Not sure how the 1st could be top 3 protected if no trades can/will go down until post lottery.

I should have said 2023 is traded assuming it’s not a top 3 pick.

Why would you move Caufield to acquire more firsts...? That's so counterintuitive. Just build around him, Suzuki, and Ghule. You have tons of good, young prospects in your system. This is making your team worse.

You've completely handicapped yourself here.

How many Habs fans can I add on my ignore list ?
Jesus

So San Jose moves their rebuild along quicker by moving two firsts? That makes no sense. Also not giving up a likely top 3 pick in this draft for caufield

Three players from this draft could very well improve the team in the long term. We are years away from contending and this trade wouldn’t change that.

Caufield helps you right now. That is the point.

Edmonton won't be trading their 1RD for Mike Hoffman. Nor will they trade a 3rd for Chris Wideman.

My guy, they aren’t good now. Who gives a sh*t whose on the team. The sharks aren’t moving TWO likely top 5 picks for cole caufield. He isn’t that good or that much of a star. Almost nobody is getting that in a trade. That’s just ridiculous to think that a rebuilder would give up two top 5 picks for an undersized winger they could potentially get a generational talent in both drafts in the top 5.

-Two lottery picks for Caufield is a biiig stretch. Both deals the Sharks are moving expire after next season, so they're not necessarily drags on the cap - and for what it's worth, it doesn't really save them any cap. Labanc & Lindblom combined have a $7.225M cap hit; the only way Caufield costs less than that is if you bridge him 2-3 years and just kick the $8M can down the line. I don't see the value for the Sharks here; Caufield is a great player but doesn't fix their main problems (defense/goaltending). On Montreal's side, why are you trading Caufield for future picks when that really just pushes the rebuild timeline back a couple years? Caufield is young and excelling at the NHL level, and you have enough young assets to build around him and Suzuki as your core players.

-Washington might think about this - they have minimal D depth next year and moving on from Mantha's contract would be a plus.

-No idea why Edmonton would add a pick here. The cap is basically even with Hoffman+Wideman and Ceci, but Edmonton is shipping out the clearly better player and shouldn't have to add the pick. If you wanted to take it out, they might consider it, but I also think that secondary scoring is less of an issue than defense on that team, so turning Ceci into Wideman just to add Hoffman doesn't necessarily make the Oilers better.

-I'd be shocked if Murray's NTC doesn't have Montreal on it; we know it had Buffalo, so it's not a stretch to assume he wanted to avoid the rebuilding teams with his list. Beyond that, why would Montreal do this? Montembault has the potential to put up the numbers Murray has without the health concerns, Tuch is a better prospect in my eyes than Loponen, and adding a single 4th in next year's draft doesn't make up for the value disparity here. Easy decline for the Habs here in my eyes.

The players from this draft are still going to be 1-3 years out from making an impact anyway. Thyey are going to need development, Even Bedard is going to need to bulk up a bit before he's ready to make his mark. Caufield is 22 and capable of scoring 30+ goals. Trading him would set the rebuild you're currently in back a year or two. Would be a brutal move.

That’s not the trade. The 3rd is to pay for the cap space. Ceci moves out so you can pay Bouchard and possibly add another forward as a UFA.

I’m willing to trade him for picks that are likely both top 10 picks. The rebuild just started so a slight delay isn’t a real issue. We aren’t on a timetable. The franchise is stable and doesn’t have the issues many other NHL franchises would have with a long rebuild.

Edmonton is saving here. Wideman is an AHL depth piece. Hoffman at 50% for one year is a short term gain but also a long term gain because he’s a UFA the following season and Ceci is not.

Likewise, trading Murray saves the Leafs millions and enables them to have more cash to pay Samsonov. Tuch is living off his name at this point because he’s been a disappointing prospect.

They aren't saving money here though, so that's a non-starter.

I mean, why not trade McDavid for Evan's? That will save Edmonton a LOT of money, so they'd have to add several picks, right? That's where you're going with this.

Yes they are saving a million dollars next year and over 3 million the year after that. And Ceci is nothing special so I have no idea why you’d even begin to mention McDavid.

They aren't - Wideman needs to be paid too.

Ceci is their first pairing defenseman. They aren't going to trade him for garbage.

Wideman can play in the AHL like he already does. That doesn’t hurt your cap, which was my whole point. And Ceci is your second best RHD, he’s not Bouchard.

Ceci plays tougher comp than Bouchard by far. For a reason.

And if Wideman is relegated to the AHL, who replaces Ceci in the Oilers lineup?? Nobody is going to play 1RD for free you know. Therefore there's no savings for Edmonton here.

But you're completely missing the point: Ceci is worth several times what Hoffman is. "Cap savings" just isn't a thing when you're actively making the roster worse. That's why I brought up McDavid and Evans - you could argue Cap Savings but their values are so far apart Edmonton isn't going to PAY to take the worse player. It's just not logical.

I didn’t post it but I did an ACGM from your POV. I used the money saved to sign Luke Schenn on a cheaper short term deal. Your top pairing would be Ekholm-Bouchard, with Nurse either playing with Schenn or Kulak. That leaves either Schenn or Kulak with Broberg.

Hoffman would be 3rd line LW with McLeod and Yamamoto. Top six is Hollway, McDavid, Hyman, Nuge, Drai, Kane.

Cool story. Doesn't change the fact that this trade is terrible for Edmonton.

Fair enough. There’s a reason I titled this “unconventional”. I doubt any of the teams involved would make these deals.