Brief description:

Colorado fans seem unhappy with Georgiev. Does the GM agree? And is he unhappy enough to spend on an upgrade? We'll see after the playoff run. Colorado is also really up against the cap this offseason if Landeskog comes back. Someone likely has got to move. Will it be Manson?

Boston needs to reload their prospect pool. Ullmark is their most likely trade asset this offseason. They are in the midst of a re-tool, but they are near the top of the league. Do they lean harder into the re-tool, or will they maximize their chances to win next year? This trade assumes the former.

NJD needs to toughen up and improve in net. While Georgiev is not a top 10 goalie, I think he is a proven starter who would definitely be an upgrade. He's probably better suited for a 1A/1B pair -- could they bring Allen back to be the 1B? Would they rather take a swing for a bigger fish? NJD also needs to toughen up on the backend. They have excellent rookies, but they could use a physical presence to let the kids focus on what they do best. MacDermid is not a long term answer for winning hockey. But 2 years of Josh Manson at under 2.5m could be a great fit. I personally see what is going to BOS in this trade as a great deal for the Devils, but it depends on how much they value Daws. If you take him out, the return likely changes to a 2nd rounder + a late round pick.

NJ's current two goaltenders are just as good as Georgiev... and they don't need RHD.

Colorado and NJ decline.

actual description: Boston gets nothing they value. hard pass.

Georgiev would be an upgrade. He has provided good goaltending the last 2 years while eating 60+ starts a year. We're getting 50% retained manson here. It's an absolute bargain. Easy accept for NJD

NJD should 100% accept.

My idea here was not to give NJ a couple of all stars, but rather to make the value on the deal excellent while hopefully letting them improve. I'm glad someone else at least sees that it is a good value. I'm honestly not sure about the fit though... agreed with the previous commenter that toughness would be better served on LD so that Nemec can stay up in the everyday lineup. Brenden Dillon might be a good option for a short term deal, but he'll be much more expensive than what I put for Manson here.

Calum Ritchie is a legit top 6 C prospect with some size: https://dobberprospects.com/player/calum-ritchie/

He's still 19, so we won't know what he turns into for a few years, but I'd personally put his current value at the equivalent of a top 10 pick this year (although you are free to disagree). They are also getting back a 3rd round pick and a young G prospect with NHL experience in case Bussi doesn't pan out as a backup. Do you think the Bruins can do better than that for Ullmark + 3.85m in cap retention? I guess it depends on how much you value Ritchie, since he is really the centerpiece.

The biggest pushback I'd expect would actually be from Avs fans, not Bruins fans. But I think the Avs will be in a really tough spot this offseason if they actually want to be competitive next year, particularly if they have lost faith in Georgiev.

My personal opinion is that the only way to get a true 1C is to draft and develop, so I don't see a way out for the Bruins other than platooning 2C/3Cs in their top 6 until they can get a higher-end player in their pipeline. Ritchie would accelerate that, IMO.

EDIT:
Also, I acknowledge that this deal makes them worse for the next two years -- they lose Ullmark and eat 2.25m of Manson's salary for 2 years. I'm suggesting leaning harder into the retool, but as an overall strategy I'm sure other Bruins fans will disagree with that strategy.

Yeah I'd prefer to have an LD but I'm sure in this case we could swap marino for an LD like samuelsson from Buffalo or Chychrun from Ottawa or something like that. I don't think it would be hard to find someone to sell us an LD for a RD.

Value is imo a fleece for NJD. Retention factor is huge. I think with that retention, NJD may need to add a 2025 1st instead of our 3rd. At the very least both of our 2nds in 2025 to pay for the retention.

I would do Daws+2nd+2nd for Georgiev+50% retained Manson. Move out marino to a team desperate for a RD (either for an LD or for assets and then go after an LD in UFA). Would probably be more fair for boston

Yeah I don't think you watch Georgiev very often... they're hauling that guy through the finish line on a rope, dead in the water. He is no better, to me, than Vanecek... just looks better behind a superior defense.

The analytics disagree, as does my eye test. And again, Georgiev plays a MONSTER workload. Take that workload down and the results should be even better. At 3.4 million he's more than okay.

I agree he's kind of falling apart, but to the point that @dgibb10 is making, they are misusing him by running him into the ground. Goaltending is high variance, so I'd expect him to improve over how he is performing right now at some point. In my opinion, you are over-exaggerating how bad he is relative to the rest of the league, but I acknowledge he isn't a top-tier goalie. If you want to spend top-tier assets on Saros or Ullmark, or if you want to gamble on a vet with term like Gibson or Markstrom, then those are both valid strategies. If you think the fit is bad, so be it, but I don't really buy that this trade proposal has bad value for the Devils. Also, the UFA goalie market looks pretty bleak... Stolarz, Samsonov, and Nedeljkovic are probably the best available. Do you trust any of those guys more than Georgiev, and do you think any of them will cost notably less than his 3.4m?

If you sign the two guys you have now and platoon them, don't be surprised to see some turnover in the front office within the next 2 years. If I am Fitz, I am not taking that risk.

calum ritchie is okay. nothing special. what makes you think he's anything close to what you're suggesting?

I am not a prospect guru, but here is what I see.

His production has gone up every year in the OHL, hitting 1 point per game last year at age 18 and well over 1 point per game this year. That has been well balanced over goals and assists. He is a 1st round pick who is described as a playmaker who can drive offense at the link I sent.

He is listed as 6'2" 189 lbs. As an adult, he should be over 200 lbs. To me that says he possesses the size to transition up to the AHL/NHL, and the only question is will his production translate. Like all prospects, we won't know until it happens. But at 19, we are much closer to finding out than we would be with a mid-to-late 2025 1st round pick, which seems like the best case return on a deal for just Ullmark.

In the case that he does not pan out as a top 6 center, his size and his high motor make it likely that he can work as a 3C, so as an investment there is very little risk of him never contributing at the NHL level, barring injury.

So the bottom line: he fills a position of need, has good production and has continued to improve, projects as having a top 6 ceiling yet can still play a bottom 6 game, and fits the Bruins timeline better than a future pick. Frankly, I don't think COL will give him up. Avs fans seems to agree with that.

the bold - this isn't special. this is common.

I would be very disappointed if Fitzgerald puts his own job security over the team's success.

If Fitz brings back Kahkonen/Allen/Schmid/Daws, but uses the assets instead to build a high quality dcore and bottom 6, I'd be much happier than if he paid for a "top goalie" and didn't fix our bottom 6 and find an LD.

I'd rather have Marcus Pettersson and Kaapo Kahkonen than Kevin Bahl and Jacob Markstrom

Call me a cynic, but I think every GM operates like this. Its only human nature to want to show that you can succeed in a job if you are just given the opportunity. Fortunately, they don't start making wild moves unless they are desperately trying to save their job or they are going all in (likely with ownership approval). However, I do think that one of the things that most GMs are doing is trying to minimize risk. I thin Kahkonen and Allen are both pretty safe to call at least 1B level, and Schmid and Daws are both arguably still unknowns. I think that running back those 4 does not minimize risk. Trading away a big package for a Markstrom doesn't minimize risk either, but anyway, onto your next point.



This is completely valid and I glossed over it. A sound D corps has way less variance than any goalie. I agree that I'd rather have a solid D corps and a middling solution in net than the other way around. This is exactly the reason why I never bought those "wOn ThE cUp WiTh AiDeN hIlL" arguments that I saw around many fanbases for justifying questionable goaltending this year. Those arguments completely ignored how excellent the Vegas D corps and the coach's defensive system were.

For NJD it was justifiable last year with Luke,Hamilton,Graves,Severson,Marino,Siegs was an excellent dcore

I expected a step back this year going from Severson-Graves to Luke-Nemec. Funny enough imo Luke-Nemec were overall better than Severson-Graves were (not defensively, but overall) and the loss of Hamilton, and the absolute disappointments of seasons from Bahl Marino and Siegs were the problem.

I still believe in building an elite DCore over overpaying for a volatile goalie.

I'd go after some of the vegas dman, go after some of the carolina dmen, go after pettersson, go after Gavrikov (he could be a bargain cap casualty if he's willing to waive).

Again, I don't know a ton about evaluating prospects, so I am trying to do some research. Let's just accept that my description before is common (over 1 P/GP, progressing every year). Let's add a bit more information.

He is #6 in the OHL in P/GP, and he is not doing it as a "shifty undersized guy" or a wing. I know that the OHL is not the only junior league and that top 10 in one of those leagues does not mean he will be a superstar or anything, but I have a tough time calling his production "common". I concede it is inconclusive as to what he might be, but he's doing what you hope a late 1st round pick will do at this stage of his development. I'm not sure what more you could ask for from a prospect his age?

Again, there are separate but related questions -- what kind of prospect is Ritchie, and what could we get for Ullmark + taking on cap. You can quibble with what Ritchie will be and I won't be able to convince you otherwise, because there is so much we don't know about what he will be. But I think you'd have trouble finding a more safe asset that likely addresses an area of need on a faster timeline with a partner that would actually consider the trade. It is so safe of an investment that Avs fans probably won't actually consider the trade I proposed anyway, so this is all kind of a moot point.

I like the arguments here for all 3 sides, but I see NJD as the absolute winner here - add in the retention and it's a no brainer. BOS probably wants more for the retention they are shelling out. But I would think COL values their assets much higher than just getting Ullmark out of this. Georgie is not a Vezina contender but his number are solid. Agree his usage has part to do with it too. Just my $0.02

ya he's been fine. i would say don't fall in love with point production as the only metric you're looking at for a guy playing junior after he's been drafted. we see it all the time. off the top of my head i could name you five bruins prospects alone that ripped up junior and were absolutely nothing. Remember Yannick Riendeau? guy had a similar story. production went up every year, 2 points per game in his last junior season - never played an NHL game because he sucked.

but anyway, he's been fine. nice prospect - saying that you think he's equivalent to a top 10 pick in this years draft? that's freaking insane.

I'm sure we can find a ton of examples of prospects that flame out, but we only know what we know about them. And we know that the Bruins prospect pool needs to be replenished.

And fine, maybe top 10 was a bit hyperbolic. He went 23rd OA in a draft class that is thought to be much stronger than this year's, and his stock should have only gone up, so maybe he is a 10-20 pick in this year's draft. If he were 10, that would technically still be a top 10 pick!

I think you are pretty much spot-on now that I have digesting feedback from others.

Best value: NJD (probably needs to either send more back or Boston needs to retain less)
Worst value: COL (probably doesn't need to give up their best prospect for a goalie upgrade and a cap dump)

COL might be better served investing in a reliable backup so they can use Georgiev a bit less and hope he bounces back. Also, some Avs fans are claiming that they don't think Landeskog will play again and therefore won't be cap-crunched nearly as badly as I think they will be, but until I hear any evidence that states otherwise I think it is better to assume he will be back.

Imo just based on the retention boston gets shafted. It would probably be fair without the retention. About 5 mill in retention tho should fetch a 1st for boston