I take it you are comfortable with what we have at LD?

Yeah I mean this would be keeping Husso so if the Blues wanted to go another route it’ll be for sure getting a 2LD, even though Perunovich will at some point enter the Top 4 and I don’t want to block him for doing so.

The Ducks aren't trading Comtois for a 26 year-old pending UFA and a salary dump. Hard pass on that.

What’s his value? I’ve seen posts where he is returning 3rd and 6th

Very rarely do you see any Ducks fan want to trade him for any price. Him being available is made up in my opinion. He's simply a young guy that took a small step back after having an unexpectedly good season early in his career. There is zero reason to think he won't pick right back up next season and get back on track.

This isn't an exact comparable so don't take it as such, but would you as a Blues fan have wanted to trade Robert Tomas after the 20/21 season? He was chugging along for 2 years building up his offensive numbers and then in 20/21 played 33 games for 12 points. Oh what a bust! :-)

Fair enough.

heard rumors that Comtois is indeed available, in the Necas/Gurianov mode - team willing to move on a young underperforming almost-but-not-quite former bluechipper either in a change of scenery trade for a similar one, or as part of a bigger package to net a potential difference-maker.

No I get the point for sure, if I’m being honest I don’t think he reaches his potential on a team like ANA right now. Next year, ANA (presumably) will be bottom 3 in the pacific again. I don’t think they’ll make an impact and push for the playoffs until some of the younger guys have a little more experience under their belt. The veterans on the team aren’t even good, so it’s hard for them to compete. Gibson would purely be a future move too. With all that being said, Comtois doesn’t have the right guys around him in ANA to reach that potential. With your point, Thomas played this year with Buchnevich and Tarasenko, which helps a lot to learn from the veterans to reach that potential. Comtois, like Thomas, will have a better time reaching that potential with the right players around him.

Yeah, my idea here was that Barbashev going to Anaheim would be that difference-maker. He’s 27 when the contract expires, not young, but not old. Resigning in Anaheim for a long term contract would then give Anaheim a guy who has been in the playoffs, who’s put up 60 points, who is a good forechecker, and probably a good leader for some young players.

don't think barbashev is at the age-potential calibre of player ana would be looking for if they were to move comtois, even w/o taking scandella's contract into consideration. but all speculation of course.

Yeah, at the end of the day these posts are purely “what-if” but that’s fair. I really hope the Ducks don’t ship off Gibson to COL or TOR. I’m hoping for devils if he moves at all

Sure, he's only 27 and the age isn't the red flag part of this conversation about him. The fact that he is unrestricted at 27 is the massive problem. There is nothing stopping him from signing a big deal with a much better team leaving the Ducks high and dry. *Maybe* he likes Anaheim enough to re-sign there but do the Ducks really take that chance?

Regarding Comtois being available or not all I can say is we'll see.

col has a pretty firm goalie price frame, and gibson doesn't fit it w/o retention, and they need to save assets for a top 6fwd .... think njd for gibson more likely. think col will let kuemper walk if he wants 6, and sign MAF shorterm or trade for Varlamov or some such. could see edm trade for blackwood if smith retires/ltirs ... dunno on tor, could see buf giving campbell a lot of money (tho not more than 4yr term) ...

Too early to be making a statement like that, there's a whole lot of off season left for rosters of every team to change. I'm quite interested in whether or not VAN blows it up completely, just a bit, or not at all. LAK is another wild card. They achieved more than expected last season - does that trend continue or do they fall back? I'd bet continues but lets not pretend that's a lock. VGK management is a dumpster fire. I'm not slotting them any where in the standings until I see the roster they find a way to fit under the cap.

Yeah good points for sure. I just assume that Anaheim is not gonna be in the playoff conversation, they actually started pretty well and ultimately fell off when they decided to sell off some guys. The Pacific is a mess tbh. Like you said, Vancouver is either selling everything or not. Vegas needs to figure out management and their cap situation. LA seems like a decent team but who knows how they’ll play next year. Anaheim could make some moves, but I’ve mostly seen just them getting to the cap floor and holding out a bit longer. Calgary and Edmonton are fighting the cap space too trying to just put a team together to compete for 4 rounds. Seattle is just happy to be here. If I had to make a prediction to where I think things will go, I think Calgary, Edmonton, Vegas, and LA finish in the top half of that division, but like you said anything can happen this off-season and next year.

Yeah, I think COL either ends up with Kuemper or Varly. Fleury will stay in Minnesota. Edmonton will need a cheaper goalie, so I think Blackwood fits the bill and he shouldn’t cost a lot, Devils should be fit for Gibson and they will pay well for him too as they are trying to speed up their return to the playoffs. I think the Devils sign someone like Burakovsky or Palat and make a serious attempt to make the playoffs. I hope the Blues can sign Husso to a one-year deal. It sounds like the Blues are pushing hard for that too.

Definitely a “we’ll see situation.” I think for a deal to be made, Barbashev would almost need a deal in place with the trade partner to keep his value. I remember when the Blues acquired Faulk they already had a deal in place for when his contract was expiring.

Quite a big difference between Faulk traded to the Stanley Cup Champion St Louis Blues and anyone getting traded to a Ducks team in the middle of a rebuild.

Yeah more to say it’ll be a deal included before a tread happens if Barbashev goes anywhere