Quoting: matthias893
The retention in the Meier trade and in this one aren't really comparable, because the Meier one goes away Jul 1. Tying up our retention slot for seven years would not only be inadvisable, it would be totally unprecedented in the league (as far as I know). That alone would generate significant value in this trade.
Voit, Der-Arguchintsev and Abruzzese are nice prospects, but they are on the small side which doesn't seem to be what Grier is looking for in players. Not saying its a deal breaker, but we have a lot of smaller forwards in the system already. And as for potential, I just don't think Abruzzese or Der-Arguchintsev stand out much amongst Peterson, Lund, Guschin, Cardwell, Robbins or Coe. At least not enough to move the needle much in a trade.
Kral plays LD which is our deepest position right now. As you pointed out we just acquired Mukh and Okhotiuk and we also picked up Thrun as well. Add to that Ferraro, Knyzhov, Simek and Knaizev who are already with the org and you can see why Kral isn't really going to be on SJ's radar.
SJ need draft capital, RD and young high end talent (who doesn't right??), but that's why most EK65 trades on here include Timmins, Villeneuve, Liljegren, Minten or Robertson and a collection of picks.
I think San Jose is very happy to keep Hertl. He's a fantastic player, he's loved by the fans and in the locker room and his game will age well. Having our 1C/2C be some combination of Hertl and whoever we might pick at 4 this year isn't a terrible future for the Sharks. Yes, his contract will be very bad down the road, but it will also get better every year as the cap goes up and SJ's other bad contracts fall off. SJ will only trade Hertl this summer if its for a big big return and it won't be with retention.
You raise a decent point about the depth of LHD in the Shark pipeline and Kral. How many of them, beyond say Muk, would challenge for a roster spot in the fall? Okhotiuk would be behind Kral in the pipeline based on what I've seen. What about the others? Knyzaev looks to me to be the very type you move on from, a mid 20's placeholder. Simek is the same only five years older. Ferraro has the most promise but in four seasons he has yet to put up 20 points in one of them. Knaizev might be something but he is undersized and you just got done saying Grier didn't want that. Kral is 6'2" 195 so he is 3 inches taller and 20 pounds heavier. Thrun is also maybe a player, but even if he is Kral is arguably 2nd or 3rd on that list based on what the others have done to date behind Ferarro and likely one of the last two.
SDA is 5'10" 173
Abruzzese is 5'11 183
Both have frames to put on more weight, likely anywhere between another 6 to 12 pounds
Guschin is 5'8" 163 My feeling is he'll struggle to get up to 175 because of his frame. His point totals are similar to the two Toronto forwards above.
Robins is 5'10" 173 He meassures up physically but not in production to the above two wingers.
Coe is 6'5" 203 Far larger, far less productive.
Peterson is 6'1" 180 This one I'll give you.
Cardwell is 5'11" 196 Had his blow it up season as a 20 year old in the OHL. Voit comfortably outpaced him this year as a 19 year old in the same loop.
Lund is 6'2" 185 He's 18 and years away.
Based on this I'd put Abruzzese and SDA behind Peterson only in that list.
I'm not saying the prospects you list from Toronto are *not* good. They are. But so are the ones in this package. And those are the ones that will be available. Even then, with Abruzzese and Kral, it will be like pulling teeth.