That's why I think Niku could be good value. From the Jets standpoint, they're giving up a player who seems to be blocked and not living up to his potential for a player in the same situation in Montreal, may as well see if he can flourish in a bigger role. No big loss if he doesn't. From Montreal's standpoint, you said it yourself, he's blocked behind Domi, Danault, Kotkaniemi and Suzuki, so if he's at best a 4th line center, then maybe they can turn him into a top-four D. That's if they see Niku with that type of potential. Where would Niku fit on Montreal's depth chart? I think after Weber and Chiarot, he'd probably play with Petry on the 2nd pair, and Petry's UFA this summer. After that there's guys like Mete, Kulak, Reilly and Fleury, (I don't know much about their prospects)...I think Niku makes them better. But that's my opinion of course, I'm not a Canadiens expert.
If both of these players are bottom half of the lineup players on their current teams, but could potentially be a top half of the lineup player on a new team, it's a win-win for these teams. Am I overstating Niku's value? Yeah, I probably am. Are you understating it though? Yeah, I think you might be.
For me, it's this type of deal that I'm looking for. Not necessarily Poehling specifically, even though that's where we've kind of went with this, but it's a young center who's blocked on another team who has potential and can fit with our group. I don't want to give up major assets if we don't have to. I think some of the proposals for Cirelli, Domi, Strome, they're just too much. If a player LIKE Poehling can be had for an asset like Niku, then that's the deal I want to make.
oops. We aren't. We lose 1.333 in the 2nd yr.
