Raffl to Dallas for Stephen Johns and a 3rd. Raffl UFA at 2.1mil is a good skater, works the boards, defensively responsible and a good playoff guy, he is a complimentary player who can play on any line, and can gets pts from the gritty areas. The 3rd will be mid to late pick. Johns is a big, right handed dman, who had a few good years and is a good hitter, crease clearer, can skate and an overall: a battler, is still young (27), 2.3mil for 3 years left. Johns has concussion syndrome and has not played in 2018-2019. He may be done for good because of the concussions, I am unsure, but he does fit the bill for Philly and is a solid player at a good contract.
Weal to anybody for a 5th or 6th. A UFA at 1.75mil, he is pretty one dimensional, AHL-NHL borderline guy with good wheels and hands, but isn’t much of a creator of offense, except for himself. Will offer some offensive flair from the bottom six, unlike a AHL callup he has good NHL experience. Right pick, wrong team, as Weal went to ARZ.
Radko Gudas and a 3rd (possibly 2nd) to TOR for Kasperi Kapanen. The 3rd will be high, within the top 70. Gudas is on a 2.3mil for 2 years. Hes stay at home, hitter, battler and can skate. Toronto is weak on defense and Gudas will provide some much needed physicality for a club that has lacked it, and will need it in the playoffs (watch Bruins manhandling Kadri a week or two back). Gudas has been VERY solid in a forgettable season. With Matthews, Marner, Kapanen all RFAs and their best dman an expensive UFA, capped out Toronto may be willing to part with Kapannen. 25 pts in 34 games is good for the youngster (although with Nylander back, will probably see less ice and puck and pts), hes a very good skater, good hands and probably destined as an above average 3rd liner. He only has around 30 pts in almost 90 NHL games. Re-signing him may take 3-4mil, which may make him expendable in TOR.
Wayne Simmonds to CALG for Sam Bennett and a 3rd (possibly a 2nd). Simmonds is 30, a UFA at 4.75mil, but is an effective goal scorer and a big physical body for the smallish Flames in the playoffs. A lot of what Simmonds brings is not on scoresheet. A big body to put in front of the net, stick up for team mates and a perennial lock for 20-28 goals. Bennett is a 1.95mil RFA, whos still very young but hasn’t brought his top 10 draft pick skills together in the NHL. Hes a good two way 3rd liner, with some size who can play C or LW but after 3 years of 26-36 pts, Calgary might not want to give him a big RFA raise (3.5mil a year or so?) While hes having one of the best years of his career, Jankowski looks real good as a replacement and Simmonds and his size, pp play is a real need. The 3rd (possibly 2nd) will be late. A similar deal would be Simmonds to NASH for Jarnkrot (similar player to Bennett) and a 3rd (possibly a 2nd). Bennett has good experience and is still young, making him a good candidate to pair with next years rookie, but so far hes been an offensive disappointment.
With these moves and high end prospects Morgan Frost, Farabee, and whomever they draft (probably in top 5) in 2019 on the horizon, lower end guys like Radcliffe, Rubotsov, Laberge, Vorobyev also arriving, I envision with these trades a lineup of approx:
Couts-TK-Giroux
Patrick-Frost-Voracek
Bennett-Kapanen-JVR
Laughton-Radcliffe-Lindblom
Rubotsov/Weise as 13th
Bennett is one of their (CGY) only "Big Guys". What about Foo and a 2nd for Simmonds?
Nice thought, but Philly has about 10 mid level prospects like that. It would have to be Bennett or young dman Rasmus Anderson. But I put in Bennett because with Jankowski and Derek Ryan, they'd cover the position, not want to increase Bennett's 25-35 pts in RFA, and they're adding pp, goals and size in simmonds
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