Joined: Jun. 2017
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I've wanted Gusev for a while now stemming back to when Vegas made him available. He'd be the perfect linemate for Kaprizov and they have shown chemistry during international play. That said the Devils will probably want a 1st for him and I don't think we'll be in a position to pay for a rental (and if we did it should be for a center). Only way it makes sense to me is a 3 way trade where Johansson is sent to another team for futures, Devils gets the future package, and the Wild get Gusev. 3 way trades don't happen often though so I wouldn't count on it.
Personally I'm just not sold on acquiring Danault. If he wants to come here through free agency, I'm all ears, but I just don't think it's a good idea to give up assets while he's a rental. Problem is we won't have the cap space to sign him this offseason unless we moved Dumba for futures and at that point I'd rather just wait another year when the free agent crop is way more enticing (Barkob, Zibanejad, Trocheck, and more). A sign and trade has been discussed before but again to make it work we'd have to ship out Dumba and frankly I wouldn't make that swap.
Colorado would probably want a prospect coming back in that deal. Bonino makes a lot of sense for them and I'm intrigued by Jost. Not sure which prospect though.
I do think this Philly trade makes some sense as I've said before, especially with the Fletcher connection. Not sure if Dumba could get all that quite yet but if he ends the season playing well then maybe Philly bites. I'd still rather get a Schmaltz/Dvorak or package Dumba for a legitimate 1C, but this is my favorite option where Dumba is moves for futures.