Wow, this team would suck but Laval will be AWESOME!!!!

Let's hope a few of those kids grow up. It's fun to imagine what might be possible if Poehling, Kotkeniemi, Comtois, Hudon, Drouin, Domi, Scherbak, and a few of the picks grow up together.

I'm not going to sit here and say that either Comtois or Morand are amazing prospects, but ask yourself this:

Why would the Ducks move prospects for a guy that's being paid big bucks, that would play on their 3rd pairing, and a prospect that has fizzled out a fair amount?

The Avs deal is also ridiculous. There's nothing in that deal that gets you even close to a 1st rounder.

Ducks have Manson and Montour on the RHD. After that, you're down to Sustr, who's a UFA. Petry had more points than both Manson and Montour and gives the Ducks depth and strength where they're currently thinnest. If they're going to take a shot at a deep run into the playoffs, they'll need to upgrade the D. Anaheim has a history of making warships out of aircraft carriers -- like Chipchura. So, Petry for Comtois is reasonable. McCarron for Morand is a gamble for both teams.

Byron is a middle-6 winger capable of playing both sides. He's a much better player than Andrighetto, who they have in there now. Valiev is an RD on a team with only Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie as RDs (his development is ahead of Conor Timmins). Those two players and swapping what should be a low 60s pick for a late 20s is not that big a stretch.

Preach it!

I'll second the Avs trade being ridiculous. Johnson & Barrie yes. Then you'll have three lefties plus Alt competing for ice time after Zadorov, Girard and Cole (Nemeth, Barberio & Lindholm), and then you have Timmins, Meloche plus Makar when signed to bring into the picture. The package isn't worth a first round pick. Byron is too old for the Avs picture. Last season Andrighetto scored at a slightly higher Pts per Gm ratio than Byron to use your comparison and Andrighetto is younger. Sorry, your argument simply doesn't stack up!

Again, I'm not saying that Petry isn't good, but spending $5.5 mil for the next 3 years on a guy that'll play on the 3rd pairing doesn't make any degree of sense. Plus that would immediately ruin any chances that they have of signing Silfverberg to an extension.

As for saying that the Avs pick will be in the late 20's, that's a bit of a stretch. They were a wildcard team last year, and got in by 1 pt. Is anyone really going to sit here and say that over the summer they improved enough to be a top 5 team? I seriously doubt it.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, nobody is trading first round picks for low upside guys. Byron is who he is, and on the vast majority of other teams in the league, he plays on the 4th line. As for saying that Valiev's development is ahead of Timmins? I can't argue for or against that, but am very aware that he's an AHL dman, who doesn't project as much more.

My mistake. I had meant to retain some the max amount of salary and knock Petry's cap hit down by 50%. I'll fix now.

On the Colorado pick, I'd be willing to move it to two seconds in the event there's a lottery situation. I had assumed that Colorado is viewed as being on the ascendence.

Valiev's top side isn't Meloche or Makar, but they'll need time to develop properly. Valiev is a cheap, game-ready option (substitute Lernout if you'd prefer). And if you'd rather go to war with Andrighetto over Byron (especially when you can have them both relatively cheaply), you're nuts. Byron plays both wings, sees almost no time on the PP, is a strong PK player, and was +21 in 2016-17 and -4 last year on a team that was outscored by 55 goals.

Your argument still doesn't stack up.