There's less than no incentive for Winnipeg to look at that.

Hawks probably accept.

It feels like were at the point where there was kinda an agreed upon price IF Lee was willing to waive to CHI. (I think he would considering his wife's from here, they met at Notre Dame, etc... He'd be the 4th player off the top of my head that made this exact move.) But the value keeps on slipping the more this gets discussed. Example...hey the previous post had an agreed upon (2) 2nds...I'll make it a 2nd and a 3rd....the next post will be a 2nd and a 4th...the next a 2nd and a 5th just to see what fans are willing to giving.

I'm open to bringing on Anders Lee. I think his contract term and his veteran leadership are (2) things that line up with the Hawks well. As far as the return...it'll be whatever it is.

Neither player going back to Winnipeg is all that enticing to the Jets. Respectfully, they're just straight downgrades compared to Heinola and Fetts, not to mention that the Jets guys are both trending upwards.

Jets are in win now mode, so they're not really interested in adding more draft picks unless they plan to flip them for impact players (see last 2 years of Cheveldayoff trades if you're interest is piqued).

Trades involving young, cost-controlled guys like Heinola and Fetts probably need to (1) fill holes in the Jets RD depth, and (2) relieve cap space by taking Schmidt's contract.

Eh, I don't know if the picks associated with taking on two years of Lee's contract is enough... It's over $10mm in real dollars; even still ~$7mm in real dollars if the Hawks bought him out.

I want 1st round picks. To take on Lee's contract, I'd ask for NYI's 2026 1st rounder - unprotected - in exchange for sending them back their 2026 2nd round pick as part of taking on Lee's contract. The value of NYI's 2026 1st rounder going to the Hawks would stay the same relative to the value of NYI's 2026 2nd going back to the Isles.

If the Hawks strike out on their FA targets and need to take on a contract to reach the cap floor, then this draft compensation for taking on Lee’s contract may get it done.

If the Hawks are fine cap wise, then if I’m Davidson I would be holding out for a 1st round pick. Lee turns 34 this summer, with two years remaining at $7m per and the drop in production this season… man they could be paying him a lot for very little on the ice. I would want the real pay off in my back pocket in the form of a 1st round pick.

Yeah. That's why I argue so heavily for more in these types of trades all the time, because if you let up, the other side will continue pushing the price further down. Sellers want pushovers. Isles fans should expect to pay a 1st plus to move a contract that large and with that much term. If they actually end up paying less, then they should be ecstatic about it.