You know why

You don’t have to troll all the time. Pacioretty will score more goals per season than Burakovsky will. Idk why it’s such a bad trade to you

I'm not trolling, We can't afford to trade away young talent like this, or high draft picks. We are retooling, not going for it. What happens when Pacioretty walks and we still have no Cup? It looks incredibly stupid.

And what happens when we don’t sign Burakovsky cuz he still hasn’t been the player we want

Burakovsky is an RFA, so we can keep him as long as we want. If he is underperforming this time next year, maybe we look into a trade.

The issue with Burakovsky is the inconsistency. So why on Earth would we trade him AND a first round pick for a player that's just as inconsistent? If we were to bring in Pacioretty, you'd hate him just like you hate Burakovsky right now.

Pacioretty has credibility of being a 30 goal scorer. Same with Oshie. It’s not like that goes away. Bottom line is we need a top 6 winger. Burakovsky hasn’t fit that mold this year or in the past. The loss of Johansson was killer for us.

I agree that a top six winger would be nice. But there are much better options than this. We can sign one as a UFA next year (JVR, Kane, etc) and keep Burakovsky and our first round pick. If Burakovsky hasn't improved by this time next season, then you kick the tires. Now is not the time. I'll make an AGM team to show you what I'm talking about.

just gonna eavesdrop over here...carry on...

No thanks

The truth isn't always neatly halfway between two opposing viewpoints. This time, it is.

It might be okay to trade Burakovsky this year if Trotz hates him and never wants him in Washington (we don't know that).

But not for Pacioretty, who is producing the same number of points per minute played as Burakovsky this year, but is half a decade older, and not an RFA at the end of the contract, unless Montreal throws in a high draft pick and a prospect.

Oh man, suddenly I see why you're all throwing in picks to trade Orpik for an identically "meh" defenseman in Hjalmarsson. Except that both of them are old enough to retire in hockey years, both are signed through next year at fairly similar cap hits, and both will be UFAs at the end of those contracts.