Lateralous

I agree, if we can get Karlsson for nothing more than cap space, you do it. He would be back to being the un-questioned #1 here and it slots the rest of our defense down a peg closer to their actual abilities, so it arguably improves the entire defense.

Hall and Draisaitl were deadly together for about a half of a season in Edmonton and then I think they got split up.

Understood, I referred to it as the dreaded offer because it's the kind of thing you would see on the HF Boards trade forum. The real return would be too rich for the Devils IMO because it's going to take at least two of Bratt, Ty Smith and our upcoming high first, none of which I would want to part with given where were at in the rebuild.

I agree that it's no guarantee but the last few years has started the wave of kids who grew up with the 2006 rules changes and it feels like there are just a ton of amazingly talented kids coming through the draft perfectly equipped for today's NHL. The teams who drafted for pure skill have done quite well regardless of where they've been picking. I want more of that on the Devils😊.

Ha, beat me to it

What are we giving up to land Tarsenko? Despite having sucked for the last several years we still have relatively few good young assets. At this point in the rebuild, I don't think it's wise to move Bratt, our upcoming top 10 pick or Ty Smith in a deal, so what does that leave for the Blues? The dreaded Zacha, McLeod and a 2nd proposal?

The original point was to try splitting up Hall and Nico for Nico's benefit, not to make Zacha the first line center. After Nico, we really don't have another top 6 center so it is what it is, but by all means, put Zajac with Hall if you prefer. We're not talking about anything permanent, just something to try and get Nico to play a little less passive.

Splitting up Hischier and Hall would be more about Nico than Zacha. Nico defers to Hall way to much IMO and could benefit from driving his own line for a while. Regarding PZ, while he is a black hole on the score sheet, as pointed out by others, he hardly kills his linemates. As crazy as it sounds, I actually thought the team looked worse when he was in Binghamton.

I don't think he was "all-in" by any means. The team overachieved and basically deserved some help for the playoff push and Shero made some minor moves that didn't cost much in the long run. You can say you would have rather had the pick and prospect but how does that play in the locker room to guys like Hall and Palmieri if Shero went radio silent down the stretch? Grabner didn't work out but without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I think Shero played that about as well as he could have.

I would like to see Hall and Hischier split up for a few games. I feel like Nico defers to Hall so much that it’s limiting him at times. For his long term development, I would like to see him on a line for a while where he needs to drive the play. Maybe switch him and Zacha or if Zacha At 1C is to scary, move Zajac with Hall, Nico with the 2nd line and Zacha to 3C.

To entice him to sign in NJ and actually have a chance to pry him free, it would be. I think the Leafs would match on both and this chain of events would lead to the likes of the Nylanders and Kapanens being traded for guys on ELCs and picks. To get them to sign an offer sheet, I think you're looking at 13-14 for Matthews and 11 for Marner.

I'm not sure Marner does enough to justify losing those picks + overpaying on salary. Great player but adding another dynamic undersized winger doesn't exactly make us a powerhouse. Adding Matthews would have a trickle down effect and slots a lot of other guys currently on the team more appropriately. At that point, I wouldn't worry that any of those 4 1sts we would have to give up would be at the top end of the draft. Hall-Matthews-Bratt Zacha-Hischier-Palmieri _ I still think Zacha is better suited to be a wing. Based on memory he was more productive there his first two years. It will never happen but that's two pretty nasty lines and we would still have presumably a top 10 pick this year to help address the defense.

Cory must sit on the bench thinking WTF? when he watches KK get 3 posts per game

No luck at all for Schneider

Agreed, especially because this would be after we use our own 2019 1st rounder. The picks they would get would be after we’re hopefully benefitting from adding Matthews. That being said, no way Toronto could let him walk. This would just be a way to f’up their cap for the foreseeable future.