Who do you think PLD is McDavid? NO WAY Montreal gives up that return for someone not on McDavid's level.

Caufield + Primeau + 1st + Poehling ... too much
Maybe Caufield + Primeau is closer but again, the issue we have with the caphit won’t work ( I get Kulak and Armia combined are 4.4M, but they aren’t throw in )

IMO only 2 players are worth 4 1st's +++ and they are McDavid and MacKinnon.

What we are sending isn’t equal to 4 1st but it’s an overpaid for PLD

Is this a trade or a list of players cbj doesn’t want?

Yeah it’s probably an overpay but cbj will probably take caufield and poehling and the 1st and still need a centre.

Makes no sense to me.

Caufield 1st round pick
Poehling first round pick (maybe his value has dropped a bit to a early 2nd but still former 1st rounder 3 years removed)
Primeau value is at least a 1st round pick
2021 1st round pick

Armia 2nd or 3rd round pick
Kulak about a 4th or 5th
And a 3rd

If you factor Armia + Poehling = mid to late 1st

Agree with you, KK or Danault ( extend ) needs to be the center piece for a PLD trade

And personally even though they should be the center piece I wouldn't do it. PLD is great but like I said many times before he is only a slight upgrade over either of KK or Danault and KK could surpass him. But more importantly KK is cost controlled for 2 extra years and in a flat cap and recovery period we will need every advantage we can get to stay cap compliant.

Yup, think you give them danault, (cap and replacement) if he signs with them all the better, Caufield and a 1st or poehling and a 1st+ Will still need a bit of work for the cap. Maybe a retained Byron transfer in there.

Tofolli-pld-Gallagher
Drouin-Suzuki-Anderson
Tatar-kk-lehkonen

Is a solid top 9 no matter how you arrange it.

Slight upgrade on kk and danault? That’s a hot take.

What is his PPG average for his career? Right .675 Danault's is .515 but is way better defensively. So a decent upgrade on offense but a huge decrease on defense pretty much balances out their value. KK while he has not hit his stride as of yet still projects to be an elite 1A or 1B center (he is only 20 after all). Montreal knew when they drafted him that he would be a 3 or 4 year project and he had a really bad sophomore season but came back to the bubble and really showed he had improved his game and added muscle. He is also cost controlled for 2 more years than PLD which will be important while we progress through and transition from this pandemic and flat cap. Also having PLD looking for 8+ Mil at the same time Suzuki comes off his ELC would be horrible for the cap. Suzuki is already progressing to the level of PLD and if he continues to improve then he will be looking for the same or more money because he will have surpassed PLD. So like I said thanks but no thanks we don't need all of those headaches for only a slight upgrade.

What are you saying Danault extend + Caufield + is a no right there. PLD isn’t realistic to MTL IMO

I don't mind either of these trades. I would prefer to go Danault + Poehling + 2 1sts than Danault +Caufield + 1st as Caufield is exactly what this team is missing. Which is a true sniper. All that being said I don't think the fit is really there especially when you consider the cap implications of Suzuki and Dubois needing raises at the same time.

I have zero faith in caufield ever being a sniper at the nhl level. Marty St. Louis he is not. He’s got the shot but he doesn’t have the jam.

That’s why I said to move Byron as well. Yeh the cap is gonna suck.

See that 15m in the bottom 6? Kiss it good by. Welcome to being competitive.

Spoken like a true Leafs fan who thinks that a team needs 4 superstar forwards getting half the cap and splitting the other half between rookies or Elderly players on the decline is the recipe for a cup! Balance and depth are the keys. Look at Tampa, Washington, Pittsburgh, St Louis and the Avs. They had more depth and balance through their lineup than a top heavy lineup centered around 4 overpriced forwards. I am in no way comparing Montreal to any of these other teams we can only hope that Suzuki and Kotkaniemi reach the levels of some of those other teams stars. There is an uncanny resemblance between Edmonton, Buffalo and Toronto. They all have 4 or 5 top line players making too much money to allow the team to add a decent supporting cast. Look offense is great we all like to see goals and highlight reel plays but defense always has and always will win championships. Look at Tampa, St Louis, Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Washington they all had stellar team defense because they didn't overload the top 2 lines.

Lol... Washington Tampa Pittsburgh and Colorado are all built around stars.

Imagine saying that eichel rnh Mcdavid and Draisaitl make too much money.

MB tried to get Aho, Tavares, Panarin and failed. Stop acting like there is some higher purpose to the roster construction. You’re paying 10.5m to a goalie with a 5.00 gaa. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Pld in Montreal would be great. If you are butt hurt that you would need to give up Byron and some overpaid 30 point bottom 6 players that’s ridiculous.

They have stars yes but they balance their lineup with skilled depth rather than young players who need refining or older players in their decline. I did not say they were overpaid I said having that many players paid that much money hurts the ability to balance a roster properly. I also said that Montreal has good depth but no star player so we are on the other end of the spectrum. we do need add one or two to help balance our roster and take the next step for sure and paying guys like Edmundson, Byron and Weal to play that far down the lineup or 10.5 mil for Price and 7.8 Mil for Weber doesn't help our cause for sure. I was not trying to be insulting, (ok maybe I was a little cause I was offended by your first post) I was more trying to say that you need a balance of stars and support cast with skill to be considered a contender in my book. having 4 guys making half the cap even if they are not overpaid makes it almost impossible to balance the rest of the lineup.

My original thought was add pld, go cheaper with the depth. When you have those stars up front in this case it will be Suzuki and pld you are gonna want them on the ice for 45 of 60 minutes minimum. Leaving 15 min for your bottom 6. The Weber contract is holding strong for the time. Petry is an iffy contract but you certainly don’t want to let him walk. Price’s contract sucks. But if he gets into form it’s at least productive.

But if you are going to put together a competitive top 6 and top 4 and pay your starter 10.5m you have to budget elsewhere. That is bottom 6 and bottom pair for 15 min a game or less.

I agree with that. The issue for me though is the cost of having KK, Suzuki and Dubois on the roster in 4 years is going to be astronomical. and will force us to move players we really do not want to move.

All teams go through it. Chicago and Pittsburgh fans said the same things to leafs fans. Be ready to lose your favourite depth guys. I loved guys like kappy and Johnsson but it just won’t jive with the cap.

Leafs have built great cheap depth, a killer top 6 and a great defence. When you build a good team people will want to join and take a bit less. Montreal is getting close to that point. I think PLD puts them there and opens up options at TDL. Players will waive nmc/ntc to go to a contender.