Lol no. If they get Hughes, he alone has more value than those 2nd liners.

Not if the pick is 1st overall. Hughes is a #1 franchise centre and Drouin is not.

Colorado isn't moving the Ottawa pick pre-lottery, not for anything. After the lottery, If they fall out of the top 3, they might be inclined to trade it for more immediate help.

I don't think so. Even if lets say both players taken would be equally talented to the players they received, they'd have the benefit of having those 2 rookies on ELC's which is a monumental advantage. That's if both players are of equal talent and value overall. I personally have seen enough Drouin and Gallagher to know that they are excellent players but not elite. Even if there is chance at least one of those two draft picks is an elite player, you'd be wise to err on the side of patience and see what those two players become.

Yeah... Two seconds liners... The AVs aren't even in playoffs with MacKinnon and Rantanen. Stop saying **** please. Thank you my dear

Are you of the thought that believes Drouin hasn't peaked yet?

absolutely not

they are in a playoff spot right now.... They are top 10 in the league in Goals for. The only reason they arent in a comfy playoff right now is bc they were getting sub .900 goaltending for almost 2 months with Grubi and Varly.

Well for COL they are second liners. They're good players, but 2nd liners in COL. There's not really room for debating on that one, even if you like them, my dear.

COL also is in a retooling state. For a team like that, high-end prospects are much more valuable than 2nd liners.

He is only 23 so I imagine he hasn't peaked yet. The more relevant question is how much better will he be when he has peaked? IMO not that much better. 60-70 points max. But still makes bad decisions with the puck and dogs it from time to time.

I'm ok with all that as long as he produces though. Talent is hard to find. Especially for the Habs.

That doesn't explain their top line for those 2 months disappearing and they had no secondary scoring from others except Soderberg

Then, for a team like COL, Kakko or Hughes would only be 2nd liners?

Doesn't really matter. Malkin is a 2nd line C but on any other team he'd be 1st C. So you could debate it, that COL would have top line talent on both 1st and 2nd lines

Exactly

they werent getting blown out of games, they were losing points being 1-12 in OT at that time, hemorrhaging points. Its the old adage when it rains it pours. They are getting beat in dumb ways, everyone starts to play tighter, then you lay goose eggs in the win column yet playing well for the majority of things.

They were sill scoring, so I dont agree with your narrative that you are trying to spin here

Kakko Hughes getting paid 925k who could put up 60-70 points? Or Drouin etc who might put up that much in that role but costing much more while the Avs window starts next season

Thats why a real 2nd line would've been vital when hemorrhaging. The book was out on the the top line. MacKinnon and Rantannen were top 2 in scoring by a landslide and then others started passing them. You could say they were losing in dumb fashion but the top line was evidently constantly being shut down. The PP had also surprisingly dry.

Look at what is going on since they put Jost and Landeskog together on the 2nd line. This year was always a development year to see what htye have in Jost, Kerfoot, Compher and they cleraly know now. Since Jost came back from teh AHL he is a different player in that role at C (finally) and with a solid linemate with Landy

They arent moving lottery picks for more expensive wingers they may not need

Even though I would never do this as a MTL fan, saying that they're getting expensive players isn't right... At 3,75 and 5,5, they are really team friendly... When Kakko or Hughes will ask for a new contract in 3 years, it will not be for 5,5millions believe me.

It works next season..but after that? Jost, Kerfoot, Compher, Girard, Rants all need new contracts and they wont be 1-2m a piece type things. To have 9m in those guys could force them to ahve to move out guys just to make the cap work.

Thats why if you can get some elite production from ELCs in the potential of a Hughes or Kakko. Thats how you keep your competitive window open. Thats why I wouldnt do it.

Uh no. Those two players are very good but that Ottawa pick will be lottery and the Colorado pick could be too seeing as there's a good chance they miss the playoffs

Not for long.

If the pick is going to be a 1st overall, they're gonna get a player that's expected to become better than Malkin. And I'd much rather have a young Malkin than Drouin and Gallagher.

IF is the key word

Well the description says the trade is pre lottery, so the risk is too high.

To be fair, even the 4th overall pick might be too valuable to give away. It depends.