Why would the ducks give up picks when they're retooling (even though I think they have a decent shot at making the playoffs...)

People are going to hate that Risto trade, but honestly this is where we are headed like it or not. Sabres have too many players and need to cut weight. The Sabres/Risto relationship seems fractured and pretty sure he wants out and who can blame him. Without dumping a serious number of bodies it's going to be hard for Buffalo to take players back in a Risto trade. Probably best to stop acting like we're going to get an Ehlers or a Horvat or a Rakell back in a trade for Risto.

I'd rather save the roster space and play Nelson off-handed in a sheltered 3rd pair role for the first week or two until Pilut is ready. But eh that's not a bad move, just semantics I suppose.

If we can't find a 2C, I'd rather bump ERod up there, Johansson on the left, and Vesey down to 3LW. Evan has the stamina and IQ to fill in (not full-time, I think he doesn't have the ceiling for it, but deputizing for a growth season is fine). He won't make the line excel, but the 2C position will have a lot less question marks than if Johansson was there.

MoJo hasn't played center since he was on the Caps and he wasn't very good at it.

I'm more and more okay with the idea to grab picks. It gives us flexibility, and if we have to get a top-6 guy later on we can use them as currency that all teams will take. But another top-15 pick would be nice to have too.