Speculation: 2023-24-25 Sharks Roster Discussion

[TealManV]

I’m really interested to see how things shake out in Columbus with their next GM.

I’d be very interested in David Jiricek if he were to be available. That’s the type of player worth targeting for the new core, imo.

Offer up:
#14, #42 and Addison’s RFA rights for Jiricek
Or
#14 and Edstrom for Jiricek

and see what happens.

(My thinking behind this)
- Jiricek and CBJ had some well publicized issues this season. There were reports of him wanting out. Obviously, that might change with a new GM (and maybe a new coach), but maybe the damage is already done.
- The new CBJ GM might not like Jiricek as much since he was drafted by the former regime, much like Grier not loving all of DWJr’s picks. This is a good opportunity to recoup some assets while moving the player to the other conference.
- The new CBJ GM might want to put their stamp on the franchise instantly with a big draft day move.
- Lastly, it would just be really cool. I really like the player and believe he’d fill a big need.

Alright.

 

[timorous me]

I’m really interested to see how things shake out in Columbus with their next GM.

I’d be very interested in David Jiricek if he were to be available. That’s the type of player worth targeting for the new core, imo.

Offer up:
#14, #42 and Addison’s RFA rights for Jiricek
Or
#14 and Edstrom for Jiricek

and see what happens.

(My thinking behind this)
- Jiricek and CBJ had some well publicized issues this season. There were reports of him wanting out. Obviously, that might change with a new GM (and maybe a new coach), but maybe the damage is already done.
- The new CBJ GM might not like Jiricek as much since he was drafted by the former regime, much like Grier not loving all of DWJr’s picks. This is a good opportunity to recoup some assets while moving the player to the other conference.
- The new CBJ GM might want to put their stamp on the franchise instantly with a big draft day move.
- Lastly, it would just be really cool. I really like the player and believe he’d fill a big need.

Alright.

And then Columbus drafts the other Jiricek with our 14th pick!

Come to think of it, we could just do the same and keep Edstrom. (Or draft someone else. I'm just not sure if such a trade would be worth it in terms of losing Edstrom; is David appreciably better than his brother, or Solberg, or a forward like MBN?)

 

[Hodge]

That certainly is an aggressive way to add pieces...what are we trading for Dobson? Vegas 1st + a few depth prospects (ie Bordeleau, Gushchin, Lund, Havelid, Haltunnen?)? I don't think the Rangers trade Miller since he's probably their 2nd most important defenseman after Fox. Islanders have Pulock and Pelech signed long-term, and even if they are willing to let Dobson go, is that package enough to get him?

Also, not sure what the point is of signing a 35-year-old Tanev. Don't like that idea. The other players you suggested are mostly (currently) in their mid-late 20s, so I do see the appeal of rolling into 2026-2027 with Celebrini/Smith/Mukh/Eklund each with 2-3 years of NHL time (assuming Celebrini/Smith/Mukh all play this year); Musty, Bystedt, top-3 pick in 2025, and maybe Edstrom joining in 2025-2026, and them being surrounded by some young-ish vets (late 20s-early 30s) in DeBrusk, Necas, Dobson, Ekblad, and Chuchryn (I don't think Vegas lets Theodore walk).

DeBrusk-Celebrini-Necas, Musty-Smith-Eklund, Edstrom-Bystedt-Zetterlund + a top-4 of Mukh-Dobson, Chuchryn-Hensler would certainly be fun to watch.

Dobson was definitely my least realistic suggestion but maybe the Islanders decide to rebuild in which case I think we could put together a competitive offer, potentially even including our own 2025 1st if it doesn't win one of the lotteries.

I just don't think it makes any sense to intentionally continue being bad with Celebrini and Smith on the NHL team. There's also no guarantee that drafting a defenseman with a high pick means he will turn into your #1D. Even if he does that could take 5+ years.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Dobson was definitely my least realistic suggestion but maybe the Islanders decide to rebuild in which case I think we could put together a competitive offer, potentially even including our own 2025 1st if it doesn't win one of the lotteries.

I just don't think it makes any sense to intentionally continue being bad with Celebrini and Smith on the NHL team. There's also no guarantee that drafting a defenseman with a high pick means he will turn into your #1D. Even if he does that could take 5+ years.

One needs to come up with an answer for that spot if we honestly expect to compete even with Celebrini and Smith on the Sharks. The draft is probably our best bet.

 

[Shark in Hockeytown]

Dobson was definitely my least realistic suggestion but maybe the Islanders decide to rebuild in which case I think we could put together a competitive offer, potentially even including our own 2025 1st if it doesn't win one of the lotteries.

I just don't think it makes any sense to intentionally continue being bad with Celebrini and Smith on the NHL team. There's also no guarantee that drafting a defenseman with a high pick means he will turn into your #1D. Even if he does that could take 5+ years.

I don't think it makes any sense to rush the process when you do not have the foundation of a team. Why do you want to ensure getting stuck in the mushy middle? What is so great about being a marginal playoff team if you never advance beyond that?

Let's do a parallel to the Blackhawks when they drafted Toews and Kane in 06 and 07. If Smith and Celebrini hit their peaks, they too would be a high-level offense driver (Kane) and a quality two-way center (Toews). But look who Chicago already had playing when they drafted Toews in 06: Sharp; Keith, Seabrook, Byfuglien; Crawford, and then had already drafted: Bolland, Brouwer; Hjarlmarsson; and a bunch of other guys they used in trades to acquire key players: Ruuttu, Mark Bell; Babchuk, Wisniewski, Barker, And they made big name free agent signings once they were close: Hossa, Campbell (although they did let Havlat walk in FA). They could jump start their contention when Toews and Kane were young because they had a foundation they could build on. The Sharks don't a foundation yet and won't ever have one if they trade away draft picks and prospects for veterans.

 

[Hodge]

One needs to come up with an answer for that spot if we honestly expect to compete even with Celebrini and Smith on the Sharks. The draft is probably our best bet.

Not necessarily. You can build a good defense without an elite #1. There aren't many elite #1 defensemen in the NHL right now period. Even being generous Makar, McAvoy, Heiskanen, Hughes, Fox and...who else, really? Personally I don't even rate Hughes and Fox in that true upper echelon.

We should be trying to assemble a defense like Florida's. I know Ekblad was a 1st OA pick but realistically you can acquire a similar player via trade or free agency without breaking the bank.

 

[Hodge]

I don't think it makes any sense to rush the process when you do not have the foundation of a team. Why do you want to ensure getting stuck in the mushy middle? What is so great about being a marginal playoff team if you never advance beyond that?

Let's do a parallel to the Blackhawks when they drafted Toews and Kane in 06 and 07. If Smith and Celebrini hit their peaks, they too would be a high-level offense driver (Kane) and a quality two-way center (Toews). But look who Chicago already had playing when they drafted Toews in 06: Sharp; Keith, Seabrook, Byfuglien; Crawford, and then had already drafted: Bolland, Brouwer; Hjarlmarsson; and a bunch of other guys they used in trades to acquire key players: Ruuttu, Mark Bell; Babchuk, Wisniewski, Barker, And they made big name free agent signings once they were close: Hossa, Campbell (although they did let Havlat walk in FA). They could jump start their contention when Toews and Kane were young because they had a foundation they could build on. The Sharks don't a foundation yet and won't ever have one if they trade away draft picks and prospects for veterans.

Every rebuild is different. As you correctly point out, we don't have a Keith or Seabrook in our system. We probably don't even have a Hjalmarsson. But we do have a shitload of cap space and assets. Sure, no team is going to trade us Keith for 14th overall but can we find 6 defensemen who are 70-80% of Keith from trades, free agency and developing guys in our own prospect pool? I think we can.

We just gave up 150 more goals than we scored. This fear of a few additions landing us in the mushy middle is not rooted in reality. Fact is, we could literally add McDavid for nothing and still finish no higher than 30th. No matter what happens this offseason we will certainly have a shot at a top defense prospect in the 2025 draft but putting all our hope into that guy saving the defense is a massively risky proposition. Also almost every successful rebuilding team has a few mushy middle seasons on their ascent to true contention. Your own example of Chicago finished with 88 points and barely missed the playoffs in 07-08.

I reject the notion that we need to follow some specific blueprint or order of operations to execute a successful rebuild. Ultimately you need an elite player at a premium position to build around. We have ours in Celebrini and might potentially have a second one in Smith assuming he sticks at center. It's time to start (carefully and strategically) adding some long-term complementary pieces, along with short-term insulation for Celebrini and Smith, instead of banking entirely on prospects who were drafted in ranges with extremely low hit rates of finding an impact player historically.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Not necessarily. You can build a good defense without an elite #1. There aren't many elite #1 defensemen in the NHL right now period. Even being generous Makar, McAvoy, Heiskanen, Hughes, Fox and...who else, really? Personally I don't even rate Hughes and Fox in that true upper echelon.

We should be trying to assemble a defense like Florida's. I know Ekblad was a 1st OA pick but realistically you can acquire a similar player via trade or free agency without breaking the bank.

Even if I give you that it isn't necessarily true (which I don't agree with), where is this good defense going to come from for us now and the next two years. Even the defensemen that are a tier or two below what you're talking about aren't readily available nor cheap and we're talking about having us completely remake the blue line in three years. That is no average feat and finding a minimum of three of those guys available for us is a lot more difficult than you're making it out to be.

Who is the Ekblad level player that's going to become available to us because I'm sure a lot of those players will have better options for them elsewhere and any team looking to trade one for whatever reason can probably get a better deal for themselves elsewhere too.

Every rebuild is different. As you correctly point out, we don't have a Keith or Seabrook in our system. We probably don't even have a Hjalmarsson. But we do have a shitload of cap space and assets. Sure, no team is going to trade us Keith for 14th overall but can we find 6 defensemen who are 70-80% of Keith from trades, free agency and developing guys in our own prospect pool? I think we can.

We just gave up 150 more goals than we scored. This fear of a few additions landing us in the mushy middle is not rooted in reality. Fact is, we could literally add McDavid for nothing and still finish no higher than 30th. No matter what happens this offseason we will certainly have a shot at a top defense prospect in the 2025 draft but putting all our hope into that guy saving the defense is a massively risky proposition. Also almost every successful rebuilding team has a few mushy middle seasons on their ascent to true contention. Your own example of Chicago finished with 88 points and barely missed the playoffs in 07-08.

I reject the notion that we need to follow some specific blueprint or order of operations to execute a successful rebuild. Ultimately you need an elite player at a premium position to build around. We have ours in Celebrini and might potentially have a second one in Smith assuming he sticks at center. It's time to start (carefully and strategically) adding some long-term complementary pieces, along with short-term insulation for Celebrini and Smith, instead of banking entirely on prospects who were drafted in ranges with extremely low hit rates of finding an impact player historically.

There's not a chance in hell that we can find 6 defensemen who are 70-80% of Keith from trades and there's not a chance in hell that if we did that those players would be good enough to compete with teams that have real #1's.

 

[Hodge]

Even if I give you that it isn't necessarily true (which I don't agree with), where is this good defense going to come from for us now and the next two years. Even the defensemen that are a tier or two below what you're talking about aren't readily available nor cheap and we're talking about having us completely remake the blue line in three years. That is no average feat and finding a minimum of three of those guys available for us is a lot more difficult than you're making it out to be.

Who is the Ekblad level player that's going to become available to us because I'm sure a lot of those players will have better options for them elsewhere and any team looking to trade one for whatever reason can probably get a better deal for themselves elsewhere too.

I don't know which specific names will be available to us but there are tons of established top 4 defensemen hitting the UFA and RFA markets this offseason and next. We can offer them more money than any other team (at least pre-tax) and more opportunity than any other team. We also have two extra 1sts and a ton of surplus prospects to use as trade chips for the RFAs.

 

[Hodge]

There's not a chance in hell that we can find 6 defensemen who are 70-80% of Keith from trades and there's not a chance in hell that if we did that those players would be good enough to compete with teams that have real #1's.

I'm really just talking about finding 6 middle pairing defensemen. Sign 1-2 this offseason, 1-2 more next offseason, trade for one this offseason or next and continue developing Mukhamadullin and to a lesser extent Thrun and Emberson. Doesn't seem too complicated. Florida has basically done this and they're the current Cup favorites.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Not necessarily. You can build a good defense without an elite #1. There aren't many elite #1 defensemen in the NHL right now period. Even being generous Makar, McAvoy, Heiskanen, Hughes, Fox and...who else, really? Personally I don't even rate Hughes and Fox in that true upper echelon.

We should be trying to assemble a defense like Florida's. I know Ekblad was a 1st OA pick but realistically you can acquire a similar player via trade or free agency without breaking the bank.

If Smith hits, and the Sharks have two franchise centers, then perhaps they can get by without a superstar D, though I would prefer a superstar defenseman to Smith.

 

[Star Platinum]

If Smith hits, and the Sharks have two franchise centers, then perhaps they can get by without a superstar D, though I would prefer a superstar defenseman to Smith.

 

[jMoneyBrah]

As of this moment, baring some miracle run next season, the Sharks have in all likelihood 7 top 50 picks in the next two drafts. Accounting for Celebrini they have 6 legit swings at finding a #1D. This is not to say it’s a certainty, just that they are better positioned than they ever have been to draft the solution.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I don't know which specific names will be available to us but there are tons of established top 4 defensemen hitting the UFA and RFA markets this offseason and next. We can offer them more money than any other team (at least pre-tax) and more opportunity than any other team. We also have two extra 1sts and a ton of surplus prospects to use as trade chips for the RFAs.

Given Grier's talk about limiting contracts to four or five years, chances are that the free agent market is going to be too rich for our blood in that regard. Even with more money, players have more take home pay practically anywhere else with better competitive odds than us even with Celebrini and Smith becoming elite during their ELC. The kind of player that's going to sign with us is someone that should only get one or two years based on their play but would only sign with us if we give them three or four years. Those guys aren't likely to even be solid 2nd pairing defensemen. They're more likely to end up like Burroughs or Benning. I'm not sure why you're so eager to fork over our two extra 1st round picks when we don't have surplus prospects of value.

I'm really just talking about finding 6 middle pairing defensemen. Sign 1-2 this offseason, 1-2 more next offseason, trade for one this offseason or next and continue developing Mukhamadullin and to a lesser extent Thrun and Emberson. Doesn't seem too complicated. Florida has basically done this and they're the current Cup favorites.

It's not complicated. It's just not realistic for a team in our situation. Florida doesn't have six middle pairing defensemen and they're not the current Cup favorites. Florida has two lower end top pairing defensemen, two solid top four defensemen, and two 3rd pairing vets that contribute in complementary ways. That's not something we can easily replicate because of what's realistically available to the Sharks. The free agent market is not going to be a realistic avenue for this sort of thing because Grier wants to limit term to four years. Any good free agent defenseman will command more than that. Just look at Zadorov who is thinking he can get 6x6. And trades when we don't really have valuable surplus future assets is going to be limited. You can typically get 2nd pairing caliber players for a 2nd and another mid-round level asset and that would be fine for actual 2nd pairing defensemen but asking one of them to play top pairing minutes and matchups is asking to get our ass handed to us. We need legitimate top guys and top pairing guys to compete. I think getting 3-7 is easy enough. Ferraro, Muk, and Thrun can fill the left side adequately. The right side is a complete dumpster fire and those are the positions that are valued at a premium. Good luck finding three guys there that make sense for us giving our likely limitations.

 

[Pavelski2112]

Given Grier's talk about limiting contracts to four or five years, chances are that the free agent market is going to be too rich for our blood in that regard. Even with more money, players have more take home pay practically anywhere else with better competitive odds than us even with Celebrini and Smith becoming elite during their ELC. The kind of player that's going to sign with us is someone that should only get one or two years based on their play but would only sign with us if we give them three or four years. Those guys aren't likely to even be solid 2nd pairing defensemen. They're more likely to end up like Burroughs or Benning. I'm not sure why you're so eager to fork over our two extra 1st round picks when we don't have surplus prospects of value.

It's not complicated. It's just not realistic for a team in our situation. Florida doesn't have six middle pairing defensemen and they're not the current Cup favorites. Florida has two lower end top pairing defensemen, two solid top four defensemen, and two 3rd pairing vets that contribute in complementary ways. That's not something we can easily replicate because of what's realistically available to the Sharks. The free agent market is not going to be a realistic avenue for this sort of thing because Grier wants to limit term to four years. Any good free agent defenseman will command more than that. Just look at Zadorov who is thinking he can get 6x6. And trades when we don't really have valuable surplus future assets is going to be limited. You can typically get 2nd pairing caliber players for a 2nd and another mid-round level asset and that would be fine for actual 2nd pairing defensemen but asking one of them to play top pairing minutes and matchups is asking to get our ass handed to us. We need legitimate top guys and top pairing guys to compete. I think getting 3-7 is easy enough. Ferraro, Muk, and Thrun can fill the left side adequately. The right side is a complete dumpster fire and those are the positions that are valued at a premium. Good luck finding three guys there that make sense for us giving our likely limitations.

Florida is absolutely a Cup favorite. I'd put them higher than anyone except maybe Dallas.

Vegas again proved you don't need a true #1D to win if you have depth and a system that works for the group, same as PIT in 2017.

 

[fasterthanlight]

What would folks want from CAR to take on Kotkaniemi's contract?

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

Kind of curious if Toronto is going to try and trade Tavares, if couture was healthy that would be an interesting trade idea

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Florida is absolutely a Cup favorite. I'd put them higher than anyone except maybe Dallas.

Vegas again proved you don't need a true #1D to win if you have depth and a system that works for the group, same as PIT in 2017.

Of course they're a favorite but right now the favorite is Dallas. I don't know how Vegas proved you don't need a true #1D to win. They had Pietrangelo who was a proven 1D that won it all previously.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

What would folks want from CAR to take on Kotkaniemi's contract?

That's a tough gauge. He's an overpaid 3rd liner at best currently with six more years. You'd want to get a 1st plus a 2nd to take on that sort of contract but he's a very easy buyout that makes that sort of ask likely impractical. Same with asking to take him with Necas so they can get Necas for cheaper. I don't think there's a workable trade to take Kotkaniemi from Carolina. I wouldn't be surprised if they just bought him out. If you believe in him as a player that has more in him, I'm sure they'd trade him to us for a contract or a late pick or something. You would have two years to see if there's more to him before his buyout goes to 2/3's. It might be worth the gamble especially if Carolina is willing to retain on him even just a mil.

Kind of curious if Toronto is going to try and trade Tavares, if couture was healthy that would be an interesting trade idea

No team is going to take the chance on Couture being healthy for next season. He has to prove himself next year and be healthy before someone does that so that'd probably kill any Tavares for Couture types of swaps.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I'm really just talking about finding 6 middle pairing defensemen. Sign 1-2 this offseason, 1-2 more next offseason, trade for one this offseason or next and continue developing Mukhamadullin and to a lesser extent Thrun and Emberson. Doesn't seem too complicated. Florida has basically done this and they're the current Cup favorites.

Florida has been able to be as good as they are because of insanely good pro scouting. Getting Montour and Forsling for basically nothing and getting Tkachuk for Huberdeau and Weeger is the main reason why they’ve been so dominant. I agree that most of your defense can be acquired at reasonable costs if your pro scouts are good enough and your GM is savvy.

However, something I will say is that there is a pretty entrenched formula for winning a Stanley Cup with very few exceptions. Two elite forwards, one high-end defenseman. Vegas proved that you don’t have to draft all of those players yourself, which is awesome, but they didn’t change the general formula.

Eichel, Marchessault, Pietrangelo
Mackinnon, Rantanen, Makar
Kucherov, Point, Hedman
O’Reilly, ______, Pietrangelo
Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Carlsson
Crosby, Malkin, _______
Crosby, Malkin, Letang
Kane, Toews, Keith
Kopitar, Carter, Doughty

Etc.

I’ve backed off the idea that you need a true Norris-caliber elite #1D, which I used to believe, but from this list you can see that you need at the very least a top-30 D in the league who can munch minutes in all situations. And you may not need a second truly elite star forward if your team defense and goaltending is excellent. But there’s a pretty good template for how you should attempt to build a team even though the methods and the details can be variable.

Celebrini is going to be one of those pieces, no doubt. I don’t think Smith will be, though I do think he has a good chance to be a Cup-winning caliber 2C (nothing to sneeze at and a good outcome for a 4th overall pick). But we have nothing at all in the system who projects to be that minute-munching D, which is the concern with team-building here. If you have an idea for a youngish D who can be that guy and that player might actually be available, then I would be more interested in trying to build aggressively now.

I definitely don’t disagree with trying to add at least one top-4 D this summer for sure, if not two. I just don’t think we should go full-court press until that D is secured.

 

[mogambomoroo]

I would go for Matt Roy, Sean Walker and Shayne Gostibehere at full force. 4 years deals each. Ghost 1PP, Mukh 2PP. Matt Roy as your main defensive defensemen.
Ghost - Roy
Ferraro - Walker
Mukh - Rutta/Benning/Emberson

Edit: This defensive core at least looks respectable. Far from the best, but better. I forgot Ferraro first... Now he is there.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Florida has been able to be as good as they are because of insanely good pro scouting. Getting Montour and Forsling for basically nothing and getting Tkachuk for Huberdeau and Weeger is the main reason why they’ve been so dominant. I agree that most of your defense can be acquired at reasonable costs if your pro scouts are good enough and your GM is savvy.

However, something I will say is that there is a pretty entrenched formula for winning a Stanley Cup with very few exceptions. Two elite forwards, one high-end defenseman. Vegas proved that you don’t have to draft all of those players yourself, which is awesome, but they didn’t change the general formula.

Eichel, Marchessault, Pietrangelo
Mackinnon, Rantanen, Makar
Kucherov, Point, Hedman
O’Reilly, ______, Pietrangelo
Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Carlsson
Crosby, Malkin, _______
Crosby, Malkin, Letang
Kane, Toews, Keith
Kopitar, Carter, Doughty

Etc.

I’ve backed off the idea that you need a true Norris-caliber elite #1D, which I used to believe, but from this list you can see that you need at the very least a top-30 D in the league who can munch minutes in all situations. And you may not need a second truly elite star forward if your team defense and goaltending is excellent. But there’s a pretty good template for how you should attempt to build a team even though the methods and the details can be variable.

Celebrini is going to be one of those pieces, no doubt. I don’t think Smith will be, though I do think he has a good chance to be a Cup-winning caliber 2C (nothing to sneeze at and a good outcome for a 4th overall pick). But we have nothing at all in the system who projects to be that minute-munching D, which is the concern with team-building here. If you have an idea for a youngish D who can be that guy and that player might actually be available, then I would be more interested in trying to build aggressively now.

I definitely don’t disagree with trying to add at least one top-4 D this summer for sure, if not two. I just don’t think we should go full-court press until that D is secured.

I'd be fine with pursuing someone like Montour or DeMelo or Roy or Pesce as the only free agent RHD's that were able to play over 20 minutes a night if they're willing to settle for a four year term. Trading assets for that caliber of player only makes sense if we have an established route to get a top pairing guy in the process. I agree with not going full-court press until that top D is secured. I just don't see any way for us to really get that unless we pick top five next year and draft one there.

 

[Pavelski2112]

Of course they're a favorite but right now the favorite is Dallas. I don't know how Vegas proved you don't need a true #1D to win. They had Pietrangelo who was a proven 1D that won it all previously.

Petro last year was absolutely not the same guy that won the Cup in 2019 but Vegas had the depth to make up for that

 

[Juxtaposer]

I'd be fine with pursuing someone like Montour or DeMelo or Roy or Pesce as the only free agent RHD's that were able to play over 20 minutes a night if they're willing to settle for a four year term. Trading assets for that caliber of player only makes sense if we have an established route to get a top pairing guy in the process. I agree with not going full-court press until that top D is secured. I just don't see any way for us to really get that unless we pick top five next year and draft one there.

Sure, but convincing them to come here is like 99% of the battle. I would love to grab two of those guys (or someone like Skjei) but I shudder to think of the overpayment it would take to make them choose us over a legit playoff team.

Besides, like I said before, I don’t really want to do the equivalent of signing Damon Severson and Erik Gusbranson to awful contracts.

Agreed on drafting D next year.

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

That's a tough gauge. He's an overpaid 3rd liner at best currently with six more years. You'd want to get a 1st plus a 2nd to take on that sort of contract but he's a very easy buyout that makes that sort of ask likely impractical. Same with asking to take him with Necas so they can get Necas for cheaper. I don't think there's a workable trade to take Kotkaniemi from Carolina. I wouldn't be surprised if they just bought him out. If you believe in him as a player that has more in him, I'm sure they'd trade him to us for a contract or a late pick or something. You would have two years to see if there's more to him before his buyout goes to 2/3's. It might be worth the gamble especially if Carolina is willing to retain on him even just a mil.

No team is going to take the chance on Couture being healthy for next season. He has to prove himself next year and be healthy before someone does that so that'd probably kill any Tavares for Couture types of swaps.

Well it’s a hypothetical, Toronto needs cap space couture makes less then Tavares and if healthy would probably be an upgrade at 3c scoring wise worst case scenario he goes on the LTIR for the leafs and they’ve got 12 mill to spend during the dead line

Tavares could slot in as the #1 on the team, Celebreni could slot in as the 3c or play wing with Tavares and get mentored by him