As @OldNYIfan has pointed out to me, Rakell is not a center and instead belongs on the wing.

Yeah Rakell can’t play centre, and he would get moved for a younger RD rather than someone of a similar age

Maybe not in ANA since they have Getzlaf and Henrique. In a different environment he could very well be a center.

I'm just happy we don't have to see all these stupid Brodin to Mtl/TO trades and watch the homers complain about how he's not that good. lol

Amen to that!

Can’t wait until something happens with Laine, whether it’s a contract extension or a trade. Finally get to hear those losers shut up lmfao. I hate listening to MTL/TO fans just saying the most insane sh*t while being serious. I never realized how bad their fans are until I saw all the TO and MTL fans on here.

@MNbassman

Has anybody checked his face-off percentage lately? I'm too old to know how to do that.

https://puckbase.com/stats/faceoff-percentage?team=ANA googled it and found this. According to this Rakell had a grand total of 13 faceoffs last year, off which he won 10 of them.

He really is a winger in Ducks. But that is because they prefer using Getzlaf and Henrique as their centers.

I just can't see Minnesota wanting a guy who averaged one faceoff every 6 games playing center for them.

I suppose you have a point

The trade deal I worked out last night with a Ducks fan was, Zuccarello and Boldy for Rakell and Backes. Which I think could work for both teams.

Rask gets bought out.

Rakell plays 2C or the wing doesn't matter which.

Ek either gets kicked back down to 3C or stays 2C.

Bjugstad moves to the wing.

Dumba and Staal get moved for one of Cirelli or Monahan who take over the 1C spot.

Sturm is our 4C.

Backes is our 13th forward.

Bjugstad and Backes combine for $8M off our books after next year.

I cant believe im saying this, but I don’t make that trade...no matter how badly i want Zucc gone. The Wild would pretty much be forced to give Rackell a long term deal starting with his 29 y/o season. His numbers already make his game appear like it’s declining (Anaheim fans?). My fear would be him becoming Zuccarello 2.0. Anaheim, imo, would be brilliant to move him now...and the Wild would be morons to give up youth to get him.

Lowkey I think neither team is doing this trade. ANA has so many C prospect in there (Zegras, Lundeström, Steel, Terry, Comtois, Morand, Groulx etc.) that Boldy isn't really in their interest in terms of need. Zuccarello is in no one's interest. Rakell and Backes can bring them a better return imo.

And @MNBassman explained why it doesn't really work for MIN either...

Um... Boldy's a LHS Winger. He's not a center. And has top six written all over him and fits in with their current crop of prospects age wise. I'm not exactly sure why you'd think they wouldn't want him?

Site shows him as a C but I digress.

Boldy would have to significantly more valuable than Rakell to justify the Backes for Zuccarello swap. Because I'm quite certain that any of the 31 teams in the league would prefer having one year of Backes over 4 years of Zuccarello.

I don't think that's the case though.

While that is true, Rakell is much younger, cheaper and hasn't dipped below 40 pts since 15-16. He's a third high-end option to play in our top six now alongside Fiala and Kaprizov giving us more and better scoring threats. Cutting down our re-tooling by 2-3 years, which is what it would take before we could likely ever see Boldy.

The Ducks are in a rebuild now and have no need or use for Rakell which is why he's available now and why Boldy is something they'd be interested in, Zuccarello's merely a placeholder.

If it doesn't work out you either let Rakell walk in FA or if your right his contract isn't going to cost us very much.

Zuccarello's point totals aren't too much of a drop from Rakell to justify that much drop in value. It's literally Zuccarello and Boldy for Rakell with Backes coming back merely for cap purposes. If it took some retention or another prospect like Menell or a player like Greenway or Donato I'd be fine with it.

In my initial talks I gave up a lot more than that, minus Boldy, and that offer was what he countered with. It seemed reasonable, so I went with it.

https://www.capfriendly.com/forums/thread/365102

Point totals are near, but the age and contract is a major issue.

In 2-3 years Boldy will be the MUCH better player and you would regret not being more patient...meanwhile, we would all start the countdown on the 3-4 years until Rackell’s new contract expires as Boldy is playing a significant role in the Ducks’ Cup run...wash, rinse, repeat...

Welp, my initial offer was Zuccarello ($2M retained), Greenway, Beckman and our 2021 2nd.

The objective here was to pick up Rakell, drop Zuccarello, all while keeping ahold of Dumba to make a play for Cirelli or Monahan. IE to cut down on OUR own retool, specifically in regards to 2-3 years.