Nashville declines even if you are in franchise mode on easy.

Nah, they accept. Versatile player, one of the best penalty killing forwards in the league, only owed $750k in salary. A solid depth player that boosts Nashville's special teams.

Oliver Bjorkstrand, who is better at hockey than Alex Kerfoot, was traded for a 3rd round pick and a 4th round pick. So no Nashville doesn’t accept lol.

well except for the fact that Bjorkstand:

a) Can't play center
b) Scored just 7 points more than Kerfoot
c) Is owed 21.75 million real dollars more than Kerfoot while being locked in to a large deal with another 4 years on it

Just some factors that might sway that trade "analysis"

-I don't see who Kerfoot moves out of Nashville's top 6 - he's not displacing anyone from Forsberg/Duchene/Granlund/Johansen/Nino/Tomasino, IMO. He's better than the guys in their bottom 6, sure, but I don't see them spending $3.5M of their $4M in remaining cap space *and* a 2nd rounder to upgrade their 3rd line when they could just as easily go sign a guy like Evan Rodrigues or Paul Stastny for a similar cap hit and keep the pick.

-Why is Vegas giving you a competent 25 year old bottom-6 winger with RFA rights in return for two guys who aren't and won't be NHL players?

-Sure, Holl's worth a 5th, I don't know if anyone bites at this point though.

Not to mention a +35 difference between Bjorkstrand and Kerfoot's +/- ratings. Being a defemsive liability isn't worth 7 points if you ask me.

Also, if they can lock Kerfoot up to a deal worth around $2-2.5M AAV, then they've got a bargain.

Bjorkstrand is fantastic and his plus minus was hurt by Columbus lol

Kerfoot is a Bottom 6, and one of the best penalty killing forwards in the league, something Nashville would be interested in, and is only owed $750K in salary. Not to mention they have his rights to extend him.

Vegas gives him up because they are in cap hell, and there's a reason Kolesar's electing for arbitration. What they get in return is two time cup winner Kyle Clifford (yes, was and still is an NHLer), and NHL ready Joey Anderson. Both at league minimum.

ok that doesn't change anything I just said. But I almost forgot about that plus minus, not that it's my favourite stat to go by, but you know something's wrong when its that bad. Sure you can say it was affected by Columbus, but it was also worse than that of his teammates on Columbus.

He’s a fantastic player. All the analytics models agree with the eye test.

ok I agree with that, but when you look at all factors considered (not even including +/- bc its not always great) he's not that much better than Kerfoot, who comes at a low financial risk, which makes him appealing. Bjorkstrand's value got hampered by the money that is owed to him. Kerfoot is owed 750k real dollars, for 7 fewer points, ability to play C, ability to PK, and solid analytics. That's why he'll net more, not because he's necessarily better.

-Nashville isn't a cap floor team so the fact that Kerfoot's salary is less than his cap hit isn't totally relevant. Again: why wouldn't they just sign Paul Stastny to a 1x$2.5Mish deal and keep their 2nd? Stastny kills penalties, can play on the PP, and scored more goals than Kerfoot did last year. Wouldn't you rather have him *and* your 2nd rounder than giving it up for the chance at a minimal upgrade with Kerfoot?

-The max I could see Kolesar getting in arb is $2M - he probably elected arbitration because his QO is only $788K and he deserves more than that, and this puts pressure on the Knights to make a deal with him. While it's obvious that Vegas needs to make some cap disappear, the downgrade between Kolesar and Clifford/Anderson is severe enough that saving the $1Mish in cap this deal gives them is a bad idea. Those dudes are 13th forwards at best and acting like they're assets any other team doesn't already have a half dozen of on their AHL roster is silly.

Because again, cheap salary, and contract rights in regards to Kerfoot. Not to mention youth, and an ability to lock him up long-term.

I'll upgrade Anderson to Hirovinen, but that's it. The Leafs could probably offer-sheet the guy, and the Knights would be handcuffed.

You actually can't offer sheet Kolesar with the roster you built here. You've given him a $1.25M contract and even if you emptied the rest of your cap space, the max you can give him is $1.44M. Vegas' GM would probably thank you for locking it in that low of a cap hit for him (Kolesar is rumored to be looking for $1.7-2M.)

That also ties into something else about the value on the Kerfoot trade - you *need* to move him out to run a full roster. His cap hit is $3.5M; you've signed Sonny Milano, ZAR, and PK Subban to $3.8M worth of contracts - if you don't move Kerfoot, you can't sign those guys, and you now have a 19 man roster with 11 forwards, 6 D, and 2 goalies. Every other GM in the league knows this and isn't going to do you a favor by taking Kerfoot off your hands. I can't see a team trading that high of a pick for a guy that you yourself agreed would be in their bottom 6.

They can’t accept without moving money out, and I doubt he’d cost a 2nd anyway. Trenin still has to be signed.

I think you underestimate Kerfoot's value. He's more than just a 3rd liner, but also a special teams stalwart.

Kerfoot for Trenin then? One for one.

Can’t say. You’d have to ask David Poile that one, but I think he’d like to have RFA Trenin over UFA Kerfoot

If he's so valuable, why aren't you keeping him on this Leafs team?

I'd much rather not lose him, but his cap hit hasn't aged well in the dead cap era. He's a piece we unfortunately need to lose in order to boost other aspects of the team.

And every other GM in the league also knows this is, which is why I don't see him fetching back a 2nd rounder from anyone. You're going to either trade him to a contender who's going to view his cap hit the same way you do and give you back a lower return, or you're going to ship him to a lottery team who's going to want to pay less so they hopefully gain by flipping him at the deadline (ie, trading a 4th for him over the summer and retaining money and getting a 2nd back at the deadline.)

It has nothing to do with his low salary and very little do with his production, it has everything to do with every other GM seeing you've got no cap space here and smelling blood. Just ask Vegas and Columbus what happens when you try and move a slightly-overpaid forward in this type of environment.