Imagine if the Lightning used similar logic and refused to offer 1st round picks for Coleman and/or Goodrow because there pts didn't justify it. Sometimes the type of player and the role is more important than points or who is perceived as the "better" piece.
The underlying problem for Minnesota is still having too many LW's, so swapping Foligno for another one doesn't help. We've already had a younger guy like Donato being rotated between the 4th line and healthy scratches because of this, so the "getting younger" angle doesn't hold water for me.
I keep using "LW" for the sake of convenience, but it's really left-shot wingers more generally. Fiala, Kaprizov and Zuccarello all play on the right side either by need or preference. Johansson's a LW that they're apparently playing at center next year, and Greenway and Donato have both spent games at center. Bjugstad's health is a question, but he plays RW and C. There's plenty of versatility there, there's just not enough spots.
Minnesota would likely keep Greenway over any of those guys. Again, the only reason to trade guys like Greenway or Donato is to relieve the number of LWs we have, especially with more on the way beyond next season (Boldy, Beckman, etc.). I get that Kerfoot's a center but I don't think there's enough upside there to pique the Wild's interest.
Engvall and Kerfoot are both centers that can also play left wing equally well. So, wherever you need them. I thought Kerfoot might be interesting because of his ability to fill in as a top-6 center for a cheap price. For a team in need of a center I feel he could fill a Bozak role where he compliments a good group of wingers and puts up 40-55 points a year and doesn't hurt you too much. Engvall has similar size to Greenway and owns a good defensive game, if he could become consistent with his offense at the NHL level he could make a great shutdown 3C. He will also be cheaper than Greenway for a couple years at least, he is locked in at 1.25M per. I thought in Johnsson's case despite playing LW that he represented a clear upgrade at the position and he could climb the lineup of a team that could use upgrades. I do see that the first two would make for better bases of a potential deal with all the left shots in Minnesota up front and because of their ability to play center.
You are in every thread trying to derail them. You even came to the leafs board to argue value when we were discussing hypothetical trades with other teams, one being the wild. You just can't admit it is all.
Minnesota has a glaring hole at 1/2C, but beyond that we've got several centers. Eriksson-Ek, Sturm, and Rask are all capable of 3/4C duties, and Bjugstad can play there in a pinch. At the moment it's hard to rule out going into next year with a 40-ish point guy as our "1C" ahead of our "2C" Marcus Johansson, I just don't think they'd trade Greenway to acquire him.
The FA pool doesn't look to have all that many candidates. If Minnesota can't find a partner, there are worse ideas, they'll need to ice someone who can keep up. But, I wouldn't want to make that my one-two punch down the middle either personally.
