McCabe doesn't get you Fiala. Wild don't need another d man. Wild especially don't need another Left shot d man. Wild really really don't need to get rid of another young guy for a older one ( I do know McCabe is 26, but older than Fiala.)

That Minnesota trade is terrible for Buffalo

I think Risto is fine right now in Buffalo with the new coach, so i think he regrets now, what he said couple months ago(he wants to go to somewhere else)
I would take him for Gourde,(i would accept that trade since our D core needs some toughness/depth for playoffs in next few seasons) but the problem is, that Gourde has NTC, and i'm like 100% sure he would decline in 1 second the . So that trade is just not realistic, based on the NTC. And btw in the last few games Gourde enjoys playing on the 4th line, which is interesting, so i'm not even sure if he would agree to a trade to any team. If he has a decent year like 35+ points. He stays for 2020/2021 season for sure. Lots of Tampa fans want him to get traded, but i think he can become our new Callahan. Overpaid but strong player on 4th line.(or sometimes on 2nd/3rd line, when lots of injures or shakeup needed etc...).

Lafreniere, Alexis: You will laugh , but i had the exact same thought, as i watched the Tampa - Buffalo game couple hours ago, what could make your team better.
And my answer was the same as yours: tank this full year(Dahlin needs more time anyways, and Eichel only gets better for next year). So Lafreniere + Eichel should be a deeadly combo, and that would make Buffalo a playoff contender for sure. Right now watching these 2 games, Buffalo is almost same like last year = not good enough for playoffs. They had some small improvements because of some better players signed and better coaching, but it's just not enough superstars on the team to beat teams regularly like Bos,Wash,Tampa,Tor,Pitts,NYI,Col,Nash,VGK etc... Yeah i'm sure they can beat ottawa or a struggling SJ, but that's just not good enough in the long run. You need elite players on first 2 lines or you will lose in the grinding race(those elite players provide the much needed small % to win those extra few games, when things going bad = 75%+ playoffs chance each year). Eichel is only 1, you need more.
The best thing for Buffalo would be to pick the highest possible in the 2020 draft each round and trade some assets to get even more draft picks. And they need to start to get a good goalie soon'ish with a big trade. On a given night every goalie can be good(because of team defense), but over long seasons, you need a top tier one to have success. Tampa is lucky this next 2 years : two top goalies, so we should be fine for a while. Buffalo tries to go to playoffs so badly this year, but i just don't see the point... without a good goalie.. it won't end well... they just draft later.. so they don't improve...
What's the point of making the playoffs, like Columbus for year, when you're doomed there. Yeah they beat us 4-0 in the playoffs but so what, they lost next round easily as expected... Going for playoffs only has a point, when u have a real shot winning the whole thing. (better than 1-2%)You also needs a really strong defensive minded game, and i just don't see Buffalo the team who defend crazy... like NYI or STL or NSH the last few years.
Those teams always has a chance to win the cup, if they find the right balance. Buffalso is on a lost track right now, and i'm curious when they will realize this or they tryhard even more 2020/2021 season just to make the playoffs( = bad in long run for small success for franchise).

TLDR: i agreee with your retool idea and just try to draft high (win the lottery with some luck) in 2020(get lafreniere) = huge chance for success in upcoming seasons.

We have a top line that is talented and capable of scoring (unfortunately they give up as much as they get). I dont think we need another lottery win, the bottom 9 needs an overhaul (besides skinner)- we are currently short 2 centers, which could change quickly if mittelstadt or cozens are the real deal. Pretty much every other forward (besides johansson who i would move to wing) needs to go and be replaced by somebody who is frankly better. Sheary, vesey, sobotka, okposo, girgensons, larsson, and rodrigues round out a forward group that does not control play, does not score, or both. A few of them should be flipped sooner than later, but patience is the key for some of this too, as a recent 7oa and a recent 8oa should be arriving to balance the scoring and the overall play up front.

Dude, whenever i see Mittelstadt play i expect magic. And this is what i get: Nothing.
That doesn't look to me like a "real deal"---> more like "bust".

So until Mittelstadt proves me otherwise for a full season. I would consider him = average NHL'er = not good enough... yes he can break out when he will be 24... but then i will change my mind... until then i don't have any hopes for him(to be a top NHL player), same with Puljujarvi in Edmonton... until i see him for a full season with a good performance, just not good enough.

Cozens: I think he is better, and i expect him to be better, than Casey, but still it's a big unkown and you can't build a franchise on 1-2 unknown talented guy. But if you have a Lafreniere top tier caliber guy, it's so much easier to win games without even trying... look at what Boston is doing... they just win games every year... why? because they have that top tier talent: Marchand - Berg- Pasta and good defense and good goaltending, in every single year... when Marchand or Bergeron,Chara retires, it will change... but now it's just there. Oh ye, they have a good defensive-minded system and a good cap management.
Look what pittsburgh is doing: Crosby(+Malk,Kess top talent for a while) carrying the whole team for years. All other players = meaningless basically
Look at Colorado: so much talent...(MacK,Rant,Land, etc...) look at wash: Ovechkin + 5 others(top tier players, like Carlson (norris trophy this year, Kuzn, Backstrom, Holtby etc...). But i could go on to teams like Toronto, who has Matthews,Marner and Tavares. Imagine Buffalo with 2 of those 3 with current lineup. Night and day. They would be 80% lock for playoffs. You need those players, otherwise you fall into mediocricity for years, like Minnesota or Montreal.


Eichel not equal to crosby, he can't carry Buffalo, he needs support. And it starts with not Mittelstadt... just watch some games with top tier teams... they all have so much more talent, than Buff.. it's simple as that. You can only change that by some good lottery picks... or insane luck later rounds ( see kucherov and point draft selections those years).
Remove Kucherov and Point from Tampa, then remove our goalies and we almost look like Buffalo = not good enough for anything... Lafreniere i believe will provide so many good things for a struggling franchise, like Buffalo, like an elixir for all problems... Dahlin is not that kind of a guy... Dahlin i think needs like 3 more years... and we still can't be sure what his potential will be. You might say Dahlin will be a Norris trophy winner in the future. But it's just guessing, he might never be anything close to that.
I repeat what i said before: Eichel = 1 player top tier elite in whole Buffalo. Dahlin can be 2nd in future but it's not 100%.
You need more than max 2... depth can be fixed by offseason trades/lucky 2nd round picks/free agent signings. Elite top tier players are what buffalo needs and im not sure if they don't get one in next 2 years, they could achive anything meaningful... O'reily trade was huge mistake... it's hard to fix trades like those... with getting Lafreniere that's a good step in the right direction, but by going for playoffs spot this year. it's never gonna happen... u need those 10%+ chances in lottery...
Anyways i hope u catch my drift and sorry for the eternal struggle which you have to suffer through. I hope one day your management is just wakes up and realizes the things i'm saying or similar stuff.
Look at NYR: what a good path they took and they could sign Panarin & get Kakko on draft. They look so much better. Yet they could have stayed with Zucharello and JT Miller, Hayes... and went to nowhere... i think NYR still needs more talent but at least they are on the right path...

Anyways i don't think i can convince you, so i don't write more about this topic here. Just one more thing 7th overall doesn't mean anything. Sometimes 107th overall(elite) > 7th overall(KHL level), it's just a better chance nothing more.