For me it depends on the cap hit for guys like Hayes, Johansson, and Nyqvist.
If we sign one of them to a decent deal and trade Byron for a 2nd, imo we're at least as good next year, plus we get a 2nd. I like the idea of loading up on 1sts and 2nds and this type of move allows us to do so without sacrificing the present. But, it definitely depends on how much we have to pay for these players. I have to see more of Hayes. Many players don't play well with their new teams in a short stint - remember Erik Staal with the Rangers, and then he had 40 goals in Minnesota the next year. Hayes will still be in his prime next year (just turning 27 this summer) and has been a 50 point or 25 goal player since entering his prime. He just fetched a 1st plus a prospect plus a 4th in a trade. Perhaps we could trade him in 2 years for a 1st when Kotkaniemi will be 21 and Poehling 22. I'm ok with waiting until they're 21 and 22 to give them #1 and #2 center roles.
Absolutely agree with these types of moves. If you can sign a UFA better than Byron or Shaw at a decent Cap hit, and trade the two of them for 2nd round draft picks or better, it's a win-win. You slightly improve the lineup, but also stock the cupboards some more, or use the added 2nd rounders to move up to the first round -- or in the first round -- and have a shot at real elite talent.
How high can you move your 15th overall if you offer up to three 2nd rounders with it as an incentive? Top-5 pick from a team that is in complete rebuild?
If you've upgraded on Shaw and Byron by signing better, still young enough UFAs at decent Cap hits, it basically cost you nothing to add two 2nd round picks to your tally of draft selections, for a total of a 15th overall and four 2nd round picks (including the one we got from Vegas for pacioretty, along with tatar and Suzuki) in the first two rounds. Trading away your first and three 2nd rounders for a top-5 pick would still see you having a 2nd round pick, a 3rd round pick, a 4th round pick, two fifth round picks, a 6th round pick and a 7th round pick.
How enticing would trading the 15th, a 2nd round pick, a 3rd round pick, a 4th round pick and a 5th round pick? Seems like a lot, but if Montreal landed a 5th overall or better in return, it would leave them with 7 draft picks, still, in this draft. Only three would be 2nd rounders and 1 would be a top-5 or better pick.
I still think that signing mid-range UFAs can be turned into a better profit (maybe not a top-5 pick or better) for little real cost if we moved two veterans for 2nd rounders in Byron and Shaw, players who already are at the 3.4M and 3.9M Cap marks.
Adding a couple Million or so, overall, for better replacements and gaining a few second rounders in return certainly wouldn't be chopped liver and could be a truly defendable move.
