Looks doable, but NJ will NOT retain that much.
Have 2 be straight up.
Or, add Pool party&2nd round 4 Severs on or Vatanen.

Why would Carolina trade an overpoweforming and much cheaper Mac for an underperforming and much more expensive Talbot?

Carolina is making a push, why would they give up their goalie thats got them there

Why would they trade Victor Rask, who has a higher offensive ceiling (something this team troubles with: depth scoring) for El Nino? Why are they rumored to have Ferland on the trade block? Do you think contenders are going to give up a valuable roster player in return for Ferland, who at this point is a rental? Same reason why they let Skinner go for a less than a desirable return: they want something for nothing. All of those deals made sense at the time. They weren't willing to pay Skinner what he was asking for, they aren't willing to pay Ferland, and they're also rumored to be shopping a defender. So this is a team that's selling, or at least dealing while every other team ahead of the are obvious buyers (with the exception of Columbus who could turn seller at any moment). Good luck with your playoff run. McElhinney will turn 36 after this season. He was a waiver wire acquisition. Unless they can re-sign him, I bet he's gone by the deadline to a team who's looking for an experienced backup - with the number of available goalies this offseason, the return won't be great.

Throw in a pick if it'll help you sleep at night but nobody is going to give up too much for a 35 year old, rental, backup goalie that has basically league average stats this season.

While I respect you trying to dissect the Canes intentions, you are mistaken on a few things here. Rask DOES NOT have a higher offensive ceiling than Nino, let's just get that straight here. Rask is a good player and will be a solid two way 3C but we have a ton of those. He has been derailed by injuries sure but he is slow and his skating is less than average at best. We are a fast team and he just didn't fit anymore, the NHL has outpaced him. Might he figure out how to keep up, maybe?

We let Skinner go not because we weren't willing to pay him but HE WAS NOT WILLING TO PLAY HERE. He had no intentions of resigning with us and conflicted with our coaching staff, mainly Rod (asst coach last 4 years) who preaches being the hardest working team out there. Skinner is not that. He is EXTREMELY talented but he wanted nothing to staying with our team. That coupled with the NTC and his poor performance really killed his trade value last year, but at least we got something out of it, example Islanders.

Ferland is a bit of a different animal, he is a UFA and a gritty power forward. If he wanted a 5x5 we would have signed him. Reports are he wants north of 6 mil and thats just not happening with our franchise. we are a small market team with a budget. Plus we have ton of young wings and now Nino who can replace him on the top line. If we are in the last WC spot at the deadline, I dont know if we trade him but if we limp in to the playoffs only to get blown out in the first round, why would we not sell him for a 1st and a prospect. We are playing the long game here.

As far as selling a defensmen, that is just not correct. We have 7 NHL quality d men and we want to sign Adam Fox. In order to sign Adam Fox we need to trade a RD so he can have a spot to play once the NCAA season is over. IMO we would never trade Pesce, that is all Canadian media generated but Hamilton and Faulk are duplicitous and one of them will be traded. Not because we are selling but because we have the ability to move on and not hurt the team.

Mac is quite literally the best goalie we have had in the last 10 years statistically. As a fanbase, we love the guy and you can tell the team does too. There is no way we trade him, the fate of our season will be up to him and Mrzaek and we are all okay with that. This is the first season in a long time where goaltending wasn't our main problem. There is no way we take on Talbots salary while also STILL have to ****ing pay Darling to suck in the AHL for a similar price.

Again, I appreciate you trying to understand the Canes but this is truly where the team lies, coming from a Raleigh native and season ticket holder for 10+ years. Don't believe everything you see on twitter.

Well you'll have to forgive me as I have many clients who are NHL/Junior players, scouts, and we have a GM and some executives. You seem to have some knowledge about the team, but for me to take your word that you have inside information on the team would be a pretty foolish thing to do. I also don't expect you to take anything that I say as insider information.

I actually played with Ferland in his hometown of Swan River - I hope he holds out and gets paid.

The facts are what they are. Sometimes things just don't work out as you plan (the Darling trade and sign you referred to). I'm not saying Nino is going to be a bust, but everyone thought Carolina won the trade with Calgary (including myself) and thus far it just hasn't worked out that way. The playoff races are ridiculous. It would likely be poor asset management to keep Ferland for a playoff run if you know you're not going to sign him (which looks very unlikely right now) unless you're collecting 80% of the points you're playing for and even then it's like you said, your team can't really afford to let players walk.

As far as the Canes selling a defender, they absolutely are. Who's going to pay the most for one of your right handed defenders? They're the playoff teams. If you trade him in season you're likely to get mostly futures and a much lesser player as these teams look to win now. I'd be more than happy to eat my words if you hauled in a Nylander or a Kapanen (which maybe happens if you send Ferland as well) but it doesn't appear to look that way.

I'll be happy to eat my words on Mc but unless he's extended, my guess is he gets moved.

I admire your passion, I really do. But if there are a few large takeaways I've learned from my time coaching it would definitely be: 1) most kids will never love the game as much as I do, and that's fine 2) issues with parents? never heard of them, parents are fine 3) just because you've done something for a very long time (worked, coached, watched the game) doesn't mean you're any darn good at it :]

Having said that, I would be interested in hearing what you think the Canes actually do leading up to the TDL.

I'm just going to jump in here, because I see some ridiculous things being thrown about. First and foremost, facts depend on perspective, and Carolina fan here, Mac is going nowhere. Our team plays best in front of him, we're not paying him jack, and there is zero incentive to move him. If you want Mrazek for Talbot, we can talk, but extension or no extension, Mac is going nowhere.

Mr. Lepakage:
"I'm not saying Nino is going to be a bust, but everyone thought Carolina won the trade with Calgary (including myself) and thus far it just hasn't worked out that way."
I am proud to offer proof that I did not think Carolina won the trade with Calgary: https://twitter.com/coryfogg/status/1010581802824683520
I knew Lindholm had that next gear in him, and it frustrates me on a daily basis.

As for the Rask Nino trade....well Nino has scored 3 more goals in 2 games than Rask did in 26, so I'm willing to take that gamble.

Of course we're shopping a defender, but it's not Brett Pesce, everyone just wants him because he's a great defensive d-man. That's exactly why we're keeping him. Anybody want to make a decent offer for Faulk? He's yours.

In any case friend, you'll want to trust my Darling hating fellow Canes fan up there, because outside of his full-on hatred of Cam Talbot, he does have an accurate measure of the situation in Raleigh.

Time will tell. I like McElhinney, have for years. If he’s such an important piece why don’t you just re-sign him and plan the parade? I’m also not an Oilers fan, I clearly said in the description that it’s annoying seeing everyone say they’ll suck forever and that McDavid will never win a cup when he hasn’t even hit his mid 20’s yet