I'm completely convinced that Trevor Zegras is not on the market, but if he were, this is an offer I would accept.

Non! Nous devons repêcher et développer nos joueurs. On manque surtout de bons vétérans pour entourer nos jeunes.

Mais Zegras a seulement vingt-trois ans le mois prochain.

If the 2024 1st is top 6, I wouldn't trade it for Zegras 1 for 1

Vaut mieux un jeune de 18 ans qui pourra faire la longue carrière avec Slafkovsky que de trouver un autre joueur qui cherchera le gros contrat. Faut jouer la capologie au maximum

I think he is only at the right price.
McTavishes former Teammate in Junior and World Juniors in Owen Beck is a good fit.
As good as Beck is at Center his Pest Style and Marchand style of game where he just never shuts up ever , it could be fun for you guys.
Lets say you land Lindstrom or Demidov with that pick or better and somehow get 6'7 Mobile Dman Silayev who's a frigging Unicorn in terms of Rarity.

You guys Got Goaltending on Lock IMO
Defense is just Young and with the right Mentor to replace Lebushkyn then your youth could find a lot more success like a Zadorov or Martinez(Guys who rally the team not just their line or pair)
Offensively im Envious as i love McTavish and think he got that Mckinnon in him but rally you got lots of other solid prospects Gauthier,Gaucher,Perrault and Tracey still in the pipeline

IF you guys can add another piece this draft that will come into the NHL with Gauthier,Gaucher,Perrault and Tracey over the next 2 years
Then ANA got a stacked team top to bottom with a Franchise Goalie this time around so you'll be in the mix for multiple cups for Multiple years as you'll have tons of Cap to add Depth for playoff runs
Wont lie until you guys got Mctavish i was thinking you guys were just re-tooling rather then committing to a full rebuild
But i think you guys made the smart decision personally as you tanked at the right time and found not only Quality in your picks but Size

TBH i'd almost rather it be outside the top 10
We're just going to take a project player anyways
Dont get me wrong i love Slaf and Reinbacher looks like he makes a lot of sense for Hutson's partner in the future.
But passing on Generational Talent like Michkov or Tkachuck style players like Leonard is a hard sell

If you said we'd take BPA then i'd want that 6th OA
But given Hughes drafts players that fit his build regardless of if someone else is technically better
I think grabbing Zegras gives us value we can see and appreciate right away

agree. I also dont understand everyones obsession with him. Hes definitely very skilled but his game needs alot of work. I would never give a top 5 pick for him but what do i know

Fair enough, but if there's a project player he likes better than the consensus top prospects in this draft, he probably also likes that project player a lot better than he likes Zegras.

That's a valid stance. I'm in favor of patience as well. The patience of the fanbase may not be on par with our own however.

IF we were to attempt to move faster, this is one move which might make sense.
Separating Caufield and Suzuki is a way to add another facet to our attack. With Slafkovsky and Suzuki developing some chemistry and Slaf gaining confidence to shoot more, another playermaker to feed Caufield will give us multiple offensive threats in the top 6. One of those lines is going to benefit from better matchups on any given night.

Fact is that this is a strong defense draft and that's the last thing we need. There's a good chance the forwards worth drafting in the top 10 are gone before our selection, in which case we would be reaching instead of taking the BPA. Now this wouldn't happen before the draft order is determined anyway, so we could decide to hold the pick still. Using it to acquire Zegras might not work in a different year, but I think it does this particular season if we are drafting outside the top 5.

I'm not even personally entirely sold on Zegras and would be okay with a different target.
I'm merely suggesting that the situation at this time makes a move for a forward a logical next step.

Caufield and Zegras are buddies and former teammates. There's a connection there.

Si on est pour échanger un choix top 5 en raison de ne pas avoir accès au joueur qu'on souhaite autant viser Pettersson que Zegras!

Pettersson is going to be a much more expensive buy. It's worth trying, but we're talking about losing Reinbacher as well as our 1st (potential Hughes partner).

Caufiled 1er 2025 Mailloux Kapanen et un 2e choix 2025

He's said it many times "if i can get a player similar skill level who's NHL Ready or a Draft Pick of equal value the ill take the player "
Its why we have Dach and Newhook here

If Zegras wasnt so young and fit our build timeline then i would suggest Hughes wouldnt think about it seriously.
But the fact that its been confirmed by Hughes he inquired about Zegras tells me he's at least considering it

Most posts i was against Zegras trade if it meant a top 10 pick
Then i thought about it and whomever we take wont be better then Zegras
I mean if Silayev somehow falls to our pick then maybe i regret trading the pick
But unless that happens Zegras is the same bet plus he could make Cole a 40 goal guy today no more waiting for him to naturally progress over time

Besides we can always trade up with WPG pick
I think Tij Iginla , Berkley Catton , Cole Hutson and a few other solid guys will fall into the 12th-17th area if not further.
Depending on how many D go top 5 there is even talks of Eiserman falling down that far like Benson last year
A team like NYI would be willing to deal for Draft capital they can weaponize at the next TDL and WSH would likely do the same in the right deal

Im just saying having Zegras and Trading up on the WPG pick is a lot better then drafting in our spots
I say that as Hughes is expecting the playoffs next year as part of his natural progression
He clarified he doesnt expect Contenders that itll be youth driving the team but he wants them in a playoff spot.
I think if Zegras can untap Caufield we're Golden and if Roy can find a spot in that Trio we're gonna be in a Prime position not just a Wildcard spot.

That's just not going to do it and moving Caufield decreases the impact of adding Pettersson anyway. It will take at least our two highest value pieces we aren't using ('24 1st and Reinbacher) and a couple more on top (Mailloux or Mesar and another 1st). Even that offer might get beaten.

His offer wouldnt even get Jake Guetzal as a Rental but its suppose to get Zegras?

He was talking about going after Pettersson instead of Zegras.

I like the proposal, in terms of value I think this is close. But...

As much as I'd like to see a super skilled player like Zegras on my favorite team, you can't get away from the fact that he's already 5 years closer to his 30s than a top 5 pick from the 2024 draft. Plus the Habs aren't one top 6 forward away from contention. Its too soon to trade high draft capital for established players.

Like I said, that's a valid perspective, but he's the right age to fit in with our current core, while the next guy may not even be here for a couple of years.
The biggest obstacle for us is time. Our defense simply isn't going to be experienced enough for a couple of years. We could do something like sign Montour to get a bump on the back end as well, but Zegras will still only be mid 20's when our defense should be ready, so it's not a loss.

I'd Offersheet him 9.5 to 10.5m x 1 year
He'll get out of VAN and play here a year
We have time to convince him to re-sign
We let Kotkanemi walk in a similar situation

Best Case Scenario is VAN matches and MTL spends nothing
But come UFA time in 2025 he'll be a lot more interested in listening to MTL and it'll have cost us nothing.

Doesnt mean i dont still target Zegras

If Hughes is expecting to make the playoffs next year, I think he should reevaluate where the team is really at. They are still 2-3 high end pieces away from being competitive, and several of the pieces they do have need more time to develop. I would love to trade up into the top ~17, but that can be attempted either way, and I certainly wouldn't want to bet on a team in that range trading us their pick. To me, Zegras would be in the 7-12 range in this draft, so I'd be willing to trade a pick in that range to advance the rebuild somewhat, but I wouldn't be happy with trading a better prospect for him.