Devils decline.
No reason to acquire Dunn while we still have Butcher.

MTL takes that, Blais could play 3LW or 4LW

Have a feeling Butcher won't be around long. Devils will upgrade if the opportunity comes.

Maybe. Butcher is candidate for Seattle or could be moved elsewhere.
But I think we are better off with Wood and Butcher than with just Dunn.

Probably are, but not sure how they see themselves. If they see themselves being competitive, then they'll stay the course. If they want to capitalize and build up young defense, then they should.

NJD want more defense...
Smith and Severson in top-4. Subban there for next year.
Siegenthaler, Butcher likely 3rd pair guys. And Butcher has one year.

Hope to get one future top-4 in draft.
Maybe one or two emerge from our pipeline (Bahl, Mukhamadullin, Edwards, Walsh, Okhotyuk, McCarthy, Vukojevich, Misyul...probably in that order)
And add one via trade...perhaps taking advantage of expansion draft or flat cap.

There are have plenty of offers of d-man for Wood. Dunn is a fine offer and totally fair.
Just not the type of player we are looking for.
We want puck-moving RHD (to ultimately replace Subban) and defensive/two-way LD.
Both young (age 25 or younger) and both physical players.

I like the concept of moving on from Sanford and Scandella, if possible. I understand the appeal of Wood on that line with RT and JK but personally I'd like to keep Dunn (and therefore Blais) if they can manage it through the expansion. I think the next 6 yrs of Dunn (maybe a 4m x 6?) should be considered more important than the next 6 yrs of Krug at 6.5m. Also not sure if Seattle would even take Krug or Faulk if left exposed, but I wouldn't mind finding out.

The Ceulemans pick would be a good one, and they really need good ones. The nice thing about your roster here is the cap space. Could make some opportunistic, short, low-risk signings a la Hoffman last season; or could take a bad contract to get a sweetener. Although I don't know how big of a market there is for a guy like Scandella for exactly those reasons - cap is tight around the league.

Appreciate the input. I would rather move on from one of Krug or Faulk, but don't see it happening, unfortunately. And Dunn is the one who is the odd man out. Columbus has the cap room to take on Scandella, but it depends on how Jarmo values him. I think Kyrou and Thomas need someone like Wood who has the speed and toughness to crash the net. Blues also need to give Kyrou and Thomas more time. Those two were developing great chemistry and Berube changed lines. I'm not sold on Blais though. I wouldn't mind trying out Kostin next to RT and JK though.

Dunn is a two-way LD with higher offensive ability than defensive, but understand the need for a RHD (I assume if Devils get a top 2 pick they pick Clarke over Power). Unfortunately, Blues lack RHD that meets the Devils's needs since Blues have a shortage themselves.

In the draft...one of Hughes, Power, or Clarke I believe.
Two-out-of-three chance at Devils sibling, I suppose.
I have seen a lot of Hughes, some Power and only a few international games with Clarke. I don’t have a favorite.

If Devils were to make Dunn trade before expansion draft (so before roster freeze in July 17), it would likely be a pick-only return. Without knowing who Seattle takes, what other trades emerge, I wouldn’t move a forward for him. Also Devils can probably leave Subban exposed and protect another d-man.

Don't expect Devils to protect Subban anyway. Even if Devils lose, all that does is open a ton of cap to make some moves if they want to sign RNH or someone else. I would almost bet on Clarke simply for the purpose you stated, they need RHD who can move the puck and play defense. Severson is not a number 1 or 2 guy on any competitive team though a good number 3/4.

I think Severson played like a top-pair guy this year, especially in beginning of season.
There are some Devils fans who look at his point production (~32 pts/82) and say, "sell him"...but he is much more than that.
And one of the reasons Kulikov and Murray played well here...both thrived when partnered with Severson.
(Severson's advanced stats put him as clear #1)
So for us, he is our #1...probably a #2 or #3 on competitive team...but our #1.

Clarke plays very similar to Subban. Some unorthodox movements. Likes the home-run pass. Can shoot. Takes risks.
Definitely a good fit.