Calgary can't extend Meier. While he would probably fit the Flames playstyle they are at max paying rental price for him and that will probably be beaten by an out of division team that can extend him

Sabres dont need anything in that trade, and Girgensons is a captain so I dont see why they do that

Sabres won't be sellers at this season`s deadline

If we get Meier 50% retained, that’d work for this year and then we either Trade his rights in the off-season or better yet, if he’s a good fit, move Hanifin or Backlund and use their Cap Savings for Meier. I see him signing long term for somewhere between $7.85-8.25mil/yr. He won’t get his $10mil QO but SJ might just sign and keep him for that

That’s an over pay for Girgensons and BUF fans will say they don’t need an LD

I’d rather send a 3rd or 4th for Hinostroza 50% retained and take a gamble on him rather than Girgensons

Then again, I’d rather sign Free Agent Alex Chiasson for $750k and pay no acquisition cost

Not sure what SJ does with 25yr old Kylington because if they're trading away Meier they're obviously not trying to compete and Kylington is actually good. You should be sending SJ just prospects, picks, and nearly useless cap dumps (to make the math work) and not any good NHLers that would go to waste

Moving Backlund? We have decent center depth for the first time since 89 and you want to throw that away? And moving Hanifin, especially if Kylington is part of the trade is an instant non-starter.

This isn't 2K man.

Yep, exactly this.

He's not a pure rental at all because he's got asset value beyond this year no matter what. Even if you have to flip him, which you shouldn't need to. Timo Meier is a player you make room for. Paying Nikita Zadorov $3.75M to play on your third pair is a luxury, not a necessity. Timo Meier is a more important piece than Tyler Toffoli. Not ideal to move Backlund, but again---Timo Meier would be more important than your 34 year old 3rd C (I say this as a huge Backlund fan). There are ways to do it without moving Hanifin I think, but also have to keep in mind he's got a big raise coming up the following summer. At that point maybe Kylington has taken some more steps as well and can step into that spot for cheaper.

But Meier is not a pure rental. And next year's cap should not be any reason you don't make that trade if he becomes available, especially if SJ is willing to eat money this year.

Backlund will be 34 years old and is a 3C.

Yes, if the choice was between Meier and Backlund, you choose Meier every single time.

If the cap goes up $4M as it was reported it might, you may have options to make it work that don't involve Backlund. But wanting to keep Backlund is not on its own a good enough reason to turn down a Meier trade.