Still trying to get Anderson to NJ i see. your research is terrible. Devils were never interested in him. You took one guys rumor and ran with it, not even El said anything about it so you got played.

The price for Saros is more than what NJD would be willing to pay

Askarov was only on the board to secure a top 5 pick in the draft

1rd pick A prospect for askarov (mtl was offerend 15 26 and askarov for 5)
NJ receives: Askarov
NSH receives: 1rst 24 Holtz
wallstedt, id say hes unmovable unless ur overpaying perfect goalie prospect for the future of Minnesota Id say first 2 rd high end picks and B prospect
NJ receives: Wallstedt
MIN receives: 1rst 24 2nd 25 Casey
saros (hes been seen as a Vezina candidate lots of the last recent years) id say 2 First and a B+ prospect
NJ receives:
NSH receives: 1rst 24 1rst 25 Gritsyuk

Are you suggesting 5th overall was worth 4 first round picks??

Value is in the eye of the beholder. Trotz/Nashville was/is in need of a dynamic top notch center/center peospect. They do not have one and have never had one in the history of their franchise. It is extremely hard to be a legit contender for the stanley cup without one. It is extremely hard to draft one without having to tank. Nashville ownership doesnt want to tank. In their eyes, they probably wouldve thought it worth it to pay that for smith, Fantilli, or any of the other top cs in this draft

What top C was still available at 5th? Smith Carlsson Fantilli were all gone?

Nashville was likely hoping one of the earlier teams was going to take Michkov or Nashville might of been willing to settle for Michkov as he is also an outstanding forward talent. Trotz has stated in interviews a dynamic c prospect was his goal though

Trotz made the same offer to SJS for the 4th overall pick, where he would have likely taken Smith.
Aside from wanting centers, Trotz wanted high end forwards in general, he would have taken Michkov.

Still, I'd much rather have Wood, Molendyk, and Askarov over one of those guys.

I love these posts! Teams trying to get creative and we get to have a conversation about it. Realistically Wallstedt doesn't move without a pretty big overpayment. A few things come into play here. First, Minnesota has beyond zero cap space. Dumb but the reality. This means Wallstedt is pretty important moving forward for us because we got this year plus 2 more years of this cap hell. Lastly, what do we need? Center has been our weak point, but Rossi looks to be a player which changes things a bit. Sorry for the rant but this trade gets tricky.

I think the Wild want top end talent. So quality over quantity. Both Hughes are off limits. Hischier is probably close to that. My thoughts are Holtz, Mercer, Nemec and first rounders are the pool to pick from.

Holtz - Can he be a consistent player and can he reach 90% of what people think he can be? I don't know much about this player but I know he was untouchable for Fiala a year and a half ago. Now it feels like he lost some luster. Looking at future lines for the Wild, I see Kaprizov and Boldy on that top line. So could Holtz be the driver on a second line with Ek or Rossi?

Mercer - Not sure where he fits in with the current lineup. Not saying he wouldn't get the respect to make room. But Hartman and Ek seem to be locked in at the 1/2c. Rossi has been locked in at 3c and looks great so far this year. So maybe Mercer slides to the wing. I could see him taking JoJo's spot with Boldy and Ek. Not sure if I love this move on its own. But could be a start of a trade.

Nemec - I think the fit ans timing isn't there for the Wild without a Spurgeon trade. Spurgeon is locked up for 3 more years after this one. And Faber is looking like a beast.

So back to what does a trade look like. I think Holtz and a First maybe a bit more. Holtz have some question marks currently but out of the 3 options he would have to be the one unless the Wild can swing a Spurgeon trade that benefits us. Ultimately no trade happens with Wallstedt and we see if he will be as good as advertised. Great post

Bro, read.

Wallstedt isn't available