I doubt Vegas is going to trade any of their established NHL players, certainly not ones that are injured as well. It would also not be in the best interest of Montreal if we we're to aquire players older then average age of Montreals young core (excluding Price, Weber, and Petry, Montreal average age is somewhere around 25). I think it would be best to target prospects from Vegas, as it also line's up with Montreal's prospect spike.

Pacioretty is hardly worth a 1st, let alone a 1st and an established top 4 defenseman

Stop it. Your hate shines through. There's not one GM in hockey who wouldn't give a non-lottery 1st rounder for Pacioretty and then something. As for giving up Schmidt -- now on the NHL doper list -- hardly a huge sacrifice.

Yeah I mean you can find a 37 point winger on the trade market for probably around a 2nd max

And just because you dope that doesn’t mean you no longer are a top 4 dman in a league drained of top 4 dmen

Two words: Tomas Tatar. He was worth a first, a second and a third. Pacioretty had one lousy year in a decade, but there's no one in hockey who seriously believes he is washed up. His game never depended on speed. Just ask Radulov and Danault. Pacioretty was always third into the zone with them and had one of his best years ever.

And, yeah, on Schmidt, sorry, but once a doper.... That's how GMs see it. What team wants to risk it? His next suspension is 40 games. After that.....

Tatar was in the first year of a four year contract. Pacioretty is a rental.

And I guarantee 31 GMs would take Schmidt if given a chance

Two words: Jeff Skinner

Agreed, but no one can explain that. Hurricanes are in a weird place right now. They gave Hanifin and Lindholm for Hamilton, Fox and Ferland, which would seem to suggest they wanted to get more playoff ready. Unless there's something wrong with Skinner off the ice, that move made absolutely no sense. Because no one really follows hockey in the Carolinas, there's not the same kind of off-ice scrutiny of the players, so who knows?