The Chychrun ship sailed at the trade deadline. If Matt Roy stays, Los Angeles won't have the cap space for Chychrun with all of their RFAs to sign (including Quint Byfield), and if Matt Roy leaves, the cap space opened up will be better spent on keeping the team together (including re-signing Viktor Arvidsson or finding a replacement for him to play with Pierre-Luc DuBois) and filling both goalie vacancies.

Boqvist is terrible, absolutely unusable defensively, and doesn't do anything offensively either. You'd be hard pressed to find a player who is a worse fit for what Ottawa needs.

Also Ottawa should be well beyond the stage of "gambling" on the starting goalie position. They need someone legitimate. The gambles have never paid off. Got some good years out of Forsberg as a waiver claim, and Nilsson was solid in spite of his health, but that's about it for competent goaltending in the post Anderson. I'm done with the maybes and could bes.

I can see L.A. trying to offload PLD. He doesn't seem to be fitting in very well in L.A. So I doubt they acquire anyone to play with him unless they can't move him and they....well possibly....

Rob Blake can't afford to admit that he made a grievous mistake acquiring Pierre-Luc DuBois and then signing him to that contract because it would mean his immediate dismissal, so PLD will survive into his NMC. My lugubrious prediction is that he gets better next season, improves in 2025-2026 too, and then when it's time to replace Anze Kopitar, regresses into the surly underachiever we all foresaw he would be.

Works for the Jackets if it works for Ottawa.


Don't be absurd. He's got a lot of weaknesses defensively to be sure (though he's looked better when he's played this year), but offensively he's been a really good contributor, especially on the power play. His biggest issue so far for the Jackets has been injuries.

Whether or not that skillset is actually one Ottawa needs is unknown to me, but you're selling him short.

Whole idea is to find a match for the players currently on your roster, too. Chabot and Boqvist have nearly identical zone/ability of opponent deployment with their respective teams.

They’re your offensive-minded second pair. Sanderson and Zub top pair matching up against top lines. Aho, Bernard-Docker, Hamonic, etc sheltered/depth guys.

Can’t have a d-core full of Ben Chiarots.

I can see that happening as well.... It was more from an amusement perspective to see people's thoughts. I do agree Blake might have an issue.... But if he gets out from under it for a guy like Norris? Norris can be a regular 25G+ center. If that's the best you'd get for PLD who will be impossible toi trade with that NMC as MTL would likely be the only other team he'd agree to move to. I think L.A. considers it at the least.

Forsberg has 1 year left, OTT can just buy him out rather than lower the return on a chych deal, a barely 3rd liner and a late first dont get chych with or without Forsberg OTT declines.

FLA will need to pay to move knight, OTT declines that trade and you dont spend 1st round picks on gambles....