Trades and Potential Trades

Trade: Canadiens acquire Eric Staal from Sabres for 2021 draft picks

The exodus from Buffalo has begun as the Sabres are sending Eric Staal to the Canadiens for third and fifth-round picks in the 2021 NHL Draft. Buffalo will also be retaining $1.625M of Staal’s salary this season.

In 32 games this season the 36-year-old Staal has three goals and 10 points. The Sabres acquired him from the Wild in September for Marcus Johansson.

Staal is set to become an unrestricted free agent this off-season. His contract included a no-movement clause where he had to submit a 10-team no-trade list.

NBC

 

Talk that the Devils will trade Kyle Palmieri have reached fevered pitch; it’s no longer a question of will he be moved, but to whom and how soon?

The NYI have a glaring need to replace injured A. Lee. A lot of pundits list them as the favorite. I say: “maybe. Maybe, but...”

I think he’s a better fit with the hockey team from Boston. While the B Matties have some serious structural issues that could close their Cup window in a year, or three, they remain a very serious contender this season. If they’re gonna have a shot then Sweeney is going to have to get bold. And, they need scoring more than defensive depth.

I think the odds are that Sweeney snags Palmieri costing him a first. (This draft class is not particularly strong. It’s not a horrible draft, but it reminds me of the ‘14 draft class. Add in the fact that scouting is extraordinarily challenged this year, and it means trading a ‘21 first is not profligate.)

 

Trade: Islanders land Palmieri, Devils’ return includes first-round pick

With Anders Lee out for the season, the New York Islanders needed scoring, and had cap space to get it. They once again completed a big trade with the Devils to do so, with Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac being involved in the move.

Islanders trade for Kyle Palmieri
Here’s how the Palmieri trade looks for the Islanders and Devils.

Islanders receive: Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac.

Devils receive: A.J. Greer, Mason Jobst, the Islanders’ 2021 first-round pick, and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2022.

Devils also retain 50-percent of salaries for both Palmieri and Zajac to complete the trade with Islanders.

NBC

 

This is great news for the Buffalo Sabres; desire Taylor Hall? Pony up!

 

Is Jack Eichel seriously on the 'block', or is this just something the talkingheads are saying to strike up conversation in front of the deadline?

 

Eichel is not being offered, but Kevyn Adams is listening. This is in contrast to his predecessor, Jason Botteril, who would not engage his fellow GM’s if it was a touchy topic.

There are some intriguing dynamics with Jack Eichel. At $10MM he’s not overpaid, but in the current NHL, that’s a humongous nut to move. That’s only the first reason that any trade would have to happen in the offseason.

His contract has a modified NTC that kicks into effect in a year - the earliest it’s allowed. That would reduce Buffalo’s leverage, so if he’s going to be traded, it behooves KA to see about getting that done before the NTC reduces his bargaining power.

Jack is 24 (will turn 25 in late Oct.). That’s to say, he’s on the cusp of his prime years and not - in relative terms - a young player. That’s o.k. for the Sabres, but could be a big issue for Jack. He’s already wasted his youth on the Sabres. If the team is entering yet another rebuild, will he want to waste his prime years?

THIS is the reason - if any - to consider trading Jack. It may be the reason that Jack requests a trade. (Forget any comments along the lines of: “he’s under contract, they have no obligation to kowtow to his demands”. Under the Pegulas, it’s axiomatic that “if you don’t wanna be here, we don’t want you either”.)

KA has to listen - do his due diligence - on Eichel’s trade value. I have no idea what Jack is thinking. But, if he were to request a change, then I would not blame him. I will not begrudge his right to control his life the best way he can.

Jack, like a lot of athletes arriving in Buffalo, has grown very attached to the region. It’ll be hard for him to ask for a trade. I also have no real idea of just how far away the team may be from being competitive. A simple change from Krueger to Granato has demonstrated that the team is a lot better than what they’ve shown.

The team’s prospect pipeline is not considered NHL elite. But, when you consider that they have a few players that would still be in the pipeline on other teams, the young talent in this org. is extremely good.

Between now and the deadline, they’ll focus on converting expiring contracts (Hall, Montour, and even Ullmark) into future assets. But every mega offseason trade usually had the tires turning prior to the previous deadline.

Talk of an Eichel trade is not hot air, or mere talking heads. But, it’s rather meaningless in terms of what it matters to the NHL this season.

 

Connolly, Stillman traded to Blackhawks by Panthers
Florida receives Carlsson, Wallmark for forwards; Chicago also gets Borgstrom, 2021 Draft pick

 

Colorado Avalanche get: Patrick Nemeth
Detroit Red Wings get: 2022 fourth-round draft pick
________

Toronto Maple Leafs get: Riley Nash
Columbus Blue Jackets get: 2022 conditional seventh-round pick (Pick becomes a sixth if Nash appears in 25% of Toronto’s 2020-21 playoff games.)

 

Brandon Montour has been freed, err traded, from Buffalo to the Panthers in exchange for a third round pick. The Sabres retained no salary.

Do not look at Montour's stats and expect to get a good read on his worth. No player produced well for Ralph Kreuger ("no player" needs to be read literally) some were merely held back, and some were crushed. Brandon's performance recently under Granato provides a more accurate reading for what dline and the FL faithful might expect. He's no Aaron Ekblad, but he brings speed and puck handling to Florida's blueline; that's always welcome come playoff season.

Thanks Brandon, and best wishes in South Florida.

 

Dubnyk moves from SJ to Denver. Avs we’re almost desperate for a backup G. (Although Jonas Johansson pitched a shutout for them yesterday.)

Sabres are actively trying to resign Linus Ullmark. Linus is no longer a backup; he’s a 1A or a 1B starter for most teams.

 

A busy day of trades continued on Saturday with the Tampa Bay Lightning adding another major piece to its lineup when it acquired defenseman David Savard in a three-team trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings.

The trade breaks down as follows:

Columbus receives: 2021 first-round pick (from Tampa Bay), 2022 third-round pick (from Tampa Bay)

Detroit receives: 2021 fourth-round pick (from Tampa Bay)

Tampa Bay receives: David Savard (from Columbus), Brian Lashoff (from Detroit)

NBC

 

Nick Foligno moves to Toronto by way of San José. First, Columbus retained 50% and then SJ retained half the balance. Toronto gets a nice player for only ~$1.4MM cap hit. (They also get some scrub from the Sharks.)

SJ gets a 4th rounder from TOR.

CBJ gets TOR’s first.

Three 1st in 21 for the BJ’s. Not bad. Of course Toronto’s is likely to be inveje low 20’s and the one from TB could be 31st. Still, they are having the best sale in a buyers’ market.

 

The Sabres sites are gonna be lit up over Curtis Lazar going to the hockey team from Boston. Someone else goes to Boston too.

A second round pick has a reasonable chance to become a decent NHL player in about 5 years. That’s about it.

Curtis, we’ll miss ya.

 

Trade: Penguins acquire Jeff Carter from Kings for two draft picks...

The Kings are also retaining 50 percent of Carter’s remaining salary as part of the deal.

He is signed through the end of the 2021-22 season at a salary cap hit of $5.272 million per season.

This is the first major roster move the Penguins have made since the hiring of Ron Hextall as the team’s new general manager, and it sees him acquiring a significant player that he has ties to from his days in the Philadelphia and Los Angeles front offices.

Carter, 36, has eight goals and 11 assists in 40 games this season for the Kings.

 

Sabres reportedly trade Taylor Hall to Bruins for underwhelming return...

lol... Im slow. This is the someone else Dan kinda referred to.

 

Merrill traded to Canadiens by Red Wings
Detroit receives forward prospect Verbeek, fifth-round pick in 2021 Draft for defenseman

 

Taylor Hall’s comments seems to indicate that it came down to Buffalo or Boston in FA last Fall. The determining factor, therefore, MUST have been money. Strictly my guess here - Boston probably was offering $6MM or less. No one can blame Hall for taking $8MM.

He said that he’d wanted to don the B-superimposed-on-an-asshole sweater for a few years. If he is extended look for him to take between $5 to $6MM AAV for 3-5 years.

He also stated that his NMC “helped getting him to Boston”. That can also explain the low return Buffalo received.

All in all I cannot complain. Kevyn Adams rolled the dice and lost with Hall. For 1/2 of $8MM (prorated for 56/81 shortened season), is actually a fairly low price to “buy” a pick around 50-55 o/a. (Look what DET paid the NYR for a first, or what CAR paid TOR for one a year ago.)

The truth is that I’ll miss Lazar more than Hall. His play in Buffalo made us smile. Hall, well, he did not make us smile.

I suspect that Boston fans are happy (and probably correctly so). I’d like Matty’s take:
- Do you like Hall? And, do you hope/expect that he’ll be extended?
- What’s your read on Curtis Lazar?
- Is Bjork really just a bag of flaming dog shit?

 

a literal lol from me when i read that. love it.

bingo, i agree that this is what happened, must be. I heard that Hall had given Buffalo a list of only Toronto and Boston a little while back and once Foligno landed with the Leafs Buffalo was bent over.

I like Hall's (potential) game and love the move for the Broonz. A big swing with very little downside. Long term thinking I see this as a tryout for Hall and if he plays well they can talk about the future, Bruins will have even more available money next season.
Hoping Hall can mesh with Krejci, thats what this is all about for Boston I assume. Krejci plays a slower game than most quality Cs, especially with possession, and I think this makes him somewhat difficult to play with for some faster Fs. In my opinion the best wings for Krejci are the big porwards like Lucic, Horton and Iginla. This worries me a bit about a Hall and Krejci combo but you never know until you try it out.
Bruins could have a lineup of
Marchand- Bergy- Smith
Hall- Krejci- Pastrnak
Debrusk- Coyle- Ritchie
Lazar, Kuhlman, Kuraly, Wagner, Kase- if he ever plays again.

I don't have an educated opinion on Curtis Lazar at all but he'll have an opportunity to play. Competition will probably be Kuraly, Wagner, & Kuhlman for minutes. Bottom 6F has been a bit of an achilles heel for the Bruins and hopefully he can help stabilize it.

I like Anders Bjork. He plays a very fast game and hard game. He may not be extremely quick but he plays fast and plays downhill. When he came out of ND the expectation seemed to be top 6F and he was even given a chance to play on a line with with 37 and 63. Bjork can push the play forward and forecheck like a bat out of hell.
The knocks against him are his inability to finish (doesnt seem to have NHL top 6 hands), injury history (big deal for him and really hurt him here) and sometimes a lack of consistency to his game. I really like Anders Bjork and I think that given more minutes he could flourish. This is an underrated asset given up by the Bs, his value has nosedived and it just didnt seem to work out for him here. Hoping he gets a chance and makes the most of it in Buffalo.

Very underrated pickup I think is the addition of Mike Reilly for the Bruins. The D core is ravaged by injury right now and a LHD is needed in a bad way.
Once McAvoy and Carlo are back in the lineup, and if K. Miller is healthy for the playoffs, look out. I dont care what seed they'll be I'll take this Bruins lineup, assuming health.
This is all a moot point if Tuukka isnt between the pipes. I really like Swayman and have for years but Im not trusting a first year pro if I dont have to. Halak aint the answer either.

 

I love what Yzerman has done at the deadline. It's a true rebuild and he gutted the place and brought it down to the studs. Better days are surely ahead and the draft capital he has gained is impressive. For what it's worth from an outsider, I think its in the Wings best interest to suck royally again next year and try to get Shane Wright or Brad Lambert in the 2022 draft. At that point all of the assets that are currently marinating in Jr, college, and minors should be ready to roll.