I think you are massively overpaying for Alzner

MTL will probably do that .
Butcher fits what we need but not enough for a 1st rounder
that being said Carrick's a good player adding him might be overpaying .
the 4th although late still has value and might be overpaying as well

going from the 61st/62nd pick to the 15th overall justify's NJD moving Butcher as there is a lot of quality D in the mid first round .
taking Alzner justify's MTL making the deal as any D they would draft would need time to develop 1-2 years and Butcher gives us what we need now and the future .

Feels like you can give less to get that 1st by taking the Alzner disaster.

I wouldn't trade away a 1st just to dump Alzner. Bury him in the AHL this year and then hes ripe for a buyout next

MTL can afford to if it means a top LD for Weber to play with

Alzner going just makes it worth it for anyone on the fence
but lets be real if NJD wanted that 1st and was willing to move Butcher
one way or another a deal would be done , Alzner or no Alzner .

Possibly, NJ would still be moving up more than 40 spots; so they need to give something of value. Plus I might be optimistic on Alzner, but adding him, Trouba, and Smith in the lineup leaves no room for Butcher. Maybe they could drop Carrick and keep him as a 7th D-man instead of signing Lovejoy

How bad has Alzner been in MTL? My hope was pairing him with a more offensively minded D-man in Severson, and just count on Alzner to be a stay at home defensive D-man with some physicality.

Or is he no longer NHL caliber?

Alzner wasnt the problem
MTL signed a 4th/5th D to 2nd pair D money
then shoved him in a top pair role while he failed at .

despite putting him in a position to fail
his first year started off rough but he found a role surprise surprise as a 4th/5th D
he was 3rd in hits , 2nd in blocked shots producing at a similar pace to his last year in WSH

if MTL didnt completely change our system last year during a ''re-tooling'' from a physical game built on hitting to a speed based game then i think he would have started as third pair LD .Alzner did after all play 8 seasons with no games missed while putting up Consistent 100+ hit seasons and 100+ blocks seasons .

think of him like Lovejoy without the passion .
Alzners a guy who will always play hard he's just slow as hell for a speed based team .
he'd be best off on a team like MIN or DAL but honestly he's the type of Leader off ice i think NJD could use .
the guy's a consemate professional despite MTL signing him longterm then gutting their system for one that puts Alzner at a disadvantage.

if you were to pair him with someone make it Carrick
Alzner did after all help Juulsen make the jump to a full time role in MTL.
Juulsen and Alzner were both struggling then they were paired together .
they made a hell of a shut down pairing and a solid 2nd PK unit behind Benn-Weber .

Alzner like being the mentor type and honestly his worth ethic is so blue color youth want to listen to him knowing he's seen a lot .

Severson works but it might be best to test out those waters on PK unit as again Alzner's not a guy who can play more then 20 minutes a night
he's a brute playing physical hockey at his size leaves him gassed to the point he becomes a turnover machine past 20 minutes .