They def need to trade down to get him. Because they skip on a guy like Rossi they'll regret it.

Big time reach. Just trade down to 8th overall.

Taking Askarov at 4 would be really dumb considering the top tier prospects who will still be on the board (i.e. Stutzle, Rossi, Drysdale, Raymond). If they can find the right deal and trade down to say a pick in the 10-20 range, It would be worth taking Askarov. I don't think there's an ice cubes chance in hell that Philly trades Gostisbehere for that little of a return. Therefore, Philly declines that trade. Also no point in buying out Abdelkader this season. We will have a ton of cap, so either scratch him or send him down to GR.

100% agree, trading down (if they even want Askarov at all) would be a necessary move.

Stutzle in my opinion will not be there at 4. But I do agree with what you're saying. The Ghost trade was a bit of a stretch but given the (most likely) flat cap situation and his disappointing performance this year I though he could be had for a little cheaper than normal. I was going to change the 3rd to a 2nd but Detroit will be the first pick in the 3rd round so that is why I left it. I also did not buy-out Abdelkader. I put him in the AHL. No point like you said buying him out this year as Detroit has lots of cap!

This is a really deep draft and Stevie Y plays the long game (which if you're patient...is a good thing) I could 100% see him trading down if he gets the #4. This is a VERY deep draft and he can turn that #4 into 3-4 picks all in the 1st/2nd round this year...and STILL get Askarov. Then they'll lose again next year and have another high draft pick. It's not the fun option, but if you want to get back to cup contention...Stevie Y's your guy.

I remember in 2019 when Seider was a pretty big reach. That's the only one that comes to my mind but I'm sure with some research we could find dozens and dozens of guys that were considered reach on draft day but ended up being the better player compared to guys that were supposed to go at that spot.

It's easy to call it a reach today from our gaming chairs but a whole department of professional scouts are going through that for a whole year, if they take him and he ends up being Patrick Roy 2.0 nobody's going to cry about that 4th overall pick.

Well said my friend!

My apologies. I thought Abdelkader was under the "Buyouts" section instead of the "Buried" section.

Who would win this trade? Hronek and Veleno for Sergachev and Cirelli

I think the Habs would have some interest in moving up to the 4th spot. No idea what that would take so to avoid backlash on here I’m not going to make a suggestion. We have lots of picks, prospects that we don’t have room to sign etc.

Detroit hands down imo.

yeah i agree but Tampa gets 2 ELCs which could make it interesting

Just look at the current NHL goalies and where they were selected. Then look at the superstars of the league and where they were picked. There is no way I'd burn a top 5 pick on something as shaky as a 17-18 yr old goaltender. Hell, you could probably trade the 4th overall pick for a proven, elite goalie in his prime.

I did a little research. Here's the top 10 goalies in GSAx over the last 5 seasons and their draft position. Compare that with the top 10 scorers over that time...

Gibson - 39th
Crawford - 52nd
Raanta - undrafted
Bobrovsky - undrafted
Holtby - 93rd
Bishop - 85th
Andersen - 87th
Lundqvist - 205th
Quick - 72nd
Grubauer - 112th

McDavid - 1st
Kane - 1st
Kucherov - 58th
Marchand - 71st
Panarin - undrafted
Draisaitl - 2nd
Crosby - 1st
Wheeler - 5th
MacKinnon - 1st
Ovechkin - 1st

Just take a potential superstar at 4 overall and then grab a goalie every year in the 3rd or 4th round.

Damn, that definitely changes my mindset not gonna lie. Appreciate the research put in! If DET had a mid 1st round pick I would consider taking Askarov still but yeah, Top 4 I think you have to go with one of the many offensive talents available.

The flaw in the stats is that not many goalies get taken that high in the draft. This article does a better breakdown:

"Just five of the 18 have made more than 10 starts with the team they were drafted by. That’s 13 1st round goalies who had absolutely no impact on the team that spent a 1st round pick on them. Even the five that did work, only two ended up having a significant impact on the team that selected them (Price, Vasilevskiy). 14 years of NHL Drafts and TWO turned out to be stars for the correct team."

http://sinbin.vegas/drafting-a-goalie-in-1st-round-rarely-wise/