Brekel's Mock Offseason 5.0

I don't think Brodin will be the expansion pick.

I got a little silly with this one. I don't think the deals are unrealistic (May be a little slim on the CBJ trade...Would like their take on it), but doubt we see all of it happen. Also, slim chance the NHLPA agrees to inflate the cap by 5% again (I believe they just did it for the past season?). But it would certainly give a lot of teams flexibility. Bruins take advantage of the extra cap here above.

Lots of youth, speed, and physicality added to the lineup. For this mock, Anders Bjork and Jake Debrusk beat out their competition, in camp, and win NHL jobs. You could easily switch either if you wanted. The "rebuilt" 3rd line is now centered by the veteran Backes, and he is given a big physical winger in Anderson, who showed some nice potential this past season with Columbus. We saw Backes take Kuraly under his wing in the playoffs, and they fueled each other. I think Anderson would be perfect with Backes. He's got skill and those two on a line would be awesome to watch. Talk about hits! Debrusk (Or Bjork) has the skill, and smarts to be a nice compliment to both.

Justin Williams is brought in as a veteran presence for the top 6, or top 9. He's really a guy who could fit in a few spots in this lineup. The two veterans would be given a young rookie, for this example being Anders Bjork. The Marchand/Bergeron/Pastrnak line is kept intact as one of the best in the NHL. The 4th line could have a lot of competition come camp, but for this mock, Kuraly and Acciari win the job, building off solid playoffs. Acciari seems like a lock to me anyway. He ended the year with Boston strong (finding some offense) and it carried into the NHL playoffs. Kuraly gives the line size, and speed, along with some grit. Nash, a very undervalued player, is a cheap center who can win draws and be versatile. He's back as one of the teams top PKers. Also a chance you see Moore brought back.

For defense, the big addition is Jonas Brodin. Like I said in the above, I'm sure Minny will not be a fan of the package, but I think it's a pretty solid offer. They get a expansion protected left winger with upside and a defenseman with top 4 potential who they can watch in their own backyard.

Who are they protecting Brodin over?

Suter, Spurgeon, and????? Dumba, Brodin, or Scandella. Unless Minnesota is going 8 skaters, but not sure why they'd do that.

At least explain your reasoning.

See its not that us MN fans don't understand that we are in a tough spot for expansion, we just know that the players we have to trade will be highly sought after. Even on this site tons of trades revolve around these guys, and so that will drive the price back up to normal levels even if people know that we have to trade one of them. Taylor Hall for Larsson last year kind of says it all when it comes to cheap young defensemen getting traded. I actually don't think your trade is that far off in value, but your logic for lowballing isn't correct

Fair enough. From a Minnesota fan's perspective, what more would have to be added to the deal?