Laine to stl

Team: 2023-24 St. Louis Blues

Initial Creation Date: Jan. 26, 2024

Published: Jan. 26, 2024

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

An overpay to get laine to stl

An essay, continue at your discretion:

Depth based teams only begin to show dominance once depth is taken over the hump. Right before that, depth teams look extremely mediocre. To facilitate - consider that some amount of threats can be defended, you have to create an outsized matchup arrangement in your favor to win with depth. That only comes from having enough weapons to create enough imbalances. Before you can do that, teams of all skill can beat you any given night, often losing -more- to lesser teams in the standings who play higher risk styles.

Due to a lack of shooter, St. Louis, who has run its offense through shooters such as Tarasenko, Perron, is on the edge of the wrong side of the depth hump. Adding a shooter to what exists would take them from last in power play leaguewide to average, near guaranteeing playoff berths, making them an outside contender for the coming years. Due to various clauses, it isn’t time to sit around and wait. The team is mostly locked in. It’s time to add one last piece.

The main asset going to Columbus is Jimmy snuggerud, which is inspired by Columbus’ draft of fantilli. Columbus will have to agree to snuggerrud playing this season. In addition to Snuggerrud, Columbus gets this years stl 1st top 3 protected. I’ll need Columbus to pay some of laines remaining 2 years to make it work.

Columbus gets Kapanen to fill nhl roster. He’s a guy who will clear waivers but also is worth an nhl roster slot. His deal will tone down next season, and his value will be more aligned with his compensation. He’s not doing all that much worse than laine was.

Vrana is a cap dump. I’m paying a 2nd for you to spend 1 million dollars and make this deal viable. Columbus must take both Kapanen and Vrana, along with retain at least 3.5 on laine for this to be cap compliant. Any other permutation of the deal gets very complex or involves no trade clauses. Vrana is not nhl level talent. It is what it is.

Columbus would have to send back one AHL grade forward prospect of no exceptional status.

St. Louis would slide the unnamed AHL winger into springfields depth with Kapanens role replaced by whoemever sits atop that chart.

If you don’t like it good for you.

The number of humans alive under 27 who have scored 40 nhl goals in a season is very small, the number of times they’re available much smaller. Jimmy snuggerrud is cool, but 19. The blues core can’t wait on a bunch of 18-19 year olds. One of them needs to turn into a roster skater who has term and fills a specific role. Laine fits, there are other options, none with his pedigree.