Detroit passes.

Not giving up Lindstrom and a 3rd for a one year rental who doesn't even fit our rebuild timeline in Lars Ellers.

Technically you can re-sign him. Knowing that DET needs a C the value imo is there, even if it's not exactly your most common move from a team in mid of a retool.

Sure we could resign him, But he'd be 34 years towards the tail end of his career. I would much rather have a much younger 2C than Ellers like A Copp, R Strome or V Trocheck than Ellers.

I think the Isles pursue other moves if this is the best Washington has to offer. Orlov beefs up their LD2, but they're downgrading in goal, giving up their most NHL-ready D prospect, trading down in this year's first and giving up a conditional 1st next year. They could get 80% of the player that Orlov for a fraction of the cost by throwing a 3rd at Boston for Mike Reilly and then move Varlamov somewhere else for more of a return.

At 2C? Yeah definitely. Eller's more of a 3C anyway.

I think you're slightly downgrading Orlov here.

He's probably WSH's best overall D-man and would likely slot in the first pair in 10-15 teams in the league. He'd be an amazing partner for Dobson.

Plus Lamoriello likes his vets.

As of now Joe Veleno is our 3C, So Ellers isn't a need.

Rebuild with teams in rebuild , minus Carolina, smart. Sellers is not a player teams in rebuild.are lining up to sign. Wings have 3rd and 4th center positions covered, they need a 2nd line center, and Eller is not that at this stage of his career.

Jensen was here and wanted to be traded so it makes sense to trade assets for him.

I find it funny trams are trying to trade with teams in rebuilds and expect assets for players that do not fit their rebuilds.

It's not necessarily a deal I'd hate, but I think it's a biiiiig price to pay. If you take out Salo or just drop that conditional pick further down the ladder, I think my eyes would bug out a little less.

Actually Sens have come out and said they're willing to trade picks to get better (or at least the 7th overall but I think it applies to other picks too, would be pretty dumb if it didn't). They're looking to get into playoffs and they need a 2nd pair RHD for that purpose.

Orlov is also 30. Islanders are already old. If this is the package given up, I would hope the Islanders were getting someone who is 24-28 years old.

While understandable, it's not honestly that major package if you think about it. 7 pick drop in 2020, potentially only a 2023 2nd and a fringe NHL D for now. And a 2G goalie swap.

And if they don't make the playoffs you are still getting an early 2nd-round pick. Which still has some good value. Salo is gonna be their 3rd line LD this season. Salo is probably our only prospect at the moment that is NHL ready and he fills a need at LD on the 3rd pair.

I don't know I just feel like the Islanders will have other options that won't cost a better goalie, a move back in the draft, a NHL ready prospect, and another potential 1st rounder for 30-year-old LD and a goalie who has been average the past few years. For example a guy like Brian Dumoulin, he is cheaper and the same age, yes he is less offensive but it would cost the Islander a 2nd maybe less

Send Ovi to Pitt, we will take him sid will help him break gretzkys record

Lol

That's fair, but I do think Orlov is better than Dumoulin.

Any ideas as to what kind of tweaking can be done for the conditional pick?

Why in the world would Detroit trade a solid 23yr old Dman and a 3rd for 1 season of a 33yr old center. Considering Eller's production was slightly lower than Suter who is the center we are trying to replace. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Wings pass not close..eller I'd a cap dump to wings and washing pays to dump him. Or can trade him to a contender where he has value. This is a silly trade all day

I think there's been a current of Varlamov for Vanecek deals around here lately and value seems to settle around Washington adding a little (talking a 3rd/4th rounder) with that pick getting better with the Isles retaining. Their numbers were about even this season, but Varlamov has the track record behind him - especially when it comes to playoff success.

That makes the back half of the deal Orlov for Salo/pick swap/conditional 1st. I think that's a bit much - if you took out Salo and downgraded that pick, I think it evens out. The deal is basically cap-neutral so I can't see any team needing to do anything to make up for it there, but I think that Lou is going to do his damndest to wring every drop of value out of a deal that sends a starting/1B-type goalie to a divisional rival.

I really don't get stripping out the Caps middle six and shutdown pairing, replacing them with prospects and low-end free agents, but at the same time getting a veteran goalie on an expiring contract? Everything besides Varlamov looks like a full-on rebuild (especially leaving 16M in cap room on a team that's spent to the cap for as long as there's been one), so why add Varlamov to a torn-down shell of a roster?

Three reasons

- Creates cap for NYI to do the trade
- While there's a retool in place they still look to be somewhat competitive, they're basically a playoff hopeful
- Varlamov can be dealt further at the deadline if they miss the playoffs

That roster doesn't come close to sniffing the playoffs unless you're playing NHL 22 with line changes turned off. It'd be the cheapest roster in the league, 4 of the middle 6 are prospects with no NHL track record, and you replaced the shutdown pairing with guys who play 3rd pairing for actual playoff teams. That team might set a record for goals against in a season even if Varlamov stood on his head all year.

I think you're correct on that one, but honestly WSH is already far from a contender and they're only getting worse.

They will not reach further than a first round exit with their current core, and probably not even that with Bäckström potentially out.

I'd kickstart the eventual retool now when their assets still have value.

The Caps are slated to enter the offseason with 9M in cap room, 18 guys under contract, and no important UFAs or RFAs due significant raises. Backstrom and Hagelin likely spend next season on LTIR, which gets them to just under 21M in cap room. Trade Eller and Vanecek for picks, sign Samsonov for ~2.5M, call up Alexeyev to replace Schultz, and you end up with a little over 21M in cap space with this as your roster framework:

Ovie-Kuz-Wilson
Mantha-XXX-XXX
Sheary-McMichael-Oshie
Snively-Dowd-Hathaway
AJF

Fehervary-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
Alexeyev-TVR

XXX
Samsonov

Basically, the Caps are losing a *lot* of dead weight this summer, and Backstrom heading to LTIR is (sad as it is to say) an absolute godsend for this team. They could very easily go on a spending spree and land, say, Trocheck, Nichushkin, and Campbell to fill in the blanks with room to spare. They've also got a better system than people give them credit for, as well as most of their draft picks, so trading for a Schiefele or a Miller isn't off the table. I think it's honestly a pretty safe bet that the Caps are gonna be better next season than they were this one.