but do you have to get a top D pairing guy. I mean if you land a young 2D player and gave 7 mil in cap space which can land another 2D player, you have solved a huge hole.
Wingers are easier to replace than Dmen. On top of it, you can make wingers look good playing them next to players like JT and Matthews. I think it's easier to find a winger than it is to find a Dman. Bringing in 2 quality Dmen for 1 winger who maybe befitting from playing on someones wing instead of paying him 7 mil might be the right path here.

They would need a top pairing D or it would not be worth it since Nylander is an exceptional talent and replacing him with someone his caliber would be difficult. They also already got D prospects in their system that are 2nd pairing or better potential so they could just wait on them. Its not like they have to win it all this year. They got a good 6-7 year window and by that time they will have even more on their blue line. Also, every cup contending club has really good wingers to play with their centers. Matthews and Tavares want to play with good players too, not carry a line on their own. I don't see the point in trading one elite player for 2 ok players just because they play on the back end. That wont make them any better overall. It's quantity over quality. Your basically patching a small leak short term to create a bigger leak elsewhere. Their blueline is already good and will get even better over the next few years. They got two 50 point dman. Not alot of teams have that so waiting on D prospects would be a much better idea then simply trading Nylander and then giving up more assets to try and replace him down the road.