A guy like radko gudas would be great

:/

Isn't Niskanen doing better this year?

Iirc his stats when playing top 4 minutes this season (only really played bottom pairing in Philly) aren't very good/decent really.

Selling Ghost a bit low. Byron is somewhat a question mark after his long absence due to injury. If he come back 100% then he's a solid pickup but that is a bit of a stretch at his age and recent injury history. Kulak hasn't been as good as he was last year and a comparable player could be had in free agency. Also the Savard trade seems really high for a guy that is good but not that good and only has one year left on his deal. 1st round picks in this year's draft are worth more then they are in previous drafts according to numerous hockey analysts. It shoulod shape up to be a very good draft so if you move a 1st, better be getting a very solid player in return. Let alone adding Rubstov, Ginning and a 2nd on top of that.

You have a better shot at reversing all these trades and simply putting Ghost+1st+2nd+Rubstov+Ginning and seeing what you could get. In theory, that should net an all star caliber player.

Not sure if any of those deals are good for Philly. Savard is a good player, but also a 4.25mil UFA. Russell is not good, and a UFA at 4mil. Byron is a 3.4mil 4th liner? That defense is pretty bad the next season, when Niskanen, Savard and Russell are all UFAs. JVR has value, I just think its more than Russell and a 2nd. Just not sure, the key guys in return: Savard, Russell and Byron are worth Ghost, JVR, a 1st, a 2nd collectively. Just a lot of moves that I don't think make the club any better.

He's not doing the EDM trade because Russell is good, he's doing it to get out from under the van Riemsdyk contract. Russell's deal is for only one more year and saves $3M in cap space and $5.5M in cash. Plus $7M in cap space for the following 3 year and $12M and another cash savings.

But it won't work. Edmonton has no desire to trade for an overpaid, underperforming, aging winger. They already have one of those: James Neal. If you're interested in replacing van Riemsdyk's 13 goals with Neal's 19 goals let me know, but Edmonton isn't interested in a JVR / Russell swap even if there isn't any picks involved.

I somewhat agree, but Russell is an overpaid UFA who's just not that good, and PHI isn't that desperate to lose JVRs contract. There's better options out there. As far as Neal, he's been a dog for years, and there's a better chance JVR is worth half/2/3rds his contract over its duration than Neal will be.
Other than the cap savings, it looks like JVR for a 2nd and I don't think that's enough really.

Yeah, I don't think this trade works for either team, but I disagree that Neal has "been a dog for years." Other than last year in CGY, he's been one of the most consistent goal scorers in the league, posting 10 consecutive seasons of 20 goals or more - every season he's been in the league, in fact. Something went horribly wrong in CGY last year, but he's got 19 already in EDM this season and is on pace for 32. So I can't agree with your characterization.

Ginning doesn't really add value for the Jackets because we have enough LDs to stock two and a half rosters. Otherwise... while that doesn't exactly achieve our base need for Savard (a #2C), it's still a large enough package that it's well worth considering.