Pens would do that in a heartbeat

This trade benefits both teams I think. Pens still have a legit chance at a cup and Brodin/Nino give them a great shot at winning another with Crosby and Malkin. The Wild build for the future through Sprong and Maatta

You could probably get a draft pick from the Pens, and not have to retain salary with this deal. It is really hard to know the value of Sprong right now because I think GMJR is really high on him, but Mike Sullivan refused to put him in the lineup last year, which was baffling. I think he has the potential to be a 30 goal scorer, but that is assuming he will play with Crosby.

Thanks for the advice! What kind of pick do you think the Wild could get out of this? Like a 2nd/3rd? I only retained salary because it seemed like the Pens were tight on cap, but I could be wrong on that.

No interest in Maatta. Brodin is better the same price, 1 yr older, and 1 less year on his contract.

Nino or Zucker should be enough to get Sprong + Haglin. I know Pens fans are really high on Sprong, and he should be a quality NHL player, but all the risk is on the Wild.

I think for this trade to go through the Wild would have to send Brodin since the Pens would be looking to upgrade their defense. That's why I traded him. One thing that has always really bothered me about Brodin is that he has decent size but almost never hits anybody. Maatta had 131 hits and only 24 less shots blocked than Brodin last season (although Brodin didn't play a full season, so the blocked shots is skewed). Maatta isn't as good as Brodin, but he's still a fine top 4 D. I like Sprong a lot, he's got some fantastic film and a pretty nice shot. He's also a really good skater. Even without Crosby he looks promising.

I think Niederreiter and Sprong have similar values, so those would be the centerpieces, and other pieces would need to move in order to make the cap work.

Maatta has way different usage that Brodin does. I don't like Brodin's lack of physical play either, but his d-zone play and transition game is so much better than Maatta it easily makes up for it.

This won't cut it with the way the Wild play in the d-zone.

http://hockeyviz.com/fixedImg/teamShotLocDefWi/1718/PIT/maattol94/wrap for Maatta.

http://hockeyviz.com/fixedImg/shotLocDef/1718/MIN/wrap Wild as a team.

I've seen his heatmap, but I think heatmaps are influenced by coaching styles/strategies and Maatta's could change drastically if he were on the Wild. I'm not trying to say that Maatta is better than Brodin, he's not, but he's still a fine top 4 D, especially if he played with Spurgeon.

Edit: here's the best example I could find where a different team changes the players map. I used Ryan McDonagh since I don't have access to previous seasons and McDonagh was dealt by the deadline

On the Rangers: http://hockeyviz.com/fixedImg/teamShotLocDefWi/1718/NYR/mcdonry89/wrap



On the Lightning: http://hockeyviz.com/fixedImg/teamShotLocDefWi/1718/T.B/mcdonry89/wrap



Notice how much different this map looks when he's surrounded by more talent and used differently, I think the same would happen with Maatta on the Wild playing with someone like Spurgeon.

Edit: also wanted to add that this is a small sample size for the TBL map, which could bias results, but you'd expect his map to have similar blue/red areas if coaching and linemates had no effect versus the extreme difference (almost opposite) red/blue areas we see here.

I just don't see Maatta being a good trades for in MN, same reason I don't see Klefbom or Gardiner being a good trades. They are all downgrades over Brodin.

You're all in on Sprong not only being better than Nino, but also making up the of a difference from downgrading to Maatta.

Do you think Olofsson, Seeler, or Soucy will on the same level as Maatta in the next 3 years (Brodin's contract length)? If so then why make that part of the trade?

Nino/Zucker for Sprong + Hagelin is enough (probably overpay, but it makes the cap work both ways). Trade Brodin for something else more useful.

I'm gonna nitpick a little here but you've been going really big on some of your recent teams and the values get wonky and the Wild players get undervalued. Keep the trades smaller and you'll have more effective deals and a better looking team. I like lots of parts of your idea's, but then there is something that unbalances what you're trying to do.

I've been trying to think of a decent Sprong trade for awhile, but couldn't come up with anything I liked. The Nino/Zucker for Sprong + Hagelin (I prefer to trade Zucker, you prefer to keep Nino, no biggie it's similar values) is better than anything I've come up with. I really don't care if it takes a 3rd round or later pick to even things out. I just know if I like the way a team looks.