Quoting: Timmah007
I’m dead set against moving kass just because once you do your suddenly looking for another version of him and finding one that can skate and move like him easier said than done. Issue I’m seeing with him is he’s alot more effective and engaged in games given top six minutes and yam is the guy in between kinda making that a tough choice. In my opinion moving yam can open the window for some more effective overall line combos. Considering a big part of the issues upfront is a lack of depth shooters Lavoie is very quickly becoming off the table for me has size and excellent shot that we could use sooner rather than later.
I wholeheartedly disagree with pretty much every aspect of your post.
I'm not even remotely interested in adding another player "like Kassian". Do I appreciate the value physical players can bring? Absolutely and I'm a big proponent of it! However, physicality at the expense of any semblance of defensive ability isn't worth it. He's a defensive burden and is prone to FAR too many mistakes to a.) cut it in the bottom-6 and b.) be deserving of a top-6 spot. If the ONLY way he can "be engaged" is by playing top-6 minutes, he can get the hell out. Guys like Hyman, Foegele, and Holloway (when he makes it) are the kinds of 'physical' players I want: active, engaged, consistent, and multi-faceted players.
Despite his scoring flaws, Yamamoto is precisely the kind of guy this team needs more of. Not in physical dimensions, but in effort. He gives his all and, even when he's not scoring, he's contributing to the team by killing penalties, drawing penalties, and usually not getting outscored. Ideally, he'd be on a 3rd line. I refuse to trade away a skilled player like Yamo simply "because they don't score enough" when that's EXACTLY what we've needed in our bottom-6 for over a decade. The lack of scoring will even help keep his next contract cheap.
I have issues with Lavoie. The only quality of his game that I'd be prepared to call NHL-level is his shot; the rest of it is in need of substantial improvement. His skating is average at best, he's inconsistent, his defensive ability is lacking, and his off-puck positioning suggests he doesn't understand a shooter's role at the pro level. Not going to say he'll never become anything, but these constitute pretty big hurdles for him to overcome. In any case, I'm confident that he won't make the Oilers for at least 2 years. I'd happily trade that in for a low variance, established bottom-6 player any day.