Once again, Murphy's value is only rising, but your proposal seems to reflect the opposite. Huglen is not the least bit interesting.

Once again, a top 40 pick and more for a defensive only player like Murphy is pretty darn good value

"Defense only" is a little bit of a stretch, but yeah he is mostly defense first. Maybe you are right though, but I still don't think it gets done like this and I think CHI can do better with Murphy. You could also take Huglen out and this trade would have essentially the same value. Also, there is no guarantee that is a top 40 pick, PHI is pretty high in the standings for a non-playoff team.

Here's the thing w/ all of these Murphy and McCabe to Buffalo trades. Since both are signed for multiple years at reasonable cap hits, the Hawks don't have to trade either player this season unless they get offers they can't turn down. I'm of the opinion each of them could return a 1st, or if not, a 2nd and a good prospect.

This discussion has been had on multiple previous Sabres ACGM posts. I get that Sabres fans don't want to part w/ 1st rounders or their better prospects, but if the Sabres don't, some other team will. Or if not, Hawks just keep both players.

How about Bloom

Right now it would be 42nd and I suspect they move some guys

And yes, being on an 11 point pace following a 14 point pace season is almost the definition of defense only

Then keep them.

Sure. Points aren't everything, though. He contributes to offense a lot in ways that aren't reflected on a basic stats sheet, i.e. shutting down play and starting transitions back to offense, moving the puck up the ice, keeping pucks in the offensive zone and moving them into open space for offense to build off of, activating to draw players out of position, etc. There is a reason why he is so attractive to other teams, and his defense first style is a huge part of that. It is something a lot of teams are missing. Most "good" dmen would have absolutely awful goal differentials if they weren't always trying to score. I am of the opinion that dmen should play defense, and a "lack" of offense doesn't make them any less valuable.

Also, you can literally only have a 23 man roster. Having all of these players and prospects in your system does nothing if you can't put them on NHL ice.

Blocked shots.

Blocked shots.

How much was DeBrincat worth on this forum last year ?

A prospect and two 1sts was the general going rate. But, CHI did get a 7th overall pick, which is worth a hell of a lot more than the late 1sts most people were offering for Cat last year. That is something a lot of people seem to overlook. Not all 1sts are created equal.

But that was at the draft, weak draft. This one is stacked, with generation talent goint 1st - no one is giving away something more than lottery protected 1st at TDL.

I mean... it was weak at the top of the draft, but it was pretty normal beyond the top 3 ranked picks. And a lot of that ambiguity has to do with all the lost developmental years during the pandemic. So, scouts didn't quite know what to think of them or how to project them. But I'm sure a lot of them will end up being really good. Including the ones that CHI drafted. Korchinski is looking like a possible superstar and an all but certain number one dman. Nazar was touted as having the highest upside of anyone in the draft, was unanimously ranked in the top 10 but somehow fell to CHI at 13th overall. Rinzel was always going to be a project, but with his skillset/toolkit, he has a ton of potential.

Most of the people on here that were making offers for Cat were fans of contending teams. Which would've meant their picks would be late 1sts, which is why it would've taken more than one. But a 7th overall pick even in last years draft is a big difference from a late 1st. Do I think he could've pressed for more or waited and got more? Yeah, probably. Am I upset with what we got? Not in the least. There will be plenty of DeBrincat caliber players available between now and when CHI is coming out of this rebuild, and there is a good chance some of them will come right through our own pipeline.

Isn't DeBrincat dissapointment ? Would Ottawa do same trade today ? He is still top line guy, but production is worse than in Chicago. And there was rumour that Ottawa and Sabres had to for Sabres taking Murray along with 1st round pick, before Chicago took that for DeBrincat. So Ottawa wasn't valuing this pick highly.

And I think last year draft was easy on top with like top 6 was one group to choose from. Then you had other group between 7 and 21.