I say trade him. I'm a huge Hudler fan but I see it playing out 3 ways.
1. We keep Hudler for the playoff push. Hopefully re-sign him. Now we have an older, smaller, soft declining player signed until he is in his mid-30s. Then when his next contract expires, we are in the same boat again. Only this time, he's older, less effective and won't garner as much as of a return. It's the Iggy scenario all over again. We don't get a decent return and we all complain he should have been traded 3-4 years sooner. Just like Iggy.
2. We keep Hudler for the playoff push. Get bumped in round 1 (2 if we are lucky) because the team isn't a contender yet. Lose him for nothing in the off season OR Treliving trades his rights at the draft, but get's nothing close to what he could have gotten at the deadline.
3. Explore all trade options now. Garner a decent return for him before the deadline.
Option 3 seems the best to me. Yes it leaves a gap in the top 6. But as said before, that gap is going to exist no matter what barring another miraculous Treliving trade. Better to deal with it at present while Hudler is still in his early 30s, instead of waiting another 3-4 years down the road while trying to get him to recapture his previous production.
The team is still rebuilding. The day Hudler was signed I figured he could get a decent return at some point. We got him for free. Time to cash in on that asset and advance the rebuild.
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