Friedman: Lightning-Wild possibilities (Brodin/Dumba, Drouin)

[Wabit]

Dumba would be attractive to TB because he of his low cap hit for next year, giving them breathing room till 2018-19. It goes without saying that The Wild would have to trade Scandella and another forward for ED exempt assets before the ED for a deal such as this to make any sense.

Before the start of last year a forward like Drouin would have been a logical pickup, but one has to wonder whether he is a need now with the excellent years the young forwards(Granlund, Coyle, Nino, Zucker) on the Wild had, and the performance of their forward prospects(Kunin, Kaprizov, Greenway, Ek,etc..). A smallish LHW to join Zucker, NIno, Granlund, and Parise? Drouin is wonderful to watch on highlight clips, but how much of a need is he really? Wouldn't the Wild be better off getting a promising young D or C prospect or high pick?

You said that better than I could have. /agree

 

[LTIR]

Friedman literally just speculates now.

Its kinda his job... Dont blame him ..blame the action starved fans here who like to create threads and discuss every single speculation.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

This makes no sense. If the Wild ended up trading one of their d-men, they for sure are looking for exempt players or futures. Or at least have to think so, unless they leave one good 1-man exposed and have full faith Vegas will pick that player over some other forward they'd have to expose if acquiring a guy like Drouin.

And for Tampa, do you really want to trade for a d-man before the draft? Dotchin logged 18 and half minutes a game down the stretch and didn't look out of place at all. 23 years old, 6'3" 212 pounds. If a guy like that was available for Vegas to pick, it's a no-brainer.

I guess it makes more sense for the Wild, getting a guy like Drouin would be huge. But from Tampa's POV, i don't anticipate a trade for a d-man before the expansion draft. And all the "rumors" i've heard are just speculation, not actual people from Tampa saying we're actively looking for a d-man before the draft.

 

[Bazeek]

Dumba would be attractive to TB because he of his low cap hit for next year, giving them breathing room till 2018-19. It goes without saying that The Wild would have to trade Scandella and another forward for ED exempt assets before the ED for a deal such as this to make any sense.

Before the start of last year a forward like Drouin would have been a logical pickup, but one has to wonder whether he is a need now with the excellent years the young forwards(Granlund, Coyle, Nino, Zucker) on the Wild had, and the performance of their forward prospects(Kunin, Kaprizov, Greenway, Ek,etc..). A smallish LHW to join Zucker, NIno, Granlund, and Parise? Drouin is wonderful to watch on highlight clips, but how much of a need is he really? Wouldn't the Wild be better off getting a promising young D or C prospect or high pick?

Agree with all of this, plus: Drouin needs a contract for next year. I think the only possible way this makes sense for Minnesota is as part of a sequence of trades.

1.) Dumba for Drouin
2.) Scandella lost to expansion (which you almost have to hope for now that you have to expose both Zucker and Staal)
3.) Nino/Granlund traded for [Defenseman]

Net result is Scandella is gone, Nino/Granlund -> Drouin and Dumba -> [Defenseman]. If Drouin and [Defenseman] are cheaper combined than Dumba and Granlund/Nino's new contract, we managed to save some cap and didn't get appreciably worse. If we're lucky.

Side note: I've got no problem with guys like Friedman or Russo speculating as long as they're clear about it. It's up to the audience to not take it as more than that.

 

[Nharris31]

Dumba would be attractive to TB because he of his low cap hit for next year, giving them breathing room till 2018-19. It goes without saying that The Wild would have to trade Scandella and another forward for ED exempt assets before the ED for a deal such as this to make any sense.

Before the start of last year a forward like Drouin would have been a logical pickup, but one has to wonder whether he is a need now with the excellent years the young forwards(Granlund, Coyle, Nino, Zucker) on the Wild had, and the performance of their forward prospects(Kunin, Kaprizov, Greenway, Ek,etc..). A smallish LHW to join Zucker, NIno, Granlund, and Parise? Drouin is wonderful to watch on highlight clips, but how much of a need is he really? Wouldn't the Wild be better off getting a promising young D or C prospect or high pick?

If you can possibly get young game breaking talent you get it. No matter what position or what the needs of the team is.

 

[Seachd]

Nothing wrong with this. If talking heads and journalists never speculated and only ever reported rumours, there'd be like 15 minutes of hockey content a year. The problem is when people mis-represent speculating to be a reported rumour instead of that "insiders" opinion of what might happen.

Yes, this is the problem.

The fact that he speculates is a good thing, in my opinion. I have no idea why some people would have a problem with it.

 

[57special]

If you can possibly get young game breaking talent you get it. No matter what position or what the needs of the team is.

But is he that much better than Zucker, Nino, and Granlund? I would argue no, and those three have none of the entitlement issues that Drouin has shown in the past.

 

[TaLoN]

They could go 4 and 4. Trade Brodin for example. Protect the 4 remaining D and 4 forwards. Either way they are screwed.

If they're not young 4 and 4 before trading a defenseman, they sure as hell won't after.

They've said repeatedly they are going 7-3-1

 

[Baemon Severson*]

Friedman literally just speculates now.

This x1000.

A lot of "I wonders" these days.

 

[Nharris31]

But is he that much better than Zucker, Nino, and Granlund? I would argue no, and those three have none of the entitlement issues that Drouin has shown in the past.

Yes he is better then them. He is also younger.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

But is he that much better than Zucker, Nino, and Granlund? I would argue no, and those three have none of the entitlement issues that Drouin has shown in the past.

If you compare him to where those 3 were at 21/22 years old, yes he is. Maybe not Granlund.

I'm a big Zucker fan, but if getting Drouin pushes Zucker to getting exposed in the ED, I still do it. Of course, there's also salary cap implications to consider which might throw a wrench into it.

 

[nickschultzfan]

People are discounting that the Wild might be talking to Vegas about Zucker - the homegrown goal scorer on the rise. Minnesota wouldn't want to lose him, because they also want to maintain a top-4 going into next year while not just giving a defender away.

An interesting scenario is Wild offering Vegas Zucker in exchange for taking useful, but easier to replace players, like Haula or Folin. Vegas picks up two assets for the price of one.

Wild then keep all 5 Dmen, and can bid out Dumba, Brodin, and Scandella to get back a younger impact forward like Drouin.

 

[Bazeek]

People are discounting that the Wild might be talking to Vegas about Zucker - the homegrown goal scorer on the rise. Minnesota wouldn't want to lose him, because they also want to maintain a top-4 going into next year while not just giving a defender away.

An interesting scenario is Wild offering Vegas Zucker in exchange for taking useful, but easier to replace players, like Haula or Folin. Vegas picks up two assets for the price of one.

Wild then keep all 5 Dmen, and can bid out Dumba, Brodin, and Scandella to get back a younger impact forward like Drouin.

I've been assuming that we'd hang on to Zucker because it'd be difficult or impossible to replace him at the $2m he's making next year. Even a guy like Drouin will likely cost quite a bit more than that since he needs a new contract. If we lost Zucker and Haula to expansion and traded Dumba for Drouin, we'd be losing ~$5.5m in salary; Haula would be replaced by Eriksson-Ek (on an ELC), Zucker by Drouin (no idea what that extension looks like) and Dumba by someone like Olofsson/Reilly.

So maybe that works. It seems like we'd have to make other moves, but at least we wouldn't have to worry about the expansion draft anymore.

Of course this all assumes that Vegas is really hot after Zucker.

 

[57special]

Yes he is better then them. He is also younger.

Grass is greener, right?

 

[Nharris31]

Grass is greener, right?

No if you have the chance to get gamebraking talent through a trade you get it.

 

[Hictor Vedman*]

People are discounting that the Wild might be talking to Vegas about Zucker - the homegrown goal scorer on the rise. Minnesota wouldn't want to lose him, because they also want to maintain a top-4 going into next year while not just giving a defender away.

An interesting scenario is Wild offering Vegas Zucker in exchange for taking useful, but easier to replace players, like Haula or Folin. Vegas picks up two assets for the price of one.

Wild then keep all 5 Dmen, and can bid out Dumba, Brodin, and Scandella to get back a younger impact forward like Drouin.

Losing Zucker and getting Drouin would probably be a good move, if I'm honest.

And of the available d-men right now, Brodin/Dumba intrigue me the most in a Drouin trade.

 

[FrodoBeggins]

If Tampa does not give Drouin then I would like something like 14OA + Brett Howden + Libor Hayek for our defender.

 

[57special]

People are discounting that the Wild might be talking to Vegas about Zucker - the homegrown goal scorer on the rise. Minnesota wouldn't want to lose him, because they also want to maintain a top-4 going into next year while not just giving a defender away.

An interesting scenario is Wild offering Vegas Zucker in exchange for taking useful, but easier to replace players, like Haula or Folin. Vegas picks up two assets for the price of one.

Wild then keep all 5 Dmen, and can bid out Dumba, Brodin, and Scandella to get back a younger impact forward like Drouin.

Yeah, but where's the money for that? Zucker, Haula, and Folin are paid relative peanuts, and Drouin is going to want Granlund type money (5M +). Can't get Drouin and keep Nino and Granlund, i don't think. You really comfortable betting that Drouin will be a better player than either of those two?

 

[Rschmitz]

Zucker+Dumba for Drouin?

 

[57special]

Losing Zucker and getting Drouin would probably be a good move, if I'm honest.

And of the available d-men right now, Brodin/Dumba intrigue me the most in a Drouin trade.

Losing Zucker is not a good move. He was great for us this year...got little to no PP time. One of the few guys who showed a pulse in the playoffs. Lightning(get it?) fast, dirt cheap at 2M, gritty in an annoying way for the other team, and very good on the forecheck. Good for one breakaway every two games.

 

[Bazeek]

Zucker+Dumba for Drouin?

I wouldn't add Zucker.

 

[Hictor Vedman*]

Losing Zucker is not a good move. He was great for us this year...got little to no PP time. One of the few guys who showed a pulse in the playoffs. Lightning(get it?) fast, dirt cheap at 2M, gritty in an annoying way for the other team, and very good on the forecheck. Good for one breakaway every two games.

He's a great guy, and losing him would hurt but if it's a choice between him and Scandella, who would you realistically want to lose?

Sucks that Minnesota is in such a bad spot, they have to lose somebody good.

Zucker+Dumba for Drouin?

That's a little too much. Dumba or Brodin and a 3rd is fine.

 

[rynryn]

i would much prefer dumba go then, as he is RFA like Drouin and both could get messy as we try to divide up the money left over after Granlund and Nino.

 

[Golden Gophers 4649]

People are discounting that the Wild might be talking to Vegas about Zucker - the homegrown goal scorer on the rise. Minnesota wouldn't want to lose him, because they also want to maintain a top-4 going into next year while not just giving a defender away.

An interesting scenario is Wild offering Vegas Zucker in exchange for taking useful, but easier to replace players, like Haula or Folin. Vegas picks up two assets for the price of one.

Wild then keep all 5 Dmen, and can bid out Dumba, Brodin, and Scandella to get back a younger impact forward like Drouin.

My idea was offer to not protect Zucker with the agreement Vegas chooses someone like Josh Manson from the Ducks. Vegas then deals Manson to the Wild in exchange for Zucker being left off the protected list.

The Knights get the player they really want and the Wild fill a need for a physical defenseman. Then they have extra d-men to replace Zucker's scoring. Someone like Drouin etc.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

He's a great guy, and losing him would hurt but if it's a choice between him and Scandella, who would you realistically want to lose?

Sucks that Minnesota is in such a bad spot, they have to lose somebody good.


That's a little too much. Dumba or Brodin and a 3rd is fine.

If it's between Zucker and Scandella, I keep Zucker.