I'll ignore the whole Orpik thing, b/c that to me and I think most people is serious negative value.

As for Oshie vs Galchenyuk, I don't see why Montreal would do this. Their production could be close, but likely if there is an edge it's Galchenyuk for this season, and going forward that gap will just widen. Oshie signed for 8 years is pro. not a good thing for MTL either. Maybe if it was like Oshie for 5 years vs Galchenyuk for 3, you could justify the extra price and the value, but the end of Oshie's deal will probably be pretty poor.

As for Eller vs Lehkonen, why would MTL give up 5 years of Lehkonen for one of Eller? Eller will prob. out produce him, but it won't be by much and the future value of Lehkonen is huge

Lekhonen VS Eller? You must be trolling...Lek is already better than Eller ever was...and he's 22 while Eller is 28.

You can't just unload your terrible contracts (Oshie-Orpiks) and expect to get 23 year old Galchenyuk who has a .60 carrer PPG and one 30 goal season under his belt...

HABS need Centers and Puck Moving Left handed D's. None of what you offer fills that role.

Montreal just gave us Eller for two seconds, and now they're taking him back for Lehkonen? Makes no sense. You said the Habs have plenty of cap space after this, yet they have less than a million left. You also said the Caps get more Russian. Galchenyuk is American with Russian heritage, but he doesn't identify as Russian. This would be a horrendous trade for the Habs. They already don't have enough goal scoring or a #1C, so why would they move the only guy that can do both for them?

It almost seems like you're playing around to get new ideas, even though the ideas don't make a ton of sense

Am I really trolling, or did Montreal just trade a really good, really young Russian defenseman for a really good, not as young Canadian winger, trade a twenty-ish Black Canadian defenseman on a long term (good, realistic) contract for a thirtyish white Canadian defenseman on a just as long (bad, unrealistic) contract, leave a solid Russian defenseman exposed to the expansion draft, and balk at signing a top line Russian speaking wing and a top pairing Russian defenseman, all in a year? So, I'm thinking, if the Habs are valuing white, English and French speaking players over all the other variables everyone is pointing out above, maybe the Caps should call them and try to cash in, already. I suppose offering American born guys is probably a mistake though... How about Galchenyuk and Lehkonen for Holtby, WIlson, and Bowey?

Also, SteveO, you have yet to address my persistent points that Orpik was top ten in plus minus and hits, top forty in shot blocking, and I'll add that, since signing Orpik, and making him an alternate captain, the Caps are a .500 team in terms of playoff series, getting out of the first round in three straight seasons, the longest such streak in club history. In those playoff series, Orpik has been a huge physical presence, which is what the Habs went for in getting Weber for Subban, in what will, ten years from now, be remembered as one of the stupidest trades in hockey history, unless Montreal builds up more playoff-tough guys right away and wins a cup or two.

And, yeah, the second trade is a joke, just grasping at straws to think of how to deal with the hole that leaves the Habs at center, but it's not really as bad as all that. Drouin can kind of play center. Pacioretty can kind of play center. Plekanec and Shaw have some offensive flair and could move up in the lineup. I don't think they're fresh out of options. But I do agree that Galchenyuk is a tantalizingly good young player. A lot of Habs fans all summer have been trading him for Ovechkin on here, and I don't think the Caps management or casual fans who only know Ovechkin, and known nothing else about hockey, will accept that. Oshie, on the other hand.... why not get full trade value before fans get too attached?

The Caps were all in last year and didn't win it all. So now they need to build a long term strategy to stay competitive, as some of their stars get older. One way to do that is to trade them for younger stars. Yes, both scored thirty goals once, but Oshie had 33 last year with only 53% offensive zone starts, and went +22. Galchenyuk needed 68% offensive zone starts to score a mere 17 goals last year, while going -5, so he's less of a dependable defensive player, and not necessarily the guy you want if you're trying to win the Cup right away.

What am I missing?

Oshie: https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/o/oshietj01.html
Galchenyuk: https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/g/galchal01.html

Oh, right... Oshie is 5% better at faceoffs over the last two years. Played two more minutes a night last year, can kill penalties, and might just be much more of a potential "1C" in the next year or two than Galchenyuk.

He's also pretty good under pressure... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9nRSMAdfDw