Sabres have their lineup set, an expensive middle stuff center isn't going to help

Drouin has actually looked good in the pre-season.

Why ship him away for nothing? salary retention should yield you something, a 2nd or a 3rd at the very least.

Vegas isn't moving Martinez, they're fine cap-wise once $14M of LTIR in Patrick, Weber, Lehner come off the books, then ship 2 forwards and 1 D to the minors. They're big issue is, they need a goalie unless relying on Thompson to be ready for a full NHL season.

Vegas doesn't need to trade Martinez. We have 3-4 million in space with Lehner, Weber, and Patrick on LTIR. Brossoit probably gets traded down the line, maybe to a team needing a backup goalie. That'll open up 2 million more in cap space

I maybe a Leafs fan, but Drouin actually has some value in the market. Still a 50 point winger (maybe more once he escape the fishbowl), and still oy 26. With retention involved and a typical Drouin season, landing a 2024 1st in a sign and trade isn't out of the realm of possibility. Moving him is a TDL move, and definitely not a cap dump.

Dvorak also has positive value. Yeah, he is a more expensive middle 6 forward, but his defensive game is well above average, and can produce 40 points, giver ot take. If Lehkonen can land what he did, Dvorak and a solid prospect and a mid round pick under the right circumstances - cap certainty plays a roll there.

That Vegas deal is laughable.

Martinez is by no means a cap dump. Where his value may not be what it once was, no way Vegas moves a first just to move him. He is prime TDL trade material if they fall out..... vet D with 2 Cups will fetch a decent return.

Idk about that
Dvorak is the one guy i see on here that keeps being sent to us that makes sense
He can fill the “defensive center” role for us

As of now, we have Asplund & Girgs rotating in that spot, but we’ve preferred both on the wing over the last few years
If we preferred Cody Eakin over them in that role,
it’s logical to think that we could prefer Dvorak in that role as well

Not that it will happen,
but it at least makes some possible sense

He’s good at faceoffs too, which is something we lack

My biggest concern with Drouin is the logn factor. Teams may be hesitant to move on him knowing he has the potential to go out of the lineup at any given time. While yes he's a very good player, the value he has given that factor puts his value way down. Retention of his salary isn't an issue since it's for the current year only, plus if he does well and stays in the line-up they may even flip him again to a potential contender for another retention of salary making him a bargain at 1/4 price for any cup contender that may need a winger.

Habs can take the chance to keep him on board, and flip him themselves, but at some point his mental health in MTL is an issue, so why stress him out for the current year if you can move him now and get cap space. You never know if another team could potentially want to move a player at trade deadline and give back a few picks at the same time to get a bigger fish on their team.

As for Martinez I'm not overly concerned about cap compliance now, but more next year also. If they can move him now and get compliant, they can start looking to sign RFAs long term before their value explodes if they have a good year come summer time.

But yeah.. It was more of a "what if" move for him..

Martinez is an excellent Dman. His injury was a big part Vegas missed the playoffs last year.

Well injuries hit Vegas worse than COVID last year.

Point is, Martinez is no camp dump lol. If Vegas is out at the TDL, he fetches something similar to Manson I would think. The 2 Cups offset the age factor most will roast me on when I say that lol

He is not as physical, but is way smarter and has some offensive upside. As a rental I would pony up for him if he is healthy.

IF Kent Hughes made that offer to Jason Karmanos, it would be hard to turn down.
Good FO center, career average of 0.5 pts/gm, he PK and PP.
Adding him to the roster would give Buffalo excellent forward depth.

Absolutely!

You pay to play! Lol

Major yikes. No chance were paying to move Martinez

I don't disagree with moving him now, but the point still remains, he has value beyond "future considerations"

His mental health will likely improve being out of the Montreal spotlight, so, I get the impression with his skillset, teams might be willing to take that chance of him being in or out of the lineup, ie, see my original 2nd or 3rd rd pick.

Vegas won't have to worry, cap is going up, Brossoit and Hill are off the books (with Lehner likely back next year, with Thompson), Patricks career is done, and Kessel is off the books, so, clearing $7.2M off the books, not having to re-sign any goalies, and maybe getting a bottom-6 forward or two, with the cap likely up $1-2M.

They'll be fine moving forward.