Demelo and or Tierney is-are not returning a 1st from any team
I mean..
No way
In a weaker draft I think he would, not sure about this year though.
Last year, Montour, Hayes and Duchene got 1st round picks at or around the deadline. Zuccarello got a conditional 1st.
The year prior, Tatar, McDonaugh, Kane, Stastny, Hartman, Nash, and Brassard all got 1st round picks.
You could make the case that 25 year old RFA Tierney has as good of trade value at the deadline as Hartman, or aging UFA Brassard. Maybe Tatar as well. That RFA status has value, and there's the x factor of how Tierney's season goes. Somebody has to score on this team, and Tierney is in about as good of a situation as anyone to be that guy for this team. If he can find chemistry with somebody and get hot, we could see his value jump. On the flip side, if the lack of skill on this team drags his production down, we'll be lucky to get a 2nd.