There's no sense in trading Larsson. I think people forget just how young he is. Defenseman take time to develop.

Gelinas is still awful in his own zone, but he is a lot better than he was two years ago. A little patience with all of these guys will pay off very well for the next 15 years.

That being said, if you ever have the chance to acquire Patrik Kane or Eric Staal, you do it.

Kane can do all the same things that Kovalchuk did and Staal is an incredible presence down low with a great shot.

After losing Parise and Kovalchuk, I wouldn't be surprised if either of those two guys were made a priority.
- njdevils350

I'll assume you meant Evander Kane

I would not be against trading Gelinas+ for a player like Evander Kane or Yakupov. I can see Larsson being a very steady Dman for us that doesn't make too many mistakes defensively. Merrill is going to be a stud. I wouldn't trade either of them. I don't think Severson has as much value as Gelinas right now. Damon could be very good in a few seasons. Gelinas is a beast offensively but I'd be okay with trading him for a young top 6 forward. Think he is elgible for the AHL, so if he doesn't make the team out of camp send him down for a big chunk of the season. He is still young.

I'll assume you meant Evander Kane
- notlouis

No, Patrick. Based on their cap situation it's not entirely implausible that they move him. Toews and Crawford are due for raises. Shaw, Saad, and Smith will be due sooner rather than later.

As Pittsburgh has shown, it's not always best to keep everyone.

There's no sense in trading Larsson. I think people forget just how young he is. Defenseman take time to develop.

Gelinas is still awful in his own zone, but he is a lot better than he was two years ago. A little patience with all of these guys will pay off very well for the next 15 years.

That being said, if you ever have the chance to acquire Patrik Kane or Eric Staal, you do it.

Kane can do all the same things that Kovalchuk did and Staal is an incredible presence down low with a great shot.

After losing Parise and Kovalchuk, I wouldn't be surprised if either of those two guys were made a priority.
- njdevils350

We're getting Patrik Kane or Eric Staal!? ALRIGHT!

No, Patrick. Based on their cap situation it's not entirely implausible that they move him. Toews and Crawford are due for raises. Shaw, Saad, and Smith will be due sooner rather than later.

As Pittsburgh has shown, it's not always best to keep everyone.
- njdevils350

You're nuts. They would move Sharp or Bickell (eat some of the 4 mill cap hit) first. Crawford is already signed long term. Even if you gave them each (Kane and Toews) 8 mill/year or more, you make room for them. Trade Seabrook or Hjalmarsson. Heck, trade Crawford.

Pittsburgh should've traded Letang. He's not worth what he's making.

We're getting Patrik Kane or Eric Staal!? ALRIGHT!
- MartysBetter88

Not what I said.

What I said was, in terms of moving a player like Larsson or Merril. That's what you would do it for.

Of course they could chose to keep Kane. It just makes it difficult to maintain depth down the road when youre paying 3-4 players significant amounts of money.

It has been a deterrent for the Penguins for years. They have no depth behind Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Neal and Jordan Staal. (Of course Staal is no longer with the team because of the cap hit)

It took them years to develop players like Gibbons, Megna, Bennett, and Maatta. Coincidentally, they have the deepest team they've had since Lidstrom nearly added to the legacy that is Marc Andre Fleury.

It may not work out for them this year because of Fleury, but I think it goes a long way in establishing that at a certain point depth (3+ lines 4+ defenseman) takes a team further than keeping another star.

You're nuts. They would move Sharp or Bickell (eat some of the 4 mill cap hit) first. Crawford is already signed long term. Even if you gave them each (Kane and Toews) 8 mill/year or more, you make room for them. Trade Seabrook or Hjalmarsson. Heck, trade Crawford.

Pittsburgh should've traded Letang. He's not worth what he's making.
- CaptCrankypants

Crawford's salary triples next year.

They have options as to who they could trade. Kane would bring the most back. Followed by Sharp, with Seabrook being a distant third and effectively destroying their top defensive pair. I don't think trading Bickell would be worthwhile. They would've let him walk last year if they were willing to lose his toughness.

They have plenty of options.

There's no sense in trading Larsson. I think people forget just how young he is. Defenseman take time to develop.

Gelinas is still awful in his own zone, but he is a lot better than he was two years ago. A little patience with all of these guys will pay off very well for the next 15 years.

That being said, if you ever have the chance to acquire Patrik Kane or Eric Staal, you do it.

Kane can do all the same things that Kovalchuk did and Staal is an incredible presence down low with a great shot.

After losing Parise and Kovalchuk, I wouldn't be surprised if either of those two guys were made a priority.
- njdevils350[/quo if the devils can find a SUCKER to bite on larsson, they need to make the move quickly before the other teams GM sobers up. can we stop with this horsebleep about defenseman taking time to develop. hamilton was taken 4 picks after larsson, yet he somehow developed into a young defenseman for the bruins. the bottom line is lou got took drafting this guy with the 4th pick. the devils need to fire there european scouts yesterday. somehow the wings have no problem top tier swedish talent, and the devils don't. wonder why?

trade larsson NOW. he will never amount to anything more than a 3rd pairing defenseman. can we please stop with this horsepoop about development. hamiliton was taken in the same draft, 4 picks later, yet has played major minutes for a stanley cup contender. larsson is already behind merrill, and gelinas and it wont take long before severson,hegleson and santini pass him by. time to find a sucker who will give you something for him.

trade larsson NOW. he will never amount to anything more than a 3rd pairing defenseman. can we please stop with this horsepoop about development. hamiliton was taken in the same draft, 4 picks later, yet has played major minutes for a stanley cup contender. larsson is already behind merrill, and gelinas and it wont take long before severson,hegleson and santini pass him by. time to find a sucker who will give you something for him.
- devfan30

You are a true idiot.

trade larsson NOW. he will never amount to anything more than a 3rd pairing defenseman. can we please stop with this horsepoop about development. hamiliton was taken in the same draft, 4 picks later, yet has played major minutes for a stanley cup contender. larsson is already behind merrill, and gelinas and it wont take long before severson,hegleson and santini pass him by. time to find a sucker who will give you something for him.
- devfan30

I won't delve to deeply into how or why, but playing with Zdeno Chara makes development much easier for younger players. At least the kind of development that gets people's attention. It will be very interesting to see how much Hamilton and Bartkowski hold up against the better teams in the east.

Adam Larson, Travis Zajac and the 30th overall pick to Winnipeg for Kane, Enstrom and the 9th overall pick.

Adam Larson, Travis Zajac and the 30th overall pick to Winnipeg for Kane, Enstrom and the 9th overall pick.
- TheUltimateJet

No and we can't trade the pick