Trent frederic is playing awesome. That trade is an unmitigated disaster.

I understand trying to create cap space, but idk moving Freddy makes the team worse. And to only save 1mil? To me not worth it.

I don't mind trading Smith, but I would rather retain some salary (up to 500k) to obtain a mid pick rather than moving a mid pick with him. He's still a serviceable player on any teams bottom six and a smaller cap hit will entice more teams.

Sorry but no. Frederic has carved out his spot in the bottom six on this team and Smith is the 12/13th forward who will come through for this team at some point this year.

Guessing that team chemistry takes a hit as well. Lauko can play in the bottom 6 on next year's team but when push comes to shove does not have the experience to go where this team wants to go this year.

$1M right now could be up to $5M in cap space at the trade deadline. For a team with limited assets, having as much as cap space possible is really important.

I had the same thought at the beginning of the season and here we are. Going back to April last season, Smith has struggled a lot and hasn't really improved recently. Add the fact he has a back loaded contract and is owed $4.3M this year, is not playing up to his $3.1M cap hit and good teams are cap-strapped/bad teams with cap space don't want to get better, it will be hard to get any return if he doesn't get back to his old self soon. There's risk involved, I would play it safe and get a deal done as soon as possible as long as the Bruins don't need to pay to take his contract (or any of the $3M players)

What makes you believe Smith "will come through"? He's struggled since April last year, is 33yo when players tend to regress and has been used as 4th liner (which is a questionable role given his style of play) with two (Foligno and Nosek) forwards who are limited offensively and their deployment which has next to no offensive zone starts. There is a chance he bounces back but it's a risky situation and having a 13th F at $3.1M (not to add 35yo 4th liner Foligno at $3.8M) is an issue.

Unsure why Frederic should be a regular or even play on the 3rd line. Frederic is often the 11th/12th best forward, Smith has missed several games and Reilly was sent to the AHL. I'm pretty confident the chemistry will survive if 1-2 depth players are gone. Regardless, they will need to add later so this will (or should not) be the exact 23-man roster in April. Chemistry will be fine.

Integrating young players is really important for any team. Not only developing them and giving them the appropriate opportunity when they're ready but also cap-wise, you save money with players on ELC or near league minimum cap hits. Lauko is one of them and this doesn't mean he's a regular for the rest of the season. Re-evaluate consistently and as I said, they should add a forward so Lauko/Steen/Lysell/any F who plays will most likely have a chance and acquire a more established player at TDL.

It's been a decade since Krug/2013 but Clifton played well during the 2019 playoffs. Colton (TBL, 2021), Newhook, Byram (COL, 2022) are other exemples of young players stepping into the lineup and becoming regulars on championship teams. You can't have just a team of veterans. If you want someone to get experience, they have to play. Even when you're playing for the Cup.

If $1M right now could be $5M at the deadline, if they move only Smith they could have $15M at the deadline right? Doesn't that seem more than enough? Why do they need to also move Freddy if that's the case?

They will likely have injuries/callups between now and the trade deadline so it won't be as much as $15M even if they moved them both.