I agree with you on much of this, but as an organizational philosophy I think the hawks are past “pulling the rug” out from under the team by trading our good pieces for future assets. To that end, I think I would rather have Kurashev here to help develop the younger players, like Bedard directly but also keeping a top 6 lineup spot away from Nazar/Moore etc until they earn it.

If you get a stupid offer for Kurashev you obviously have to take it, and you can supplement his loss in free agency, but if your options are to keep him for depth and maintaining a high level of compete/quality in the locker room vs a late first rounder and a couple of depth pieces I am keeping him all day.

For me to move Kurashev at this point it would take a Hagel /TJ (Tanner janananananannatl) package to do so. We have plenty of picks in the next couple of drafts, and you could argue with good health and production that Hall could net you a first rounder next trade deadline.

We already have 5 picks in the first two rounds this year, 4 next year, and 4 the year after. In this draft, the hawks second is almost certainly a late first at 2nd overall… trading Kurashev for a big package would make sense, but what need is that trade filling?

I guess I just don't feel like this would be "pulling the rug out", though. I think this is, and/or should be, expected. The current roster is almost entirely expendable, some less so than others, like Kurashev, but outside of Bedard, I don't believe we should be surprised by anyone being moved. I don't believe he is going to keep tearing things apart, but, until this team is out of the gutter and the players KD drafted are having an impact, everything should be on the table.

Well, we know KD likes to make draft day moves. He might have his eyes on packaging picks together to trade up, turning some of this quantity into quality. Or maybe he has is eyes some already established young players that project to price themselves out of their current club, that he wants to, again, package up some picks/prospects and acquire them.

I guess I just don't feel like this would be "pulling the rug out", though. I think this is, and/or should be, expected. The current roster is almost entirely expendable, some less so than others, like Kurashev, but outside of Bedard, I don't believe we should be surprised by anyone being moved. I don't believe he is going to keep tearing things apart, but, until this team is out of the gutter and the players KD drafted are having an impact, everything should be on the table.

I agree with what you are saying, but my impression is that you would trade Kurashev for what I consider to be a counterproductive package like picks and depth players. If Kurashev was included in a trade for a more significant asset say Zegras in ANA or even some other hockey trade? I am more than willing to rationalize the loss of him as a player in that context. With the hawks surplus of draft picks I believe it is more important to prioritize building a winning culture and good habits than it is to get a late first round pick. Everything should be on the table for sure, but that doesn't mean everything on the table should be for a bargain bin price.

Well... As I said in my original post, I would switch out the player portion of the trade with prospects CHI would actually have interest in. So, don't gloss over that. But, this is not a "bargain bin" price, imo. As far as market value goes, it is probably lacking a bit but is a fairly starting point offer for Kurashev. This would also be a move made sometime between the end of the season and the draft, with plenty of time before next season to address adding more players who can hang in the top 6. You aren't gonna get a Zegras for a Kurashev, because his market value is obviously much higher, nor would I want Zegras, because I just don't like his attitude and I think he is overrated. There are tons of players who can do cool tricks that never make in the NHL. That isn't what makes a good hockey player, imo.

Zegras is a good player beyond his highlight goals, and I'm not sure what sort of attitude you are referring too. In any case, I just posted the kind of deals that I would see as proper moves for trading Kurashev. I am certain I will get flamed because Kurashev is not well know by other teams, but thats where im at with him.[/quote

I enjoyed reading the different perspectives and wish more post would hold such discussions. I still having trouble understanding Kurashev value? I suspected a first and a third was a very good start a la Kirby Dach offer last season and added some value in RD Harris, kid has 120 games experience and a career minus 4 for a terrible Habs team. He would adequately replace Zaitsev or even Murphy with the upside of a 23yr old.