If I'm Ottawa, I'd be calling COL and saying they can have Hoffman in exchange for the first rounder back. COL gets Bowers, Hoffman, a third rd pick and Girard out of Duchene... not a bad return if you ask me, plus a Mack, Rantanen, Hoffman line would be top 5 in the league.

you stay away from Hoffman at all costs right now, you dont give high picks or good prospects until this situation with him is resolved.

I wouldnt want him on this team even if it was for a 2nd round pick, that situation is too disgusting to be associated with on this team

I wouldnt want you to be colorado then if you think Hoffman is worth Otts 2019 pick.
a 28 year old 50-60 point guy who is 2 years out from UFA associated with terrible off ice distractions is not worth a potential lottery pick

Obviously I agree with you being an Ottawa fan. That being said, I do think people have tended to underplay Hoffman's value throughout this whole situation. Yes, IF the accusations are true, who would want to be associated with that? However, this guy is easily a 25 goal scorer for the next 5 years on the right team. Hell, if all this didn't happen, I think he would be a 25 goal scorer on a brutal Ottawa team for the next while. I think this is a golden opportunity for both teams. Hoffman is very affordable for that kind of production, and still has 2 years left. Maybe the Sens throw in a guy like Logan Brown or Colin White with Hoffman? If I was COL, seeing the season they just had and imagining getting Hoffman, Brown/White, Girard, Kamenev, Bowers, and a third round pick all for Matt Duchene, I take that and run. What if they say no to that and the sens keep Karlsson and get a good piece for Hoffman, then have a half decent season and aren't even a top-ten pick? Banking on another team failing is quite the risk, no matter how enticing it may seem.

I just dont offer any solid assets until there is resolution with this. Last thing a team wants is to give up good assets for him and it drags all into the start of next season. It sounds like from Avs beat writer sources that they are very happy to just hold onto the pick from Ottawa. Unless the Sens are willing to extremely discount someone in order to get that pick back, the plans sounds like they will keep onto 2019 and hope to get a crack at Jack Hughes with it.

The value in hoffman trade is never a shot against his talent and ability, its just the potential distraction associated with an unresolved issue. But you are right if they do throw in another sweetner asset to go with Hoffman, then it gets more tempting bc at the very least if the Hoffman thing spirals out of control, you still have an asset like White kicking around so its not a complete back fire.

Ok not bad...

100% agree with what you said here. As a Sens fan, each game this year made me scared about the trade more and more. I mostly want the pick back to save myself from the anxiety all next season about what that pick might become.

K man you are seriously overreacting on this situation...it was his GIRLFRIEND...not him! And besides the allegations are most likely false!

You might be blind to the situation, when the rest of the hockey world is seeing it the same as me, its not just his GF....he backed her publicly, said they were 150% false allegations. There are reports that Karlsson confronted him in the parking lot about this months ago. He is part of the allegations story now with all this.

If there is any shed of truth to these claims, do you think guys in the locker room want a guy who backed a person who went after one of the most loved player in the leagues family? Its not a good look for Hoff right now, so there needs to be resolution. Other teams fans dont want to have that guy near their roster, currently its a PR nightmare and who wants that. Sens really messed this situation up if they really did know about these issues months ago and did nothing

This is my conspiracy theory: Since the Karlsson future is already a sensitive subject here in Ottawa, I think A hockey fan, from whichever team, went out of his way to cyberbully the Karlsson (which is terrible) to make him want to be out of OTT which could subsequently create one of the biggest trade of the decade. I really don't think Hoffman gf or Hoffman himself would ever do that. There is literately no motive for it.

Also, I think COL does this trade for sure. 2019 is going to be a weak draft relative to the last 3 years, and if OTT does finish last (which is unpredictable), there's only a 25% chance of them getting 1OA. (Which is the only slam dunk pick from what i"ve been hearing)

So if I was the Sens GM, I personally wouldn't do it. I think the 4 OA is extremely valuable in this draft.

But well thought out!!

2019 is going to be a weak draft? Ummmm no no its not. 2019 is suppose to be a much stronger class of top end talent but not as deep going into the 2nd round. 2018 has limited high end talent but a deeper draft as you moved into the 2nd round. At the very minimum the draft overall will be as good as this years but there is more high end talent in the top picks in 2019.

Jack Hughes is at the Matthews level of talent . Kaapo Kakko is at the Zadina/nico hischier...the 2019 Top picks are very strong. So getting a Top 5 pick in 2019 would be a huge win. Thats why you keep it

"weak draft relative to the last 3 years"

Relax man

The top 10 in 2016-17-18 > 2019 (not even close)

**EDIT: Your a Colorado fan hahahaha Make sense now