MTL would just keep the better, cheaper option honestly. Not opposed to the deal but a conditional '26 3rd just really doesn't give us a reason to take the extra salary.

Don't want to downplay the Evans move, but I don't see why Habs would get rid of a player that was developed inhouse at half the price of Faksa for a 3rd round pick. I'm not saying the trade isn't fair, I'm just not seeing why the Habs would take on extra Cap without asking for more than a 3rd.

Hugues isn't the type to go for this type of trade, he'd be asking for their 1st EVEN IF Evans isn't worth that pick. Wanna be clear here, Evans IS NOT WORTH a 1st pick plus a player, but given that the Habs don't need Faksa then I don't see that type of trade even being considered. I think this is more of an Arizona move where they just want to fill in their picks and have a collection of them for the next 5 years.. LOL!

Faksa for Brandon Tanev they dont lose Physicality in the exchange and get a better competitor
DAL has multiple Centers stuffed on Wing due to lack of Wingers
I dont see how a Center for Center exchange helped them or makes them better in any way at all whatsoever.
It'd be like MTL trading Jake Allen for Antti Raanta and paying to do it
I love Jake but he cant provide the consistency Faksa can as a Bottom 6 Bulk Faceoffs Grit Checking Power Center.
He's got his own niche role but for a team as Physical as DAL he makes no sense at all , he'd get hurt in a Practice there.

Evans in SEA however makes a ton of sense as there's lots of opportunity for him to play in that middle 6 role.
Jake's strength like Paul Byron is he can hang in there on any line during injuries for an extended period.
But he's most productive on 3rd line playing a defensive checking role and while he thrives at Center he's better offensively on the Wing as he can open up and use his Speed.

3 way Trade

B.Tanev to DAL
J.Evans to SEA with DAL 3rd round pick
Faksa to MTL with a DAL 5th round pick

MTL looks like it loses but a Bulk Faceoffs 4th liner is exactly what we need.
Fact that he's Czech should mean he and Arber will work closely together
Arber and his Family are very openly passionate about their Czech Heritage so Arber playing with a long tenured Czech Native should be good times.
Really though Evans is just kinda in the way with Dach's return next year Evans would be pushed back down to 4th i feel he's at a point where on a team like SEA he could lock down a 2b type role especially if Tatar re-signs as those 2 played a lot together when Danault took the slapshot to the face.

For DAL i think B.Tanev and his Brother bring Grit without Penalties ever 5 minutes, they play good Defensive Hockey but arent limited to that role and they dont have high Turnover rate and a great recovery rate ration by comparison. Its a lot of areas that would help Tighten up a Stack DAL roster

agreed.

why not just keep one of the only players we have that we ouserlves drafted and developped. for some older guy on a worse contract?

need a 2nd at the very least

Vatrano is going to cost a lot with retention. That's not a lot offered.

I think you're under-appreciating the stability and consistency Evans brings for his cap hit. Moving him for a 3rd would be a tough decision. If you add Faksa's cap hit, that's an easy no.

You're not getting Frank Vatrano retained a 50% without a 1st going the other way, That offer is a bunch of nothing and Detroit beats that since they're considered the front runner for him.

Need a 1st and a good prospect for Vatrano all day long especially if you want retention

You might be 1/3 of the way there big fella

Tanev would need to be retained on but that makes sense to me, the purpose of that trade was to clear some cap. I'm intrigued by that 3-way trade, but evans would get a better return than Faksa and a 5th, when I made this I thought I was lowballing with the 2nd/3rd.

Evans i just like and have watched him since the NCAA.
MTL isnt a place he can ever grow, like Lehkonen he is needed too much defensively to really give a clear effort to develop offensively.
Dude's been a beast and to me he's 27 and this is his window on the right team
DAL i truly think is the wrong team as i said before but hypothetically in a 3 way with SEA or just in a different trade to SEA
I think he hits another level altogether

Faksa cap vs play i agree
But its what he brings and the fact we dont have it
He and Armia will both be gone after next year but until then with Pezzetta they give us a Physical Speedy line with Grit and 3 Goal Scorers.
Most expensive 4th line in the NHL but still it will take a ton of pressure especially defensively off of the Middle 6 allowing them to grow in a more balanced role.

The Faceoffs Faksa would take especially being so strong in Defensive Zone Faceoffs, That would only benefit Newhook as he tries do go from a Drouin type secondary Center to the real deal.
Dach when he gets back will be playing less minutes to start im sure so having Faksa there for that 1 years is beneficial to his recover process.

But the one thing i like the most?
Czech Connecting as Xhekaj and Slaf have already formed a strong bond over their similar roots in Czech and Slovak
But having Faksa is one of 32 Czechs in the NHL and sits 6th in Points among active NHL leaders currently.
I think they'd view it the same way that Kotkanemi did with Armia and Lehkonen.
But i know Arber's Family is big into celebrating their Czech roots and are very Italian about their Heritage in terms of how often they bring it up so they can talk about it lol
I think from a Physically , Possession and Growth POV that Faksa's the right guy for MTL even if his Cap blows.

He's Big, Hit Hits , He wins a Ton of Faceoffs and he Blocks Shots.
Fans will love him for all the reasons they loved a Weise, Byron or Monahan(last one's a bit of a reach but was being paid to play a similar middle 6 role doing all that maybe just not as physical)

While saying all that
I still maintain i dont think this is the deal that gets it done

Its always easier to start low and move it up then start high and get lynched on here , or that my POV anyways lol
For me its the 3 working pieces that make sense for all the teams involved for different reasons
While i think Tanev's> Evans i think Evans>Faksa and paid less but Faksa has a game and style the other 2 dont in a Power Center Bulk Faceoffs guy who can with 55% rate all year long. They all got value for different reasons and MTL needs that faceoff support even if Monahan re-signs otherwise we're doing to Newhook what we did to Drouin the first year we got him.

DAL doesnt need Centers as much as Wingers and Tanev adds a lot of the same things Faksa brought but with a lot more Grit and he'll Fight
SEA needs cheap centers as i suspect 1-2 UFA Centers will be leaving and he would walk in there for a fraction of the price actually winning Faceoffs unlike Wennberg, Gourde(who's a much better Winger) or Beniers are at this point. I mean McCann's playing this Drouin approach to Center McCann is with Beniers while Yammamoto's playing Center as those guys try to figure out how to win Faceoffs. A guy like Evans can create a lot of space for himself in a situation like this especially if finds Chemistry with and becomes Goude's Center.