Bastian is not for sale. You'd have to massively overpay for anyone on the Devils.

Not moving Bastian

deeming a 4RW untouchable with a career high 16 points in 60 games is wild. But id prefer Thompson or is he untouchable too?

EDIT: How is Holtz gonna play? Palat? Bastian likely goes first and if not, after Boqvist. You arent taking out Wood and McLeod is a center. Youll have 14-15+ forwards. Bastian may hit waivers in a few weeks once Palat returns

If you know some Leafs fans are going to react to the trade, and if you truly mean he could go anywhere, why post it as a trade with TOR? You're inviting conflict.

because leafs fans have been known to overreact and be an... interesting fan base. Ive seen a handful of AGMs getting one of Martin/Clutter. And even if they dont want to, it is a trade that COULD happen. Same as the Clifford trade. This is what contending teams do at the TDL. I should not have to pamper an entire fan base to prevent myself from getting spammed. Like I say that to prevent conflict lolllll.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but continuing to post the trade with TOR knowing you're going to get spammed seems like you are looking for conflict.

Food for thought.

As a pens fan I think Martin would be a good 4th liner for us. Maybe move Dumo and Kapanen for Martin and a 2nd? Idk just throwing it out there

No one said Bastian is untouchable but it doesn't make sense to move him. Holtz will be sent to AHL because he's already not playing and Boqvist would be first on waivers if need be. Bastian isn't going anywhere. Have fun with Johnston and Martin

Bastian is very useful for us. We have plenty of other options before we end up with a regular on waivers.

Tyce Thompson probably gets a full season to prove his health

(And Liam O'Brien may be worst overall player in NHL today)

Maybe try: Brendan Lemieux, Jake Leschyshyn, Christian Fischer

Would love to have Cal Clutterbuck but that would be a long shot on the Leafs. Got any 5'9" 140 pound defensmen that Dubas could trade for?

-"Liam O'Brien" is just what they call a Ross Johnston in Arizona. If you loved Big Ross' "23 points in 121 career GP over parts of 6 seasons", you're going to *love* Liam's "11 pts in 83 GP over parts of 4 seasons"! And you get to give up a pick for him, too? Sign me up!!!

-Nathan Bastian is a fun player I like, sure, and he's playing well so far this season. But spending a 3rd rounder on a guy you're going to play 10-12 minutes a night on the 4th line is a weird use of that 3rd rounder (and that's ignoring the fact that Jersey probably doesn't trade him for that return.)

-Trent Frederic is not really a center, even if CF allows him to be described as such. Dude has taken 246 career faceoffs in 134 GP. Cizikas has taken 209 faceoffs this season alone. I know FO/FO% isn't a terribly useful metric, but at the same time you can't totally punt on it.

This 4th line is miles worse than even the diminished version of the B4LIH the Isles are currently running out, and even if you say all trades are accepted as is, the Isles are downgrading their 4th line, swapping 2024 3rds, and turning a 2024 4th & a 2023 5th into a 2024 6th & a 2024 7th. The cap savings are minimal, and there's really no reason to make these moves in my eyes.

Hughes, Hischier, Palat, Bratt, Zetterland, Wood, Tatar, Mercer, Sharangovich, Haula, McLeod. That is 11 without making any trades and no Boqvist. Holtz will not spend his entire season in the AHL. He is far too good and that would just destroy his development at this point.

The Devils will almost definitely be making a trade for another top forward. I really dont think that a 3rd rounder is some underpay considering that fact that he will likely hit FA if he is not traded/placed on waivers. That 3rd gives you another piece for depth or to add on to get a goalie, etc.

Also O'Brien has upside and is better than Martin lol. Also the problem with the 4th line is Cizikas, not the wingers. It is just that once Cizikas is gone, theyll both wanna leave too

Cizikas has an argument for being one of the worst centers in the NHL this season. He hasnt done anything since 18-19. Sure frederic may not be the answer but someone else is

get that its really for any team, but just because of the way our bottom 6 is constructed (they seem to be trying to do 3rd line scoring line, 4th line pure defence/matchups line), i'm not sure that there's really a role there for Clutterbuck. Maybe if that changes and we go for more of a tougher player for the playoffs though.

our lightest defenseman when healthy/regulars playing is 187 pounds. And that lightest defenceman is probably our best defensively (Brodie)

I don't see the word untouchable in either of those comments. You are expanding on the idea of "not for sale", which I think his point is we aren't actively shopping him. If you go into a pizzeria and say "I'd like to buy your oven for $1,000" they might say "It's not for sale"....if you walk in and offer $1m, suddenly it is for sale...

That all said, the Devils have no reason to trade Bastian, for a 3rd in this case. Honestly, maybe not even a 2nd when he simply fits the role they need and would need waste time finding a replacement for him.

I wasn't the biggest Bastian fan coming into this season, but he's valuable on both special teams and our 4th line is pretty consistent.

As to your Holtz question, Holtz wouldn't make sense on the 4th line, it's not the right fit. If Holtz sits out longer because Zetterlund won the spot, so beat it, let him cook otherwise.

That's actually a lie
His Faceoff Metrics alone put him in the top 40 in the NHL yearly
While his role may have adjusted like a Matt Cullen or a Steve Ott to Faceoff Center on the Bottom line or a Hard Hitting Gritty Center in Ott's case their value changed as did their pay to reflect that . Casey Cizikas isnt over paid he's making what he's worth and poses no real liablilty .

If you just looked at his offense and based your entire opinion off that then i could see why you're confused.
But you're ignoring the team he plays for the role its designed to play in conjunction with what they've given up to acquire and keep that line.
While Cizikas might go and cheap the line wont get blown up just 1/3 will get moved again like when they temporarily moved Matt Martin to TML before getting him back.
I think this time around Cizikias /JGP are safe as they take 80% of the teams faceoffs with Brock Nelson taking on 15-16% and the rest sparsley spread between a few others.
I just dont see how NYI moves Cizikas without getting Tavares or someone like that back for their top 6

I mean there's the real dream trade
TML wants Tavares and his cap cleared despite his solid play he's in Nylanders path to growth.
NYI gave Barzal the chance to stand alone and in every regard but faceoffs he succeeded.
That said Faceoffs dont got to be an issue with Tavares back nor does secondary scoring.

NYI have piece TML need
TML has their former Captain
Maybe involve a 3rd team like MTL who will overpay for a Beavillier to make it happen cheaper.

Boqvist sits for Palat, but Palat is many weeks away. Bastian has been excellent so far this season, it would cost much more than that to take him. Even if he sits, there's no reason to sell him. What if someone else goes down?

Agree with your Cizikas trade, vehemently disagree with the last part. If there's a bridge that's been more fully torched than that one, I'd be surprised. Beyond that, though, the Islanders would be looking more for help on the wings, not on the dot.

Cizikas has the 2nd lowest WAR among all centers, bottom 5 for forwards. He has an argument for being one of the worst. I dont care about faceoffs when we have 4-5 centers on the roster. Pageau is the powerplay and crunch time guy. Cizikas is useless

You're one injury away from worst in the league.
JGP is taking a ridiculous amount of draws at a ridiculous win rate.
Take him out of the equation and Nelson and Ciazkis couldnt handle half that total


Your issue isnt wing i find as you are 1 inury from being introuble

1st line Barzal average's 35% on 110 draws for worst on the team
2nd line Nelson to make 1 middle 6 Center 48% on 240 draws for BN
3rd line JGP 58% on 329 draws for one of the NHL's best faceoff Center
4th line Cizikas 55% on 209 draws largely all Defensive Draws which are much higher to maintain a high winrate at

You take out JGP and NYI crumble.
You need a Oreilly,Tavares or hell even Dvorak works in a pinch although he's just be a bigger version of JGP in the role he plays but much cheaper longterm.
That type of player brings NYI from the SJS level 2005-2015 of "Atleast you tried "despite being favored yearly always got spanked by actual contenders

Personally if it was me i'd be looking hard at William Karlsson
You could Leverage Cizikas term and cap against a term that's given away
Reigning Vezina Trophy winner and a nearly Point Per Game forwards 2 straight years to remain cap compliant.
Who knows what they would give up to swap those 2 players

Karlsson would be an upgrade on Cizikas and because of the cap relief VGK will likely give up something good like they did to MTL to clear cap for Pacioretty by taking Tatar.

I guarantee you WAR is about as likely for a GM to base a trade on alone as +/-
Sure it factors in and has more value then +/- to a degree but is impacted by the Coach and Team directly.
I mean i remember Staals WAR was absolute garbage the year he took us to the SCF with his line only behind Toffoli-Suzuk-Caufield.
Staal and Perry clicked and boom suddenly Staal was playing at a level his WAR suggested was impossible

Context matters if you're using stats like these.
Who's to say Cizikas doesnt leave and find a similar situation .

While i get what you're saying im unlikely to base my opinon of a player on any single stat.
Impact long term is deffinately one factor coupled with most of the past 5 years if you type in "Best 4th lines in NHL" Cizikas line is atleast mentioned if not ranked.