cap in/out)
Carson Soucy (2 years @ 3.25M)

:pens
Drake Batherson (3 years @ 5M)
Nils Hoglander (1 year at 1M - 3Mx3Y extension)
Jacob Bernard-Docker (800k pending arb-eligible RFA)

:nucks
Josh Norris (6 years @ 8M)
Travis Hamonic (1.1M Pending UFA)

-------

Something around Karlsson+Boeser to Ottawa, Batherson to PIT, and Norris to VAN.

Keep in mind, Boeser is a rental. So his value is not going to be sky high. It's most likely a late 1st and a few small adds.

If Vancouver dumps two negative value contracts (Soucy+Hoglander), Norris at 8M x 6 years is more palatable. For Vancouver, it's closer to a lateral move this season (top 6 F in top 6 F out), but they get a player with term instead of losing Boeser for nothing.

Sens are in 'win now' mode due to Tkachuk's NMC. I could see how they might view Batherson for Boeser as an upgrade.

In terms of the timing of things, the season seat drive is on right now, and there is a lot of negative talk about Brady. Bringing back one of the most popular stars of all time, even on his last legs, would do a lot to build hype around the team.

I was going to throw Mantinpalo into here, but I didn't want you guys to have a stroke. Green barely plays Kleven and Mantinpalo. So it doesn't matter if they are better than Soucy or more ideal, if he won't play them it's like they don't exist. He will play Soucy like 30 minutes a night or something. Hamonic could go to either team. Maybe he'd waive to go back to Vancouver.

I already explained in my post earlier in the page why Batherson to Pittsburgh sort of makes sense. No market for Karlsson. Batherson+Crosby connection. Batherson is both young enough to fit in with their next build, but also a dynamic enough asset that if he bounces back in Pittsburgh they could flip him next year for more than Karlsson is worth, which due to Karlsson's NMC is probably very little.

It's just an idea of which pieces would go where to make it work.
 

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