How do you feel about a lias/casey 1 for 1?

NYR accept

i dont mind it but I think Casey is valued a bit higher. That was my reasoning trying to pry Strome away

Rangers decline. Casey for Lias is an even swap. And Asplund just isn't a good enough prospect to pry Strome away with a 2nd (I don't think there is a prospect in the Sabres org that fits the bill since the drop off after Cozens is so massive)

But Casey for Lias and drop the rest makes sense for both teams.

Blues don't want him back. If you want Allen give us a 3rd round pick guy has a .927 and a 2.15 GAA. He's good, but we don't want Hutton. We have Husso to move up.

COL accepts

Not really intetested in casey for lias.

This is an interesting trade proposal, and makes me think a bit.

My first reaction was "nah, not a good fit, I'd rather just keep Zadorov".

But then I started thinking...

In terms of value, it probably slightly favours Colorado, since Montour was traded to Buffalo for a 1st + prospect 15 months ago. Zadorov's value is 2nd + 3rd.

In terms of position a trade makes sense too, since:
- Colorado are deep at LHD, and shallow at RHD.
--- Buffalo are deep at RHD, and shallow at LHD.

What intrigues me is how he would fit into the Colorado lineup.

I recently read the article below about Montour, which talks about how he's not really an "offensive Dman" - in terms of being good in the OZ. Rather, the article shows using analytics that he's actually better statistically when he starts in his own zone, as that allows him to play more in transition which is where his biggest strengths are.
https://www.diebytheblade.com/2020/1/31/21116374/brandon-montour-buffalo-sabres-could-benefit-from-a-shift-in-zone-deployment

With that in mind, I think he'd be a perfect fit next to Cole on the 3rd pairing. Cole gets a lot of Dzone starts and is very good in his own zone, but is pretty limited in transition. Putting Montour on a line with him would be a perfect combo, as Cole would clean up defensively, and Montour could handle the transitions.

Graves --- Makar
Girard ---- Johnson
Cole ------ Montour

That said, despite the good fit on the ice, I do still have three fairly significant reservations:

1) First of all, adding Montour would effectively block Byram and/or Timmins next season, and both seem ready to step up to the NHL.

2) Secondly, one of the main reasons for trading Zadorov in the first place is due to the fact that we would likely need to expose him in the ED. And the same would apply with Montour here. Needless to say, I'm not sure this is the best use of assets.

3) Lastly, Montour will likely be paid $3.5m+ to play on the bottom pairing which isn't a sustainable plan beyond 2021.

Now, do those reservations mean that I wouldn't agree to this trade? Not necessarily. It just means that I would want to have a serious think about the overall outlook of the D group before committing. Montour is clearly a good defenseman in transition which fits our style of play very well, but I'd nonetheless want to have a think about what the plan is for Byram and Timmins going forwards, and how soon I want to introduce them.

As a final point, another alternative would be to simply agree to this trade, play him for half a season and then flip him for a decent return when Timmins is more ready. I'm sure that half a season in our transition-oriented D would raise his stock quite a bit, compared to the dysfunctional group he was playing with in Buffalo.

Anderson is valuable to the Jackets because if he bounces back, we've got our speedy goal-scoring power forward back, which is a valuable weapon. Tage Thompson is a bust who is utterly valueless to the Jackets. That proposal is not just unacceptable, it's insulting.

That is not an even swap. Asplund for anderson is a more fair swap. Maybe a bit towards the sabres so add maybe a 4th

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