Ottawa will not consider trading for Laine until he comes out of the players' assistance program and starts playing hockey again.

Personally, I wouldn’t take that deal from Edmonton, and before anyone goes ballistic on me, yes I did read the trade and saw it said “any team”, however, they posted it going to Edmonton.

As a side note, if you were going to trade Alex Texier, what would the asking price be? He is one of the only guys off of Columbus that I would want, that we could realistically get without giving up a million assets for.

And of course, have a great one!

Like I said on the OP, I think this is a lose-lose for both Columbus and Ottawa, with more risk for Columbus as Korpi is the lesser goalie and Norris is the more seriously injured.

Kuraly to Buffalo is very interesting to me. I don't know that they need a fourth-liner, but they definitely do need the grit. That's why they're so obsessed with getting Jenner. Just not sure Kuraly moves the needle for them.

I just don’t see OTT destroying their C depth. I truly think they will seriously consider moving Tkachuk. I think he like his brother want to play for US market teams. At this point, if I am the Jackets I would just draft a C and try to develop than pay 7+ mil for one that is oft injured.

Texier to me has found a role on the 3rd line with Silly and Nylander. The Jackets are unlikely to trade him but if he doesn’t want to sign long term then I could see us moving him but the price would be difficult to predict.

He and Sillinger have shown some great chemistry lately, so I don't really see Texier being available. As a player, probably no more than a 2nd, but he's the kind of player I'd rather keep around since his floor is a good defensive 3rd-line forward, and his ceiling adds some skill and makes him maybe a 2nd-line winger. He's more valuable than another pick right now to the organization.

I'd do that Columbus trade.

Even if Korpi is the lesser goalie (which, I agree, but I'm not as low on him as most), I think keeping Elvis around for next year is a nonstarter given his relationship with the organization. If we're taking a bad goalie contract back, Korpi is preferable to me since we know he's had some success here, and if the other option is a buyout: Elvis this year is more expensive than Korpi next year. I'd rather give Korpi a shot next season as the backup/3rd goalie to Tarasov and Greaves then ride with Elvis again.

Norris, I agree, much more serious injury and a much worse contract if he continues to have injury issues...but if we're looking at moving Laine, I'd almost rather have a high-risk-high-reward option over whatever draft capital we'd be able to get. FWIW, I'd much rather just keep Laine for the time being.



If Ottawa is going to make significant changes, moving Norris makes far more sense than moving Brady, who's already the captain, best player on the team, and signed for 4 more years. Besides, it's not really destroying their center depth if he's only playing 50 games a year, Stutzle and arguably Pinto are already ahead of him on the depth chart. It's not like they couldn't make another move for a 3C, and this way OTT gets a scoring winger they need.

But yes, I'd also rather just stick to the plan and draft a C. I'd also rather keep Laine for now. Arguably, if we can get Lindstrom in the draft (if we land at 3 or 4 OA), long-term we could have him or Sillinger at 2C/3C, and if we still want to make this trade, move Norris to the 3rd-line wing where Nylander is playing here.

We would be better off holding on to Laine and hope he can rebound, than trade him at his lowest value. We would also be better of buying out Elvis than taking on the extra year of Korpi's contract, especially considering Korpi is also worse than Elvis.

I agree, but if for some reason the new GM decided a buyout wasn't the best option, and they had to move on from Laine, I don't think this would be a bad trade. I think we have to go into next year assuming Elvis is gone one way or another. He's lost the starting job to Tarasov (when healthy) and may be behind Greaves on the depth chart shortly.

OTT wants nothing to do with Laine and dont want him OTT declines

Exactly. Ottawa should wan tless tha nothing to do with him. We don't need 3rd line wingers that are getting paid nearly 9 million a season.

Buffalo could use more toughness, but you can’t just be a tough guy who can’t do anything else. Kuraly is another Girgensons, so I think they would probably rather keep him instead of adding another, especially at that much money. A player like Jenner can be used on the PowerPlay, penalty kill, and be expected to contribute 10 or 15 goals minimum, and 40-50 pts without much trouble.

Just retain 2 million Elvis and trade him for scraps. It will be cheaper than buying him out

Laine is having major issues right now, That's why he still is on the NHLPAP for the foreseeable future.

And Norris has 3 busted shoulders making nearly $8,000,000 for the next 6 years. Neither has much value right now.

Thank you both for your comments! It’s good for you guys that he has found chemistry, bad for me haha. I was hoping someone was going to say that he would be up for grabs, and then name the price… it’s all good though, and I appreciate the insight. If it was for a 2nd, I would do that in a heartbeat, but I understand why he would be more valuable from the organization’s standpoint. He is a sneaky good player, and I think he could really elevate his game with a guy like Draisaitl. That’s why I wanted him actually!

Have a great one, both of you!

That's fine, Kuraly contributes more than Girgensons, though, and this is looking at 2025, where Girgensons is a UFA in 2024 and likely gone already.

Jenner would be absolutely unavailable.

AAV is only cheaper in year 3, but yeah I'd be fine with that, too. I just don't know that we're even going to find a taker at $3.4M.

Yeah, that's the idea behind the high-risk-high-reward swap. FWIW, I'm on the record saying I'd prefer to keep Laine and hope for a rebound. But this isn't a bad second option.

I think it's a bad idea regardless, simply because of the sheer size of the risk with Norris. But that's me.

2024-2025 Is next season. I fully believe that Girgensons is getting another one year deal from Buffalo, even if there are a bunch of people who don’t think they should bring him back. Personally, instead of Kuraly I would go after Clutterbuck in free agency, and try to trade for Keegan Kolesar. Vegas may not be interested in moving him, but I have seen one or two AGMs where he does get moved lately.

I agree, but if the new GM thinks the better move is to swap Elvis for a worse goalie with a longer contract, then we chose the wrong GM and we are screwed anyway.