Zuck JPG and Murray

Wild say merry Christmas... no take backs.

What's the ask on Zadorov these days?

I'd do that deal for Ottawa. Jost has been underwhelming since turning pro, but he's still young, and the type of player Ottawa should take a swing on. Plus it's a step towards Ottawa's ultimate goal of icing a lineup exclusively of former UND players.

Would only consider that Ottawa deal. Think Jost isn't going to get into the top 6 and even top 9 is a tough battle for him.

But those other trades... Especially Bura for Zucker. Just keep Burakovsky. Also I would keep Graves to pair with Makar since they have been playing good together IMO. Zadorov would be expandable to me if Byram is ready next year

Heading into the playoffs with Graves on the top pairing is just asking for trouble IMO. He has done an admirable job so far, but he's playing over his head and the longer you ask him to continue doing so, the more likely you are to run into trouble. And if we wait until we run into those problems, we may no longer be able to do anything to address them before the playoffs kick-off. Similar thing with Bura as our 5th best forward. He's done well for us so far, but there is always the risk that he won't bounceback quickly from his next coldstreak (like he has been doing thus far) & he's just dreadful against the puck...genuinely one of the worst defensive forwards we've ever had that was a full-time NHLer.

Zucker's checked out in Minny and Murray's as likely to break on any given night as EJ...but when on form -- as being traded to us should rejuvenate him the way being traded to a playoff team has rejuvenated Hall -- Zucker's a much more reliable goalscorer than Bura, whose forechecking provides a lot more against the puck, and when healthy, Murray is a rich man's Graves...better defensively (especially in transition), a more reliable outlet passer (meaning fewer silly turnovers), and a decisively better skater. Obviously there's the health risk with Murray, but if he wasn't injury prone he wouldn't be gettable at a reasonable price...and we wouldn't need to condition the pick on his health.

I wouldn't re-sign Zucker or Murray past their current deals...though I'd happily give Pageau the ~5.25 per he's failing to get out of Ottawa if the term is only 4-5 years (preferably 4)...but for the rest of their current deals both would fit our style really well and address two of our three most exigent question marks until the kids are ready to take those jobs for themselves.