Cancuks may throw in mikheyev if Buffalo values him at all. even at a retained rate

His value won’t be as high. RFA going to want 12 million. He’s going to sign an extension with Vancouver anyways.

i agree and am hopeful he resigns.

Are you referring to Mikheyev or Petey with the value not being as high?

If Petey, id love to know why. I think teams with capspace and without an elite superstar would die for a guy like EP. Seattle, Detroit, Buffalo, Islanders, Canadians

They would, but unsigned RFA never have a lot of value and he wants 11-12 million a year not a lot of teams would be willing to pay a player that. and not a lot of teams have good assets to make a trade for a superstar center.

Tkachuk as an unsigned RFA had a lot of value. A 1st line winger coming off a 115 point season, a top pairing dman, a 1st, and a prospect

Fiala as an unsigned RFA returned a 1st round pick and Faber

I get where you're going here and actually agree with you on the ask back in terms of overall value... it's going to take minimum of 3 top-tier/A level assets to pry Petey away from VAN. Even with him being a pending RFA, likely to get $11-12 on a long-term. But these 3 wouldn't make sense for Buffalo, it's creating more holes at forward than addressing.

Buffalo can't trade multiple of the Benson/Quinn/Peterka youth core group, only 1 at most. They'll need the other 2 for their rookie contracts to balance Petey's new deal. And I can't imagine Benson is on the table for discussion at all realistically.

But Buffalo can afford to add one of the Savoie/Ostlund/Kulich younger core into this deal. If Cozens is the main piece, i'd counter with Cozens + Peterka + Ostlund or Kulich. If VAN was willing to consider Mittelstadt instead of Cozens (which I think would work for them - he'll get ~$5M in Arb this offseason, so it gives VAN another year of cap flexibility to afford quickly re-tooling the D and still making a run for the cup next year) I'd be willing to go Mittelstadt + Savoie/Benson + Peterka.

Either way, I think there's room for these 2 teams to negotiate and work something out that works both ways. Sadly, I don't think Buffalo upper-management has the stones to make a bold move like this and pull off a sign and trade blockbuster for a star like Pettersson though. The biggest trade we've made in years is trading a 2nd for Greenway... pathetic

They were both UFAs though.

Huberdeau and Weegar both had pretty significant value even as pending UFAs though

Not nearly as much if they were RFAs.