Benning was fired over a year ago

Sean Walker has not clearly fallen out of favor in LA. He's been solid since he came back from injury and has been very good over the past 2-3 weeks.

He's expendable because of the sheer number of NHL ready RHD that the Kings have, but that doesn't mean the Kings are going to give him away. If they learned anything from last year, it's that you need defensive depth in the playoffs to cover for injuries.

Islanders have $11,000,000 to sign 6 players, So no they can't afford Bo Horvat who will want between $8,000,000 to $9,000,000 per. And no they're not giving up Wahlstrom for a rental.

I can forgive him for not knowing, it’s basically the same exact management style anyways

Devils decline. Big rentals aren't on the table. If there was an extension in place, they'd accept easily.

I think Kuzmenko is going to cost a bit more than that for NJ to acquire him. I’d expect a prospect like Mook plus a 1st or maybe a conditional pick

Mukhamadullin plus 1st is probably how much a guy like Meier costs. Similar to Fiala price.

Kuzmenko should be far cheaper.

-Isles shouldn't be giving up their 1st in this year's draft - they haven't made a 1st round pick since 2019 and there's really not a ton of talent in that system for one of the older teams in the league. Horvat doesn't turn them from the bubble team they currently are into a legit Cup contender, so sacrificing that pick, one of your better young forwards (looked to be trending better this year before getting hurt), and a solid B-tier D prospect (for what it's worth, Scott Wheeler had him 3rd overall and the top D in the Isles' system in his rankings the other day) is a big price to pay. Horvat is also going to be a tough fit on an extension for a team that has $11.2M in space next year but needs to sign an NHL-caliber backup goalie and an RHD to replace the 20 minutes a night they get from Scott Mayfield. If you assume that Horvat signs for about $9M, that's going to make it incredibly difficult to add those pieces.

-I like Schenn for Seattle, I think a 2nd's a little pricey for him but it's not outrageous. It's an interesting fit, I'd want them to wait til literally deadline day to make the deal to guarantee they're in solid playoff position before giving up the pick; as a team without a ton of depth, if I were Seattle I'd ask for whatever warm body you want to throw in with RFA rights to add a little AHL depth (talking Noah Juulsen or Guillaume Brisebois or someone like that who's not necessarily in your future plans.)

-I personally don't have a super high value on Kuzmenko - I just keep seeing that shooting percentage and I get worried that he's going to turn into a pumpkin soon. With that in mind, if I'm Tom Fitzgerald I'm pulling back Muk and offering Reilly Walsh instead - still a solid RHD prospect, and one who's closer to NHL ready, but who might not have the same ceiling. If you want a mid-rounder to make up the value difference, sure, take it - I think it'd be worth hedging that bet on Kuzmenko instead of giving up a recent 1st round RHD in Muk.

-I think Buffalo would pass on this - they've got a solid top 9 winger situation (Skinner/Tuch on line 1, Peterka/Quinn on line 2, Mittlestadt/Olofsson on line 3) so I don't know where Boeser and his $6.65M cap hit fit without moving someone out. And I don't want to speak for Buffalo fans, but I would think they've had their fill of Tyler Myers at this point.

-I think I would pick one or the other on these last two trades - see if LA takes Rathbone for Walker, or if Nashville would take him for Fabbro. I think either one is a pretty decent value, but I think doing both deals (in addition to whoever you got from NJ) is gonna cause a bit of pileup at RD now - you've got 4 RD2/3 types for three spots. I know there's value in depth, but I think at this point you're zeroing in on one lineup spot a little too much.

Kuzmenko’s value is his cap hit. Theres an extreme premium for it
And his underlyings have been very very good

Benning declines all deals lol.

No chance the isles touch this....We are not moving young players and picks.....Our 1st rounder is untradable

lmao should have been rutherford ... was reading an article about the press conference comparing the two and totally confused myself

All very fair points. I really don't see any good fit for Horvat at all, any team that has the assets doesn't need a top 6 C or doesn't have the space to sign him long term -- don't think its great in Long Island but its not great anywhere. I definitely wouldn't pay a 2nd for Schenn but I've seen people like Serevalli and Friedman throw that out enough that I feel like thats the reputation he has around the league. Kuzmenko's shooting percentage is through the roof but he's got fine underlyings and NJ really needs finishing, and ppg players do go for firsts. As for Muk I feel like either he or as you say Walsh has to be moved -- Hamilton and Nemec are ahead of them on the depth chart and Severson could definitely come back. I see a Kuzmenko type guy as a second option for them if they miss/pull out on Meier. Completely forgot Myers was in Buffalo and agree they probably don't want him back. For Boeser though I don't think its likely but could definitely see them thinking they could use a veteran guy to help take that next step and take advantage of their cap space, sort of like Seattle with Bjorkstrand this summer -- that second year is a big problem though. Agree that you probably only do one of the last two trades, but also think that VAN just really needs to be taking as many chances on guys as they possibly can. Not all are going to work out, but the only way you can truly be competitive in the NHL is by finding diamonds in the rough either through the draft or FA, and VAN should cast as wide a net as possible.