glenngineer
Registered User
http://predlines.com/2017/02/05/nashville-predators-need-matt-duchene/
Here's a new one from me. Started writing again. Enjoy.
Here's a new one from me. Started writing again. Enjoy.
The asking price for Duchene is literally an arm and a leg.
I don't agree. Trading Ekholm already sacrifices from the little defensive depth we have and trading a top D prospect hinders that even further. Acquiring Duchene already resolves some of the depth scoring issues that Fiala is figured to help solve and depth scoring wingers are a significantly easier asset to land than quality top 4 d-men/prospects. Add to that the organization does not seem to be as high on Fiala as the fans around here are.Great article Glenn, really an great all-around insight to the situation. Agreeed with you pretty much on everything but the thing I disagree strongly is the Fiala stuff. No way I'm giving up Ekholm, A Dman prospect and Fiala who has top-6 potential. Ek + Fabbro/Carrier/Girard + 1st is the maximum where I go. No way I'm giving up on Fiala. Hope Poile agrees.
I again say no to trading Ekholm. I'd give Fiala and one of the D prospects and a 1st before I'd give Ekholm. If Sakic is looking two or three years into the future he'd be better off with someone like Fabbro or Carrier instead of a guy who will be close to Ufa status
Again, we are not thin on defense.
Subban and Josi are 2 of the best in the league.
Ellis and Ekholm are 2 if the better 2nd pairing defenders.
Matt Irwin is playing like a good 2nd pairing guy.
Bitetto and Weber are good number 6 defenders.
We have 2 or 3 guys in Milwaukee that aren't that out of place in the nhl.
We have 2 high in prospects in Fabbro and Girard.
Where is this lack of depth?
Again, we are not thin on defense.
Subban and Josi are 2 of the best in the league.
Ellis and Ekholm are 2 if the better 2nd pairing defenders.
Matt Irwin is playing like a good 2nd pairing guy.
Bitetto and Weber are good number 6 defenders.
We have 2 or 3 guys in Milwaukee that aren't that out of place in the nhl.
We have 2 high in prospects in Fabbro and Girard.
Where is this lack of depth?
The tough part about this is putting ekholm, carrier/fabbro and fiala on colorados roster. We'd have to see them for years to come and I don't like that one bit. But on the other hand, i like the acquisition of Duchene a whole, whole lot.
While obviously I would prefer to move Fabbro or Girard in a Duchene deal, I could see moving Ekholm *if* there was a short-term replacement\stopgap guy to get us through the rest of this season and maybe a couple of years after.
Ekholm is a good young defenseman, but we've seen his flaws as well. I ultimately don't think he's irreplaceable, and as Trigg states, he's the fourth best defenseman on the team at this point -- and to be honest, this season, there's not been a huge gap between him and Irwin.
I think you'd have to move a top-4 D for Duchene, or any solid 2C, really. Why? Because otherwise you're in a real bind at the expansion draft. Right now Poile can protect 4F/4D and we're fine. We lose either Smith, Wilson, or Jarnkrok - not awesome, but you can live with that.
Add a 2C, though, and now you have to protect him. So you either lose Arvidsson, or you protect 7F/3D and lose Ekholm or Ellis.
So the answer would seem to be, if you want a 2C you move Ekholm or Ellis in the trade so you're getting something of equivalent value. Then you protect 7F/3D in the expansion draft.
Yeah, it opens up a hole on the second defensive pair. Which isn't awesome. But you still have two Norris-caliber defenders back there. The top 3 D is still awesome. It weakens the D for sure, but makes the team much stronger down the middle.
I don't know. If I was Poile I'd certainly have to consider it. But only for someone of Duchene's caliber. Otherwise I roll with the top 4 D intact.
Trading Ekholm for Duchene would certainly make the expansion draft protection plans, in a vacuum, nice and tidy.
Firstly, I would trade Ekholm for Duchene if push came to shove.
Having said that, if I could convince the Avs to take one of Fabbro/Girad, a 1st, and a roster forward (Smith, for example), I would do that (assuming something even less wouldn't work). Either scenario ultimately sees a Predator's resoter without both Ekholm and Smith (presumably) following the expansion draft.
Keeping Ekholm now though, would allow us to ice our great Top 4 for the rest of the year with Duchene among the forward corp. Smith can be more easily replaced by Fiala or Aberg than our defense compensate for Ekholm's absence (but it could still be done).
I assume that Poile is trying something similar and may ultimately pull out altogether if the price gets too high.
As for the expansion draft, there's a lot of time before then and a lot could happen. Best to have a lot of different plans and options going into that draft and I have no doubt that Poile does- some that are nice and tidy and some that may not be.
David in what world would Sakic even be tempted to do that within the division. If he trades within the division it is going to cost much more than that. He will want to cripple one aspect of the team he trades with in division. More along the lines of Ekholm + Fabbro or Girard and Kamnev would be what he would ask for. If Poile were that ignorant to decimate the blue line so be it. Any trade involving Smith or Wilson is going to require a sweetener from the Preds to get a deal done like the Lombarbi Franson from years back. Teams are not going to want to eat that 4 mil cap hit and who can blame them. In the last 42 games Smith has 4 goals and two of them were in one game. So 39 out the last 42 he has been goalless. Thats essentially half a season. Even if the guy gets hot and somehow does make it to 20 goals you can not ignore the fact he does not hit the score sheet enough to warrant 4 mil a year.
Duchene would sure be a nice addition but the amount it would take to land him is probably more than Poile or anyone in Nashville would want to pay.
David in what world would Sakic even be tempted to do that within the division.
David in what world would Sakic even be tempted to do that within the division. If he trades within the division it is going to cost much more than that. He will want to cripple one aspect of the team he trades with in division. More along the lines of Ekholm + Fabbro or Girard and Kamnev would be what he would ask for. If Poile were that ignorant to decimate the blue line so be it. Any trade involving Smith or Wilson is going to require a sweetener from the Preds to get a deal done like the Lombarbi Franson from years back. Teams are not going to want to eat that 4 mil cap hit and who can blame them. In the last 42 games Smith has 4 goals and two of them were in one game. So 39 out the last 42 he has been goalless. Thats essentially half a season. Even if the guy gets hot and somehow does make it to 20 goals you can not ignore the fact he does not hit the score sheet enough to warrant 4 mil a year.
Duchene would sure be a nice addition but the amount it would take to land him is probably more than Poile or anyone in Nashville would want to pay.