I'd do that MTL trade.

Agreed not a bad trade. Doubt Winnipeg is giving matt away for a third though.

They are so cap restrained I think they easily do that as he is only playing 3rd to 4th line minutes for the Jets (AVG 12 mins TOI this last year)

Damn he is better than 12min a night haha. I'm convinced done deal.

I really don't see any serious value coming back to MTL in this deal other than the 2nd rd pick...and let's be realistic here, sure Poolparty has potential. but when you look at NHL comparables, he's closer to MTLs Charles Hudon who really isn't worth that much (Poolparty 139NHL games played, 37pts. Hudon 110NHL games played, 39pts...)

Juulsen is still holds significant value imo. Despite his injury (of all the injuries you can attribute to bad luck, Juulsen hit the jackpot. Puck to the face, two times.. in the same spot...), he was showing signs that he could actually move up into the top 4 and not look out of place (when he was playing, Weber was still injured, Petry was on the 1st pairing, Juulsen on the 2nd.). and from the look of things, that's exactly where you intend to play him... So where is the value for a 22 year old NHL ready, potential top 4 guy? Then you add Shaw...and try and dump Russel on us? No thanks.

Yeah a third is low but I wanted to avoid the people who say he is a cap dump. If I made it a 2nd they would be al over me.

I really don't see how you can justify that. You must really be sure Puljujarvi can bounce back. Not saying Habs wouldn't have interest, but this isn't the kind of deal for that.

oilers are getting garbage in return. No thanks!

Perreault isn't a cap dump and had the Jets coach used Perreault properly he probably gets 40 points and then the discussion around him is way different,
if the Oilers can fit him in he'd really help them.

We could get better than Russell just by signing Benn for 1-1.5m less...i’d like mtl to try and get Puljujärvi but not at this price...or this return.

Yeah but some people don't get that unfortunately and I I'm honestly tired of arguing with them

Oilers are hoping it will be a low 3rd.

As for the rest of the roster assembled there's probably still a lot of improving that could happen just by shuffling the lines. The main problem I see is running the big 3 down the middle never been a fan as it just limits the TOI for Draisaitl and Nuge. We know McDavid is going to play 22+ minutes a night, Draisaitl likely 20+ minutes a night already leaves you with ~18 minutes between 3rd and 4th lines. Let's says 12 and 6 split for rest of the minutes.. is it really worth running 3 big centres with RNH only gets 12 minutes? I don't think so

Draisaitl-McD-Kassian (no point in changing til it fails 14G 23P in 43 games on topline)
Perreault-RNH-Brown
Nygard-Shaw-Gagner
Lucic-Khaira-UFA/AHL

Above line up gives the top NHL players on the team enough ice time to effect the game. Top line 22 minutes, 2nd line 20 minutes, 18 minutes split between 3rd and 4th

Cheap vet dman to replace Juulsen on the bottom pair. Giving Puljujarvi a serious opportunity with fellow countryman around the same age. A 2nd rounder which is quite close the 1st round and ideal for snagging another one of those projected 1st round players that just slipped out of the 1st round. I like Juulsen but he is IMO going to be surpassed wuickly by the better offensive dmen in Brook and Fleury and his physical game is nice but its not elite or dominating like Weber's is for example. He gets injured quite a bit and thus far hasn't done all that much to warrant not swapping him for Puljujarvi whose younger and has more potential for star ability. Russel at 3.5 isn't that bad and actually replaces Benn pretty easily while not costing a lot of term.

I think it's giving up too quickly and selling low on Juulsen when his play hasn't shown that Habs should do that. He was showing pretty well before his eye injury. I agree that offensively Brook and Fleury have far better potential, but I believe a "cross that bridge when we get there" approach should be taken. They still have zero NHL experience. That brings up the next point. Juulsen is much better equipped to play in the top 4 in place of Weber or Petry if one of them gets hurt, than anybody else on the right side... Brook and Fleury (not ready), Folin (nothing more than a depth 7th D).

I'm all for taking a chance with Puljujarvi, but it has to be at a reasonable price. This is buying high on a player trending downwards. But for arguments sake. let's say him and Juulsen cancel each other out (I don't think they do). Shaw is still worth more than a bottom pairing D and a 2nd. Not saying Shaw can get a king's ransom, But if someone were to offer me a bottom pairing D + 2nd for him, I'd rather just hold on to him.

Like I said in my initial post, the 2nd rd pick is the only true solid piece coming back. EDM get a gritty versatile C/RW, and a 22 year old NHL ready Dman, and MTL gets a 32 year old #5-6 Dman, and a player who has proven just as much as Charles Hudon in the NHL (Poolparty is obviously worth more than Hudon, but you get what I mean)... If you really want Puljujarvi, this shouldn't be how you get him.

Poolparty is one year younger than Juulsen is, played more NHL games than Juulsen has and was drafted 4th overall in a stacked draft..... I think if anyone is giving up too early on anyone, its him. If your comparing Hudon, a smallish former 5th rounder whose 25 years old and yet to find a fitting in the NHL, to a former 4th overall pick who came into the league too early but has still shown promise and is only just turned 21 last month , I question your comparative skills. They're not even remotely close to each other.

The kid has been developing in a nightmare environment. He has so much potential that just needs to be placed right. Habs need a big scoring RW to play with Domi and Drouin and he, if developed right is a prime target. He only has Gallagher to deal with on the depth chart. Juulsen is stuck between a rock and hard place. Better prospects on the horizon and big name vets in front of him. That's why the loss of Juulsen is diminished by Russell who can fill in on the right side in place of injury better than Juulsen can or at the very least does the job until players come back.

I don't want to give Juulsen away but this is an upgrade in a more needed position IMO. The second rounder is the deal maker for me. That is a low pick in what is shaping up to be another deep draft. Romanov taken 38th last year, Jason Robertson 39th the year previous to him. There are quality prospects available at that pick and the more prospects the better. Whatever people want to say, this team is still not close to a cup. They need better players across the board. This gives them a potential 6'3 goalscorer, a prospect near the first round and a capable vet of replacing Juulsen in short term while we wait for the youth to develop. (Brook, Fleury and potentially a RHD we draft this year like Seider if the Habs were to take him)

Wasn't trying to compare Poolparty to Hudon as players (hence why I wrote "obviously he's worth more") the comparisons was to the amount of games played in the NHL and what they have accomplished so far. After a 110games in the NHL, we have all seen enough on Hudon to know he's a fringe NHLer, still has high skill, but falls in the category of "he's too good for the AHL (was an all-star there lol) but not good enough for the NHL. Poolparty is very similar in those regards. and sure i'll agree the environment in EDM wasn't great. But he was still playing with quality players for large chunks of time. On frozenpool.dobbersports.com, it shows his most common linemate last season was..*drumroll*....RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS.....

After 139 NHL games of still not being able to prove he can stay in the lineup, using "he was a 4th overall pick" starts to fall under the "Yakupov, Reinhart" side of things rather than "he can achieve his potential". Like you said, he's a year younger than Juulsen, and if I were EDM I would keep him, because there is still a chance he can bounce back. and if we're playing the percentages, why risk moving him to succeed elsewhere?

Risk vs Reward this is an extremely high risk, high reward. but the odds are definitely not in MTLs favor. You want to take that risk giving up Juulsen and Shaw, that's your prerogative. We'll agree to disagree. If I'm MTL, at most I'm giving a 2nd rd pick and an ok prospect. It's said a 2nd rd pick has roughly just under 50% chance of becoming an NHLer. Well that's what I believe Poolparty chances are, and when it comes to becoming a top 6 guy, his chances are significantly lower.