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Is it ever OK to trade a 1st overall pick anymore?

thadd

thadd

Oil4Life
Jun 9, 2007
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My team (Oilers) is going to be in cap hell for a long time.
  • Russel (4M) is overpaid by 0.5-1M and will go from full NMC to limited NMC after this season. On top of that we've got too many LHD and he doesn't provide the offense we need from the back end.
  • Sekera (5.5M) looked decent during his first season with the Oilers playing on the right side and was worth his weight in gold during his second season with us playing on the left side. Over the past 2 off-seasons he's suffered major injuries and I'm very doubtful that he'll be worth of 5.5M before his contract is over. His NMC also becomes a limited NMC at the end of this season.
  • Lucic (6M) played like he was overpaid by at least 2M last season. Maybe 3. He's looking better so far. If he keeps it up he's not a guy that I'd need to see let go of but he's going to be on the wrong side of 30 after his next b-day. He's got a full NMC till July 1st 2021.
If you like you can also bring up how Drai could have been signed for a lot less if he had signed before McDavid and how Hopkins wasn't actually playing like a 6M player until last year or the year before.

So we've got all these nasty contracts and we clearly do not have a #1 D-man and since we were booted from the playoffs I've been under the impression we haven't had a #2 d-man, either.

In short, we're a mess and we're going to have to get better if we want to win cups with McDavid. Looking at the minutes McDavid is playing right now, I can't imagine him keeping this up for the entire season, let alone for the rest of his career, so I came the conclusion that in the very unlikely event that the Oilers win the lottery this season, the Oilers should package some bad contracts with the 1st overall pick to get us out of cap hell.

This is of course, is after we fire our current manager, whom got us into this mess.
I was thinking Russel + Lucic + Sekera + 1st overall for a 2nd rounder.
The only replies I got to this notion today were that I'm either insane or suffering from mental Pejorative Sluration.
Is it crazy?

IF:
  • There was a team willing and able to absorb these contracts (15.5M in cap space)
  • Russel, Lucic and Sekera were all willing to waive their NMC to move to this team. (2 of them are limited NMC as of next July 1st and the other not for a few years all 3 being well after the draft)
  • The NHL pretended they were living in an EA sports game and accepted this trade (A crazy, or in you, the reader's minds, dumb proposal.)
Would this be worth it so that the team could fill it roster out properly? I don't think that filling the roster out is as hard as it sounds.

  • Jones and Bear will be top 4 d-men at some point in their careers. The inconvenient truth is that we don't know when that will be. I'm guessing Bear is another 2 years away. Not guessing on Jones. He's looked so much better since training camp that I dare not guess. I thought he was much further away than Bear before training camp, but he might not be that far off.
  • It's debatable at this point whether or not Bouchard is ready for the NHL, but it's clear that he's got offensive skills that we can't expect to get out of any d-man which is of the Oilers property and he's probably projected (offensively) to be more effective than any d-man to have played for the Oilers in such a lengthy time that to say the number of years would sound like a drunken boast.
  • Yamamoto and Puljujarvi are undoubtedly a big part of the future of our right wing. They should both be in the AHL right now, but due to our management's asshattery, they are our middle six right wingers. I'm sold on Yamamoto turning into a legit top 6 right winger and I don't think anyone is going to dispute that. As for Puljujarvi, I'm very hopeful, but he could turn out to be a tweener.
  • My dark horse for our 2nd line left winger within 2 years is Tyler Benson, who is enjoy his first pro season on our farm team. He could like Puljujarvi turn into a 3rd liner or tweener, but his tenacity and skills really reminds me of a poor man's Doug Weight-winer at times.
So Edmonton actually has youngsters who are in a position to play important roles in the coming seasons. Shockingly enough, some of them aren't even first rounders. It's shocking for me, really.

I don't think McDavid-Drai is THAT expensive if we don't have so many potentially deadweight contracts. (To be fair to Russell. He is probably worth 3.5M per season on a lot of teams. He just doesn't provide what we need and everyone knew that before he resigned with us.)

So I ask again, am I crazy?
If there were a team with a GM willing to do Lucic+Sekera+Russell+1st overall for a second rounder, would it be downright stupid or a smart move and also IS THERE ANY SITUATION in which it's sensible to trade a 1st overall pick in this age of hockey?
Click to read more...
 
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StoveTopStauffer

StoveTopStauffer

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Apr 6, 2012
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Just about every team has a mediocre contract or 2. Very few times are perfectly managed...

The 1OA is almost a guaranteed star player. At best, a superstar for the team for 11 years or so. At worst, a Yakupov but that is actually a lot more rare than a getting a good player.

Who knows maybe Arizona needs one to hit a cap floor. You can move players pretty easily if they have a bounce back year or 2.
 

jfhabs

Registered User
May 21, 2015
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Even tho teams would likely line up for the first overall... not many will have the cap space or the actual money to do a deal like that.
 
alko

alko

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Oct 20, 2004
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Even i in EHM game wouldn't do it. You could have a #1 pick, but that is still a lottery. You never know, if it will ends like Yakupov.
 
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The Winter Soldier

The Winter Soldier

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Apr 4, 2011
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Rarely, as history has shown it is not a good idea. But Lindros for Forsberg+++ worked out rather well for the Avs.
 
Frank Drebin

Frank Drebin

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Mar 9, 2004
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Your giving up too much and not asking for enough in return.

If a team like Montreal was in a rebuilding mood they could send some muck needed roster players back for the 1st while taking on a bad contract or 2. Petry, Byron, lehkonen, tatar could easily go back the other way
 
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Mcnotloilersfan

Mcnotloilersfan

I'm here, I'm bored
Jul 11, 2010
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Bonzo111 said:
Depending on the draft crop, absolutely. I bet the oilers wish they'd traded the Yak and RNH picks.
Click to expand...

I can assure you that they're glad they kept the RNH pick. Jeeze.

It would be stupid of any team to trade a 1st overall, especially in a year like this to move bad contracts. If Edmonton does miss and somehow wins the lottery, they're thankful to take that player and add more scoring depth.
 
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Bonzo111

Bonzo111

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Mcnotloilersfan said:
I can assure you that they're glad they kept the RNH pick. Jeeze.

It would be stupid of any team to trade a 1st overall, especially in a year like this to move bad contracts. If Edmonton does miss and somehow wins the lottery, they're thankful to take that player and add more scoring depth.
Click to expand...
In a year like this yes, but not every year obviously. There are plenty of busts or underwhelming players at the top of the draft.
 
ziggyjoe212

ziggyjoe212

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Oct 2, 2017
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To make you feel better...the Ottawa Senators' forwards have a higher cap hit than the forwards of the Penguins, Maple Leafs, or Lightning.
 
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bobholly39

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Mar 10, 2013
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Yes of course it's ok to trade a 1st OA but it has to be hockey trade

Example - Edmonton wins the lottery. they don't really want a center but want a winger. They reach out to Winnipeg about a Laine/Hughes swap. If both teams think it makes sense (C vs W) a trade could happen.

Or if Edmonton desperately wants a #1d - maybe talk to Columbus about a package around Seth Jones - or another established young #1D elsewhere in the league.
 
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someguy44

someguy44

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Apr 6, 2004
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The Winter Soldier said:
Rarely, as history has shown it is not a good idea. But Lindros for Forsberg+++ worked out rather well for the Avs.
Click to expand...


It didn't work out for the Nordiques though. Had Lindros not forced that situation, I don't think the Nords would've relocated (a la a Crosby or Lemieux for the Pengs). Great trade for the Avs, But Nordiques needed Lindros and all his hype in order to stay in Quebec. Business wise, it's never a good idea to trade the 1st overall.
 
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TGWL

TGWL

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No. You're trading a 1st overall (Lets say Hughes this year), to get rid of cap hell, when the player you get back is on an ELC deal and before you actually have to pay him serious money, Russell and Sekera, are off the boots.
 
Mcnotloilersfan

Mcnotloilersfan

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Bonzo111 said:
In a year like this yes, but not every year obviously. There are plenty of busts or underwhelming players at the top of the draft.
Click to expand...

Sure some players at the top of the draft bust, but you don't find out until years after the draft. Nobody trades a 1st overall pick to get rid of bad contracts and says "don't worry, whenever we picked would have been a bust"

But again, Edmonton would have been glad to get rid of RNH right? Come on...
 
Bonzo111

Bonzo111

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Mcnotloilersfan said:
Sure some players at the top of the draft bust, but you don't find out until years after the draft. Nobody trades a 1st overall pick to get rid of bad contracts and says "don't worry, whenever we picked would have been a bust"

But again, Edmonton would have been glad to get rid of RNH right? Come on...
Click to expand...
oh for sure I'm just saying, not necessarily to dump contracts but maybe trade for a more established player or trade down for more assets, prospects etc. Yeah I'm not an RNH fan at all. Small, injury prone, non game breaking player.
 
Mcnotloilersfan

Mcnotloilersfan

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Bonzo111 said:
oh for sure I'm just saying, not necessarily to dump contracts but maybe trade for a more established player or trade down for more assets, prospects etc. Yeah I'm not an RNH fan at all. Small, injury prone, non game breaking player.
Click to expand...

He's a 6'0 non injury prone 2-way 1st line player. Come back when you know what you're talking about.
 
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