It will be either a buyers market or sellers market. If a sellers market there are not many teams currently to compete with in assett dumping mode. As much as it's fun to think about maybe reeling in a couple more firsts-who cares! Securing generational talent should be locked down now. Time to get ahead of the curve here. Dump all the assetts for seconds and thirds even, 2016 firsts--I don't care! Focus on the real battle here. Securing McEichel is number one. Unload now: Myers, staff, Stewart, Mitchell, hodgson , everything dumpable. I want a 20 point mceichel lead come deadline day. Done ranting.
And the amount of money you would get rid of, how would you be make it up to get the floor? What contracts, are you taking on? I understand you want that generational talent, but you're really messing with the development process of the organization when you're getting rid of pieces that DON'T HAVE TO BE MOVED NOW that can be used to bring those core pieces along at the correct time.
When looking at two of the pieces you mentioned: Myers and Hodgson, there is no need to trade these guys right now.
On the topic of Myers, he allows you to bring guys like Ristolanien, Pysyk, and others at a pace that is adequate for their development without really hurting your team with the cap. He is a serviceable #2-#3 defenseman on a contender. He may not be the best defenseman on the team in his own end, but he is by far our best defenseman when it comes to pushing the play up the ice and into the offensive zone. He is still young and has a little more room to grow as a hockey player. If he didn't then I would be worried. He is a minute eating player who most teams would covet, with evidence of a few CONTENDING teams calling Murray about. Not to mention his NTC kicks in AFTER NEXT YEAR.
Hodgson, is another player that is similar to Myers in the fact that he would allow you to bring guys up at a good development pace and a solid winger to have. At best he is probably a #2 line winger. He also has a solid contract that doesn't have any restrictions from moving him if he is not in your longer term plans. Much like Myers, he's not hurting your tank. In fact, he has been a KEY piece on the past two tanking seasons, he's not hurting your standings. Heck, he's got 2 pts in 21 games. He's not exactly hurting your tanking. He's still young as well, he's a solid asset to have for future moves down the road.
If you're really worried about the tanking, you need to look at the guys like Girgensons, Ristolanien, Ennis, etc. if you're worried about our place in the standings. The others you mentioned, Stafford, Stewart, Mitchell, will be gone. There are still enough games to get to last. All it takes is to be 1 point worse than 29th place. That's all. No need to worry, we're bad WITHOUT serious injuries to key players(though Gorges was out for a little bit). We will get hit with injuries and faulter.
