Personally I’d rather keep the 1st. This draft is crazy deep and we have no prospects whatsoever. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to start looking to the future since all of our top guns are getting up there in age. That being said, Dubas has a history of trading down to acquire more draft picks. So who knows what the plan is.

Yes. Given what Gavrikov and Severson just got paid this is the best way to get an impact defender while still having money to address the bottom 6. I also consider using the first for a high end winger. I think they go two veteran goalies in a 1a - 1b situation this year instead of signing or trading for a true starter.

I agree. I think trading for a goalie is a bad bad idea. Severson contract is absolutely absurd. Do you have any ideas on other D we could trade for?

The 1st should definitely be on the table - but only if it's for a big upgrade and something you can't get on the open market. Like a Hellebuyck or Saros - maybe even a Debrincat trade. The only defenseman I would probably make a run at with this years first is Toews.

I would imagine if they trade for Hanifin he would play 2nd pair with Petry. A Hanifin/Letang pair is too similar of players imo

I like what you said about the goalies. I’m hesitant to trade the 1st honestly. Dubas likes to fix problems from inside the pipeline, so i’d imagine guys like Puustinen and Nylander get shots at the NHL and O’Connor will be full time. Could also see Joseph and Smith battling for the 2LD and 3LD spots with Pettersson at the 1LD. Dubas isn’t huge in free agency either so signing a 2LW is unlikely. I could see something like this as our lineup without trading the 1st:
Guentzel-Crosby-Rakell
Puustinen-Malkin-Rust
FA SIGNING-FA SIGNING-Nylander
O’Connor-Poehling-Carter

Pettersson-Letang
Joseph-Petry
Smith-Ruuta

FA SIGNING
Desmith/FA SIGNING


EDIT: This assumes Granlund is a buyout

Brodie from Toronto could come cheap. He's a vet on an expiring deal with a 5 mill contract. I imagine Toronto would value the space more than the return. He could be a defensive rock for either Letang or Petry. Grzelcyk is a good option too. I think Bruins fans are anticipating a much bigger return than he will actually get, but he can easily slot into the 2nd pair and be a good option.

I'd be fine with that defense, but they would need to use the cap space saved to bring in another top 6 winger. I think Puustinen is NHL ready, but not sure he can handle top 6 minutes from the start.

I agree with everything both of you said, but I think that defense would be brutal. It's basically the same thing as last year but swapping Smith for Dumo. Given how atrocious our defense was last season, I think we need bigger changes than that. One puck moving D as our transition game was awful, and one bigger more physical D who can defend the front of our net. Our net front D coverage was beyond awful last year.

Woof. This roster doesn’t even have enough players for a game…

I was going to bring up Grzelyck but you beat me to it. I think he could even be a good top pair D with Letang. But he could also play 2nd pair. And I agree, I don't think he will be too expensive, probably could get him for 2024 2nd and another small piece.

About Puustinen- I actually think he’d thrive on the 2nd line. I feel putting him in a bottom 6 role would hinder his development and I choose Puustinen over Nylander to be on the 2nd line. It wouldn’t be smart to have them both on the 3rd line imo.

I think Puustinen is better than Nylander. But in that case I would get a 2nd line caliber player for the 3rd line. Or move Rust to 3rd line. Completely fine with Puustinen in top 6 but think we need to have someone else like Bertuzzi in addition who could play any line I think he could thrive there but I wouldn't completely plan around that happening if that makes sense.

I agree, that’s a good way to look at it

I'd be fine with both of them on the same line, so long as they have a proven veteran center to work with. If both of those players flanked ROR I'd be more than happy with that as a 3rd line.

This is so right, we should not trade for a goalie. Also Dubas's comments in his press conference made it sound like he would never do that considering he said its so hard to predict goalies in today's game.