I know it's not sexy but for Unknown Player C, maybe Luke Schenn can be a piece coming back in the trade for Miller. He's cheap ($850,000), right handed and coming off a season of 66 GP while finishing +15. He also averaged more ice time than he has in the last 6 seasons. Any Vancouver fans wants to weigh in on the pros/cons of Schenn?

I am very high on schenn but can he play second pairing? Would this be too weak of a d-core? Perhaps we get schenn to play with matheson and sign subban to play with POJ?

I know that you can spread over the talent over your 3 pairings. Look at tampa: top 3 dmen are all on different pairings (Hedman, sergachev, mcdonaugh)

Detroit accepts.

Nylander will not survive being put through waivers so will have to be given one of the spots on the roster.

True. this was something I considered

No reason for Ducks to take 5.5m Zucker

You guys need to hit the cap floor.

There is also no reason for you guys not to do this. He would play in your top 6 and be a solid player if healthy. His health is a risk and is why we are trading him but it’s a risk that you guys can take.

arizona and anaheim are both teams that are primed to take on Zucker to meet cap floor. mid season that pairing of him, e-rod and kapanen was a very good line. i wouldn't be surprised if he and kapanens rfa rights aren't traded to anaheim

especially anaheim who is trying to start competing without over committing to long term contracts. Zucker would be a great rental for them instead of paying some guy 6X6 in FA

Really would love this top 6.

Couple points: Zucker has a NTC that would no doubt include Anaheim and Arizona. McGinn should try to be moved at all costs. He was not good at any point during the season. And putting DOC/Zohorna in his place saves $2mil. Trade him for a washing machine lol.

To fill in the unknown's; maybe Manson, DOC, and Heinen?

I agree with everything you said. Maybe zucker would waive for a bigger role and a change of scenery? If not the buyout would be an option.

I don’t think mcginn will be traded that’s why I left him

I agree - I don't think he will be traded either. That's just my wish. If I was going for what I think would happen I would leave him as well.

I guess I never thought about taking into account Zucker being a nice guy and waiving the clause haha. I'm pretty sure he is from LA so that may help as well. Buyout is always an option. Personally I would rather bite the bullet and keep him for one year than buying him out.

I could see a world where we keep him and pay Vancouver extra to retain on Miller. If everything goes well zucker could be a beast on the 3rd line

Here are some options I like:

3rd line:
- Anthanasiou
- Vatrano
- Nichushkin (could play second line then slide Rakell to third or first/alternate to see who has chemistry)
- Reilly Smith
- Marchment

4th line:
- Deslaurias
- One of our guys (O'Conner, Puustinen, Poulin)
- ZAR (not the biggest fan offensively but Bluger plays better with him)

2nd D:
- Zadorov
- Manson
- Subban (more 3rd line)

I would personally try to move McGinn, although I see where your coming from. I think we could cut back the spending a lot having Bluger play 3rd line, and O'Conner center the 4th line (his stats are great at center). McGinn, while not bad, is just too much to pay a 4th liner I think.

I know he has the kings as a team he's willing to go to, so i wouldn't be surprised if he'd allow a trade to anaheim.

He has a 10 team NTC, so that probably covers the 7 Canadian teams, then likely a bit of a crapshoot from there. Could include Philly, NJ, Detroit, Anaheim or Arizona. So it's not completely far fetched to think he could be moved to Anaheim.

A healthy Zucker on the 3rd line would be great I agree. He plays hard, he plays fast, and still has skill. It's not that he's a bad player, just overpaid - especially given the injuries.

Is that public knowledge? If so, we should make that trade yesterday haha

You think he would automatically veto the Canadian teams? Especially considering how good 3 of them were last year? I would be very happy if that's the case

He is from the LA area, so I would guess all the Cali teams would not be on his NTC

Looks like I need to dive back in and make a new team lol

Zucker when healthy is a great 3rd line winger, the issue is his production/ability to stay healthy isn't 5.5 mill worthy which i think we all agree. if zuck's was making 3 million this discussion doesn't exist.

exactly. I am a huge fan of him and I would love to see him succeed in Pitt but he just has to stay healthy and IDK if that is a risk we can afford to take

From what I have seen with Zucker is that it's not exactly about whether or not he is going to a good team. He is more focused on his family (which includes his step children). It's the step children that create the biggest issue because their father has visitation rights. I just figured that if this is a concern of his, he would be less likely to want to spend half the season in Canada. I guess Toronto and Montreal are both relatively close to Minnesota, but Toronto have zero cap space for Zucker and Montreal is definitely on his no trade list.