I'd think Seattle would take McLeod over Merkley
Also think that's a mighty big contract for Mike Reilly
Rest looks good to me.

Deal

I would love this deal as a MIN fan. Def would accept.

Mike Reilly is good. Drives play offensively, and is pretty solid defensively. It might be a slight overpay, but not by much .

Yeah I assume their rankings would be:

McLeod Merkley Bastian

Curious to see NB protected over McLeod there ^

Yeah but McLeod will be protected over Nate
There's more skill with Mikey, I want to keep Bastian though. I think it's Merkley, or one of Butcher/PK whomever is not protected

mcleod is protected

Seems close on Vanecek. I'm not sure if Talvitie is the prospect to get it done.

More worried about term considering we have a lot of maybe-could be-type defensive prospects.
Am cool with the player.

Yes, McLeod > Bastian, Merkley

McLeod 100% should be protected over Johnsson and Bastian.
But above, he was not.
So I figured Seattle would have selected him.

Talvitie is a smart, crafty forward...was on pretty good path to useful bottom-6 two-way piece until injuries put him off track while at Penn State.
He still has a shot I suppose, but likely a depth player.

I don't hate it, I'd do it personally.

Right. Vanecek gets some interest on here from NJ, Buf, Tor, SJ, Edm, Col, and oddly one offer from Ari. So bidding could get up around a 2nd and a guy with top six potential, or a future top four RD, ideally. A few Tor fans are offering Liljegren and a 2nd, and if that comes through, I think WSH should be all over it, just based on their minor league depth chart.

This is the first build I've seen that leaves Vanecek unprotected in the expansion draft and defends him by exposing a recent 1st round pick elsewhere. Neat idea.

That is a price on Vanecek that NJD would not meet, so count us out.
We have our #1 in Blackwood, and two decent prospects in Schmid and Daws. And a ton of cap space.
So we are likely finding our #2 in UFA market.

Pretty low risk, but good potential to pay off. Zacha wasn’t even on my radar but I like the idea. He’s obviously not a 1C but had a very good year on FOs and put away 17. Interesting for sure.

I mean, there are more Toronto fans on this board than maybe fans of all the other teams, so if five Toronto fans want a trade, it still probably doesn't happen. late 2nd and a guy I've never heard of might get Vanecek. I'm just not sure how comfortable WSH is with losing Vanecek in expansion, vs getting a late 2nd and gambling on who else they lose. Probably depends who Francis says he wants.

Well, it will be hard to know what Francis wants until after the exemption lists are announced and protection lists submitted.
By then, everyone will be in roster freeze until expansion draft is complete.

Right. MacLellan has voiced some willingness to make a deal with Seattle as far as whom they pick, so that's probably a conversation that's already ongoing. If a good offer on Vanecek comes in before they finalize something, it could make things easier for MacLellan to get Francis to pick whoever he wants to see gone, but it's also possible that throwing in Vanecek in trade is the way to get rid of some guy MacLellan doesn't like? I don't know how this stuff really works.

I really don't understand fellow NJD fans fascination with McLeod. The only redeemable qualities he possesses are his skating and above average positioning, that does in no way make up for having the stiffest wrists on the team, the most mediocre of technical ability and no offensive instinct whatsoever.

I don't think he'll be anywhere near the meager point totals he put up this year. I only tend to keep him in my AGM's cus I want that 4th line intact, I quite like it, but let's not get carried away here. I hope I'm wrong but I see nothing that makes him anything more than a replacement level player.

Watch Fabian Zetterlund dunk on him next training camp.

Just to clarify, you are saying this wouldn't work as the deal would have to be made before expansion draft meaning that NJD would have to expose Vanecek if protecting Blackwood? If so, it's a big hole in my plans as Merkley certainly doesn't get picked over Vanecek. Is there any chance this deal might be done after the expansion draft or is NJD's leverage gone by then?

SLE could get picks to claim Quick, Allen, and Holtby because their teams could use the cap space. Khudobin could be exposed. Ari likely exposes a good goalie. It's quite likely SLE still takes McLeod or Merkley, even if NJ expose Vanecek.

If WSH exposes Vanecek, Dillon, Schultz, Dowd, Sheary, and Hagelin, who is SLE claiming? They're all very good players, but Vanecek is probably the best, the youngest, and the cheapest, so it's not close.

On the other hand, before expansion, Vanecek is drawing at least lowball offers on here from a half dozen teams. My favorite packages start with Liljegren and Timmins, because WSH could use an expansion-exempt RHD prospect, or just expansion-exempt prospects anywhere. They don't have a lot of highly rated prospects, for whatever that's worth.

Size, speed, reach, physicality, energy, shot, net front, penalty kill, only right shot center, plays PK....
McLeod brings a lot more to the table that Johnsson or Bastian.

If McLeod is supplanted by someone in our our pipeline, Zetterlund will not be that guy that would take his spot. Schnarr or Pytlik would be.