Speculation: The Athletic: NHL Trade Deadline Big Board: Clayton Keller #6

Geez, the only way to know that would be to read the first sentence of the OP. So I guess it'll be one of those great mysteries of life.

 

In a vacuum I'd like to add him to Anaheim, but the Coyotes would have to take Henrique back (along with whatever we'd need to add to make up the value). Or I guess maybe Silfverberg with a lesser add than Henrique would require, as he's a better player with a better contract. Not sure if the Coyotes would have any interest in taking back either player, or what they'd want the plus to be, but I'd be willing to explore it.

 

What? Not throwing in a 3rd?

 

I get the premise and logic but Arizona, as a team, can't be doing this is their hope is to ice a team that fans will follow.

The days of the constant "trade good players for draft picks" cycle need to be done.

 

Lol. Where did you come up with those names? Dubinsky has been LTIR-retired for a couple years, Wennberg is a 3C, Krejci and Stastny are nearing the end of their rope. It's basically just Nuge that outscores Keller and you won't be getting him if you don't offer 7 years. Actually you probably won't even get to make an offer for him because he is unlikely to hit the market.

Keller is a risky acquisition, I'm just saying that's a badly researched list.

 

Not worth his contract so not sure he has much value. I personally wouldn’t take him on the sens for free, because while he’s not a bad player, I’d rather have two solid 3.5 mill players, then one overpaid 3.5 mill player, even if theoretically he could improve.

 

I think the idea would be that Dvorak, Garland, and Chychrun are the real core of the team and that Keller is expendable.

 

Awful take, not a single one of those players is under 25, Keller is 22. Furthermore, Dubinsky's career is literally over, he won't play again. Wennberg and Granlund are the only other players you listed that have been on a team so defensively oriented as Arizona. Keller's PPG might be considered low for his contract when compared across the league but he has been top 2 in team production every single season of his career. NBA is an extremely different sport that even defensively oriented teams still have 100 points against on average, with hockey you can be looking at 1-3 goals against on average for some teams and 5-8 GA for others. The only player on your list you would even consider over Keller is Nuge.

 

Henrique + Terry + 2nd for Keller + Fischer + 3rd? Not sure I'd do this, just trying to get a feel for what type of value they're looking for. Could be way off.

 

Carolina could make a great Keller package if Skjei also goes the other way. Say, Skjei/Bokk/Cotton/Suzuki/2021 1st? I think he'd really be appealing next to the Finns, especially with 7 years remaining. Keller-Aho-Teravainen with Svechnikov lined up either with Staal or Trocheck to generate loads of offense on the other two lines? That would be fun.

 

I don’t believe this is the first time Keller’s name has been mentioned in trade rumors. Some smoke there it seems.

 

That's a dangerous idea after ~20 games. Coyotes don't have a superstar player, they should be holding on to guys like Keller and Schmaltz because they need multiple layers of scoring. Besides, Keller is still only 22, 2 years younger than Dvorak and Garland. He might be better than them in 2 years.

 

Yeah, that's WAY off.

 

I don’t think Az would even take that for Keller alone. They want a first because they lost theirs. I wonder if the ducks value him enough to send their 1st if it’s not too high, but even then they may do it given the uncertainty in this years draft

 

I don't think the Coyotes would be looking to bring back any players that are more overpaid than Keller (relatively) and signed to longer term deals (beyond a season or two), honestly. For that reason, I think David Backes would be a really good fit in a deal like this, but I don't think Adam Henrique would make as much sense. Perhaps Jakob Sillfverberg is a good middle-ground, between these two options?

Anaheim has certainly got a lot of intriguing assets. I worry that many of them are either too good to give up, though. Can we make a deal with the leftovers?

 

If you took out Keller, I would still decline that deal. I would not trade Fischer and a 3rd to get your 2nd and Terry, if it meant I had to take Henrique. Even if you took our our 3rd, I probably would not trade Fischer for Terry and a 2nd if it meant I had to take on Henrique.

 

I think that Carolina would be the club that would give the best Keller package of any NHL team. They have a rare combination of a great farm and a contending club. One problem with making a deal with Anaheim is that they'll have a LOT of untouchables because of their current situation as a rebuilding club. With Carolina, OTOH, prospects are more like premium chips that are dealable for the right player and contract. You can basically pick three forward prospects, a 1st, and maybe Brady Skjei, and make a fair deal. Say, something like this:

Brady Skjei
Dominik Bokk
David Cotton
Ryan Suzuki
2020 1st Round Pick

for

Clayton Keller

Then, Carolina can run a lineup like this:

Keller-Aho-Teravainen
Niederreiter-Trocheck-Necas
Svechnikov-Staal-Foegele
McGinn/Martinook-Paquette-Fast

Slavin-Hamilton
Gardiner-Pesce
Fleury-Bean

 

Hopefully if true the CBJ are in on this.

 

What would you want as a + to Silfverberg?

 

Presumably by 2020 1st you DO mean Jarvis, right? Because otherwise that looks like a nice package with a lot of pieces, but most of the pieces just aren't that good.

 

Rangers should go after Keller if they can't get Jack Eichel.

 

Do the Rangers have cap or roster space for another $7M LW?

 

Too big of a contract for a perimeter player
Arizona will have to retain or take back salary

 

I wouldn't mind him on the Canucks but the only way to make it work (as the Canucks would likely want to improve their top six instead of taking away from it) salary-wise would be to included a dump in Eriksson and package him with something like Virtanen, Podkolzin and a pick.

However, the other option would be to switch Miller for Keller but that would mean the Canucks devoting another $2 million to a player while still needing to give Pettersson and Hughes a new contract.

 

lol