Drag0nDan

Well they did a very bad deal with him. 5 years at almost 8? He had 4 years of team control. They got one extra year for giving him a boat of cash.

He is better than Peterka right now though as a full hockey player from end to end. Assuming they want Peterka in the trade (I think they could make a case for Byram)... You probably want tage back at center and it'd look something like: Benson - Tage - Tuch Zucker - Norris - Kyrou Kulich - Mcleod - Quinn Greenway - Krebs - Malenstyn

The answer probably has to be in the room unless you think Buffalo has a shot at any major free agents. The prevalence of contract clauses that prevent you from going to a team you don't want to makes it much more challenging to acquire players.

I thought he want to Miami University...?

Yeah... considering she is now the primary team owner CEO it was probably a good idea to have some involvement.

It doesn't work with a draft, and considering the league makes money on the draft i'd think that would be counterproductive.

It's a tough trade to build. Probably requires a 3rd team since none of the players are going to waive a clause to come to buffalo. They have a few pieces that Buffalo could be interested in - Geekie, Raddysh, Moser, and Lilleberg. All of those guys are cheap though, so to make the dollars work it needs a 3rd team. For buffalo since 2 of those guys are lefties, it probably requires someone also to take on samuelsson.

maybe you can trade him, but he's not an asset - he's either there to make a money acquisiton fit in a multiple team deal, or he's dumped to a team with lots of space who's rebuilding.

Powers contracts too high to move, and they couldn't sign byram either. They're pretty much needing ELC contributors and a big piece to replace Robertson. I'm not sure they move him this year though - Moving dumba and lyubushkin can save them 7M, they can probably move lundkvist's RFA tender for an ELC forward. Next year i think there's more urgency to trade him as both him and Harley are coming up and with rantanen's deal in place i don't know how you can pay two wingers 24M and roster a team.

It's about brotherhood - and when that happens it really makes everyone your commitment to your team. The franchise, the leadership, the coaching - there are problems with every aspect of that. But you're on the ice, with your boys, and one got absolutely wrecked with a cheap shot and you just looked around confused? What does that have to do with TP, KA, Lindy? You should WANT to fight for your guy, and you shouldn't need a billionaire or his puppet to tell you to do that.

https://puckpedia.com/team/dallas-stars Wyatt Johnston doesn't have one, neither does Oettinger (yet, his triggers after this season i believe). Rantanen, Seguin, Hintz, Heiskanen and now Duchene all do. But 22 year old 2-way centers who score 30 goals usually don't get traded. Oettinger could be a target to get cheaper, but he's one of the best goalies in the league. Harley could potentially move, but at 23yo and 4M averaging 50 points on the blue line - he again feels like a building block more than a trade chip. Marchment has a M-NTC so he's not a sabres target, but he can be moved. I'd assume they move robertson or oettinger in separate deals. We have pieces that they could use - Levi in an oettinger deal for example, and cost controlled young forwards who are NHL-ready(ish).

Instead of Kakko being the key piece in an eichel trade, they got borgen and some late picks. Laff is also now getting 7+ aav and playing like cozens.

Agreed. Drafting him made it easier to move savoie (in addition to kulich just lapping him during development. Norris being so injury prone also gives me pause on moving probably the top non-NHL center. He was also the youngest player in the AHL last year, so he likely projects to be a year away. As it stands today though, the only center keeping him in the AHL is krebs.

Agreed - bring me a superstar and every prospect is available.

I don't like moving helenius because he actually profiles as a middle-six center. Seeing the scarcity and difficulty acquiring two-way centers makes it tough to want to move him.

There's just no reason to justify it. I'd rather just decide the week or even day of and say "I want to go to a game". Ok great, it'll be cheaper if you wait and if they suck again you aren't stuck going to meaningless games that you overpaid for.

I think the challenge i see is the limited suitors - like truly how many teams need a player like him? With the state of this franchise I assume buffalo is a no on most peoples trade destinations, so you have to let some of the roster chips fall around Buffalo before they can try and make a player trade here.

Sorry, i meant from buffalo - instead of say JJP+Rosen+9, its Tuch+Rosen+Östlund - 2 close to ready prospects in lieu of the 9th pick since Tuch either needs to be extended or is UFA.

But then you're hanging onto an asset because you aren't getting the offer you want, and limiting what you can build from a roster perspective. If you've decided on power, move byram to a team that will accomodate his contract demands. A 1st round pick is a trade asset - gives you a first back if you move #9, or trade ammo to try and find a RHD.

Thats fair - i just wonder how much more you're going to get from bottom of the barrel agents. Like if the replacements are sam lafferty with half his contract... uhh you're gonna have a bad time.

I think he's the today replacement at a lower cost - maybe less draft comp and another closer to NHL ready guy in the return.

To shed any payroll they have to move Robertson or Oettinger. Johnston i suppose could be an option, but most teams keep young centers more than wingers. Seguin, Hintz, Heiskanen, and Seguin have full NMC's so they're all likely out on a trade. Rantanens already among the highest paid wingers in the league. I don't think it makes sense to then extend robertson and then have the two most expensive wingers in the league. Working JJP under is challenging, probably requires Dumba be included, and maybe a 3rd team for Lyubushkin. It's why it might make more sense for it to be Tuch - with rosen/Östlund, probably this years 1st, and probably next years 1st (maybe you can throw a lottery top 3 protection on it). Nuclear option would be they move both Robertson and Oettinger - and then definitely need a 3rd team to accommodate some of the other pieces that would need to be included while getting dallas NHL ready prospects, cheaper contracted players, and a goalie. Like Dallas doesn't need Byram, but what buffalo gets for byram, plus the above trade, plus levi... etc. Buffalo would need to shed UPL somewhere too. The amount of moving parts would be insane. The stuff madden dreams are made of 🙂

Duchene averaging a PPG is probably driving the price out of their range imo so he's probably gone. Benn's 35, and a different player than they had paid so I'd think he can be had for a team-friendly deal. Granlunds tough because they used a lot of capital to bring him and Ceci in, and he seemed to mesh with Rantanen. Ceci is also a free agent, but i suppose dumba replaces him with his return from injury. As it stands without those guys they only have 5M in cap space, with Lundkvist (I don't really know whats going on with him) and Bourque yet to pay.

I just assumed they were moving him because they cant afford to pay him 12M AAV after 25-26. Benn is the captain and a UFA, Duchene wears an A and is a UFA, then you also have Dadonov and Granlund. You can't (and shouldn't) keep all of them, but both Robertson and Harley come up in 2026 and Seguin doesn't come off until 2027 so somethings gotta give. Otherwise they're going to struggle to ice a competitive back half of the roster.

Most likely - they got his 15 team no-trade and made some calls.