They need a 2c they have Olofsson, Skinner and Johansson at LW next year..

My biggest problem with people like you is that you don't know what the team needs. We need 2C and top 9 RW, we do not need Johnny Gaudreau for such a price, since he is a LW. I would love to consider our #8 deal for 2C. Risto may well return the top 9 RW in the deal. So Buffalo is still decline out on this deal.

Cozen could become a 2c med season play Mojo 2c to start then see how Cozen does. hes a top 10 prospect for a reason, right? JG is a 80-90 point player he absolute would be a difference maker imo

Dude thats a crazy overpayment. Chill out you overvalue flames guys soooo hard

you have a top 10 C prospect and if you need a fill in 2c you can get Strome for 2nd round pick.

Lol dont worry this guy is the biggest homer, he overvalues every flames guy by a mile

Which one? Ryan Strome is definitely not the answer to place 2C, Dylan might be. We need to put Skinner with Eichel and not trade for Johnny Hockey. Skinner scored 40 goals with Eichel. He even scored goals last season with Johansson and Sobotka until Sobotka was injured. Also, we still need to draw prospects, and it would be foolish to trade Jokiharju, because he already has the potential of defender #2 and will be paired with Dahlin for the next 10-15 years.

i mean i understand JG is really good but how could you argue with this return for him? JG for mcdavid 50% retained would be more likely fair?

Ok, but if you think the proposed deal is a crazy overpayment by BUF then you are undervaluing Flames players by a mile.

Kinda seems like an overpay by BUF. Don't they need centers and not wingers anyways? you could probably pry Cierreli out of Tampa for less than this

Mojo was a disaster at center last year that was this teams single biggest issue we put him back at wing and he was a productive player again, but have no interest in seeing him play 2C or even 3C for that matter

they need brain surgery but only have band aids and peroxide

Hold up, that offer is actually pretty solid. I'm personally as high on Jokiharju as I am on Valimaki.

I think this trade is in the ballpark. The Hall trade from NJ to ARI is a good comp -- he was traded in the final year of his deal, so there is a big term differential there that seems to be balanced out in this deal. Johnny would love to play with Eichel for the next two years before signing a bigger ticket...who wouldn't? I'd probably run the top 2 lines like this after the trade:

Gaudreau - Eichel - Skinner
Oloffson - Cozens - Reinhart

Skinner is already signed -- might as well play him with guys who can get him back to 40G. He has the skill to do it.

Interesting deal, nice work.

Sabres decline

Skinner will most likely rebound and play a similar game that he did in Carolina, especially is Ralph figures out he is best next to Eichel.

hopefully. i like skinner

I would definitely run Gaudreau on a different line from Eichel, let each drive a line so you can spread the offensive pressure. Same way Drai and McDavid dont play on the same line anymore. Or Kane and Toews

Laughed out loud - one of the best rebuttals I have seen on this site in ages!

I hear what you're saying. And we have seen that strategy work. But I look at a line like Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak, or Landeskog - Mackinnon - Rantanen...and those are the types of lines that can single-handedly win games. I think the best play for Eichel and for the BUF locker room would be to give Eichel every chance to put up 40G and 100+ points. And if you can get another 30-40G out of Skinner on that line because of Gaudreau's playmaking ability....well now you're looking at a line that has the skill and ability to score 100+ goals together. And then you follow it up with a 2nd line that can score quite a bit (Oloffson - Cozens - Reinhart).

IF -- and it's obviously a purely hypothetical 'if' in this post -- BUF was able to acquire Gaudreau, I just don't see him being used most effectively with Reinhart/Cozens/Oloffson (some combination of these guys).

Eichel would be the most elite player than Gaudreau has ever played on a line with. Eichel's speed, hands, creativity, and shot create a lot of space on the ice, and that probably makes Gaudreau even more lethal than he's been in Calgary with Monahan, who isn't known for his speed. The other factor here is that if a team pays the steep price to acquire Gaudreau, they will certainly be doing it with the mindset of trying to extend him. Related: Tavares was sold on joining Toronto largely because of the "you'll have Mitch Marner stapled to your wing" spiel (or at least that's a key part of the stories told in the media). I think BUF would have a really good chance of extending Gaudreau if the plan was to play him with Eichel consistently.

Just my two pennies.