[Flamenspiel]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Extremely unlikely the Flyers move Couturier or Konecny in a deal. Those are core young players hitting their prime, signed to great deals. The Flyers have no reason to blow up their team, and no clear replacements for either player.

I see the Kessel and Pacioretty deals as good models for what a Gaudreau deal will look like. Get rid of the B prospects and fringe players that muddy the waters, and both deals basically worked out to:

Star winger

for

Good young player/prospect (Kapanen, Suzuki)
Decent roster player (Spaling, Tatar)
2nd round or late 1st round pick


In a deal with the Flyers, that looks something like:

Farabee
Laughton
1st (25 OA)

The key piece in this example is Farabee. 1st round pedigree, scored everywhere he's played, can skate like the wind, and has some edge to his game. Forced his way onto the roster at 19, and already considered reliable enough to play on the top two lines. A Valimaki level prospect. He's making $925k for two more years, and does not need to be protected in the expansion.

Laughton is a useful depth center who can play up and down the lineup. Bit of scoring (his 27 pts in 49 games pro-rates to 38 in 70), bit of grit. Very well liked in the room and a leader. Still only 26 years old. Has one more year at a very digestible 2.3 mil.

The 1st helps the Flames replenish the cupboards.

And the Flames clear almost $4 mil in cap space.

There is a lot to like in this deal. It’s worked out much better for Montreal then the Toronto deal. Tatar has been great and Suzuki has now emerged as a 1st or 2nd line centre.