Ceci and Zaitsev have the same caphit, they could have kept him there and traded him next year. It seems like they really downgraded though.
Leafs are in cap hell going forward so they can't afford luxurious support players like Zaitsev who had term (5 years left), so getting Ceci who they signed for 1 year was necessary for them. They have no choice to make that kind of move.
Zaitsev makes 4.5 per season, which is close to league average in today's NHL. And if I'm not mistaken, he already had a 3 M$ bonus paid, so the real cost in dollars for Ottawa (since we haven't been close to a cap team in more than a decade and we won't be for at least a few more years) is 3.9 M$ per season. Seems like a bargain to me for a guy like Zaitsev
Getting a solid 25 y/o bottom-6 forward like Brown on top of it was gravy. One of the best Dorion trades
Why does every trade have to be for "something special"? There is nothing wrong with solid.
Exactly. Brown is the type of forward you want in your bottom-6. He can put 30-something points from your lower lines and is tenacious all over the ice.
Building the team forward, I think he is one of the keepers since he is still relatively young
Tkachuk,White ++++
Pageau, Brown ++++
Brown, Batherson, Norris, Formenton and maybe some of the other prospects, plus the guys we pick in the first round in June. That's how the forward group could be shaping up with Namestnikov, Tierney and Duclair being question marks for the bottom-6 (Pageau and Brown too but IMO they should be here going forward)
Tkachuk-(Byfield?)-Batherson
(Holloway?)-Brown-Norris
Balcers-White-Brown
Formenton-Pageau-Davidsson