Some of us just value postseason performance over the regular season, and Kucherov is the best postseason performer of the past decade and the only player besides Gretzky and Lemieux to put up 30+ points in back-to-back Cup runs. But you go ahead and keep virtually fellating the guy who disappears in big games and who cares more about padding his offensive stats than about winning championships.
I’d frankly take Kucherov over McDavid even with contracts being equal - not only because he’s the best postseason performer in the league over the past decade but because his game will age far better as he relies on hockey IQ rather than speed - but given that McDavid is 32% more expensive with a year less of term Kucherov is easily the more valuable when contracts are taken into account.
Similarly there are numerous elite players signed to good-to-reasonable longterm deals who would not be moved for McDavid with only two years less on his and a raise on his already roster-crippling cap hit to follow. Point, Dahlin, Hughes, Heiskanen, et. al. Nobody is giving up several years of an elite player for a couple of McDavid, especially when the difference in cap hit would also cost you another quality player or two.
It’s your turn: name me one instance during the cap era where an elite player (who was recognized as such at the time) under years of team control was traded for a substantially more expensive player with only two years remaining on his contract. Everyone is so certain that teams would do this that they act like I’m the crazy one, and yet not one of you has been able to provide an example of a deal like that taking place. Can you do it, or are you yet another who chooses to mock those he is intellectually incapable of refuting?
There is so much about this post that borders on the ridiculous starting with the assertion that TB would not trade Point for McDavid. (By the way I have a secret for you...Point is older than McDavid!!!). Aside from the fact that you seem to think that individuals win championships rather than teams, I suspect you may have missed the 2021-2022 playoffs entirely as McDavid put on a performance that few players in the NHL have ever matched. I had season tickets for the whole Oiler dynasty and I would say without any hesitation that what he did in those playoffs equaled or bettered anything I saw from any Oiler in the 80's outside of possibly the best of Gretzky. He just didn't have 6 Hall of Famers to play along.
You also do not watch McDavid much if you think his game is driven only by speed. He has an extraordinarily high hockey IQ. This was completely evident even when I watched him live for the first time as a 16 year old. A commentator recently described McDavid when on his game as having the brains of Gretzky, the hands of Lemieux and the feet of Bure. The first is of course hyperbole since no one touches Gretzky in this regard, but it is still fair to say that McDavid's hockey IQ is as good as anyone playing the game today. The second is hyperbole, but it certainly could be disputed. The latter is an understatement. There is a reason why his peers repeatedly pick McDavid as the best in the game. He just is. Period.
And while you mention McDavid's age you pick 30 year old Kucherov over him, a guy with one more year left on his deal than McDavid, who has missed a huge amount of time due to injuries, because you say his game will age better. How do we take you seriously when you say things so contradictory to your own stated rationale??
Finally, here is the problem with your bolded question. Guys like Crosby, Ovechkin and McDavid don't get traded because their value to their teams is much more than what they do on the ice. I gave you a name that I suspect people might com up with in Bedard that would probably not make sense for McDavid simply because of where Chicago is in their development. And since McDavid has a NMC you can be 100% sure that he would only wave for a term he saw as a long term fit and with a chance to win. The other name I suspect that you would here is Makar, again because of his unique role with the AVS an the fact that they have MacKinnon.
The one legitimate point that you make is that the cap does put some restrictions on some trades. Of course this is true. It's why a trade would only hypothetically make sense in the off season. (I say hypothetically because McDavid was never going to be traded during this season.) But you also over state his contract. Right now it is a bargain. I also suspect that like Crosby his next deal will not be nearly as much as people think given his priority is clearly winning. 8 years at $14M in 2026-27 when the cap is likely over $95M possibly closing in on $100M if things are fully normalized might be tight for a year or two but by year 3 It would once again be a bargain.
