Quoting: Capitalfail67
why are you trading holtby? jw....he has 2 season left on his contract.....also need a vet to mentor samsonov? seems smarter to have holtby mentor samsonov than to have grub and him fight for a starting position? i think u trade holtby you'll have a matt murray effect where theres a goalie whose never played a full season and struggles. grub value should be sky high ...imo thats when you should sell
You're right that it's easier to trade Grubauer and that alone, if the cap goes up enough, will give enough cap space to sign Carlson.
If the return is awesome for trading Holtby somewhere, like with the Carolina offer I just linked, then the Caps have to take that into consideration.
Buffalo just traded a first pick for Lehner, and proved beyond all doubt that the problem wasn't Chad Johnson, but the lack of competent defensemen in front of him.
So I like the idea of the Caps signing Johnson while his value is low after several bad years to replace any goalie they trade, but I don't got this obsession with Buffalo trading its 1st and not getting back the defensive help or cap relief the Sabres actually need.
Anybody think the Caps could afford to part with Orlov or Niskanen, and take on Moulson? I think that's what it would take to get Buffalo dealing their top pick and prospects. And no, I don't think the Caps consider moving a top pairing defeseman off of a President's Trophy win, or taking on an AHL healthy scratch at an equivalent cap hit, just to add prospects. Not remotely. Never in a million years. Which is what all the Sabres fans keep telling us about trading a 1st for a goalie while they still have the starting goalie they just traded a 1st for.
If you want to trade Holtby for a higher first pick than Carolina's, and a good young player or two, wait for Chicago to get a sense of how Crawford is recovering from his concussions, and to see what kind of cap space they can clear to add free agents and try to get right back to the playoffs. Their fans are pencilling in Collin Delia in the NHL, but I watched Delia in the ECHL this year and I wasn't that impressed.
If you just really want Nylander, I think Buffalo might throw him in to swap Lehner for Holtby and a top defenseman. I just don't think the Caps have any defensemen to trade. Maybe Djoos or Johansen?
Orpik would help them out more, but they're not interested in a 37 year old, so move on.