Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolven
That is why I thought the Preds might be a good draft day trade partner for the Flames. Their top 2 D are Josi and Skjei, who are both LD. After that their D group drops off massively. However, after chasing big UFAs last summer, their roster is a weird blend of rebuilding and playoff chasing.
They need a good, cheap, RD option for next year when their Duchene buyout is at it's worst (going from $5.5M this year to $6.5M dead cap). Following that the buyout drops to 3 more years at only $1.5M, which frees up $4M of dead space that could go to something like an Andersson extension.
Otherwise, they are going back to the UFA pool to put big money into trying to get Pionk or Ekblad this summer... if they are still available come July 1. (That really won't be ideal for their cap situation.)
Also, the Preds have 3 1st round picks this summer (Preds, TBL, VGK). If they converted their pick into Andersson + NJD 1st then they would still have 3 picks in the 1st round and a RD who can immediately play on the first pairing with their existing star D.
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I don't think the Preds would be in a position to spend picks in the off-season. They're the 3rd worst team in the NHL this season, and I doubt the addition of Andersson makes them into a contender.
Another poster mentioned OTT, and I don't think that OTT would have much of an appetite either, after what they spent, and how relatively little they got back for Chychrun.
If I had to pick a team, I would probably go with CAR as a replacement for Burns. They got plenty of assets from the Rantanen deal, and would likely be going for it next season. If CAR's analytics tell them to stay away from Andesson, then I could see MTL being a good fit, as they look to take a step next year, and have plenty of assets.