THREE TRADES MADE...soliciting opinions...mucho info

[digitalmonkey]

Goals
- improve current team without sacrificing future
- shed stagnant salary
- move Rundblad for a forward of similar value
- improve forward prospects

Here is some relevant information.

League Info
- 20-team keeper league (23 player roster...F or D, plus 3 sets of goalies)
- farm team of max. 20 players
- farm player salaries do not count against cap until player is called up
- salary cap ($60 +/- whatever cap $ you acquire or trade)
- player's salary in pool is completely independent of actual NHL salary
- we play head-to-head games on nights when NHL has minimum of 6 games scheduled
- our lineups consist of max 10 players (6 forwards + 4 defense...plus a set of goalies)
- only points matter (goal = 1 point, assist = 0.5 point)

Team Info
- looking to win now
- finished 1st in regular season last year but lost in semi-finals


Here is my current active roster (w/o goalies)...only 2012-13 salary shown:

F: Steven Stamkos TAM ($7.25), Marian Hossa CHI ($6.75), Martin Erat NAS ($4.00), Joe Pavelski SAN ($3.00), James Neal PIT ($2.50), Ville Leino BUF ($2.50), Guillaume Lentendresse OTT ($2.25), Blake Wheeler WPG ($2.00), Matt Moulson NYI ($1.75), Nick Foligno CLB ($1.50), Zach Boychuk CAR ($1.25), Matt Read PHI ($1.00), Lee Stempniak CGY ($0.75)

D: Shea Weber NAS ($7.50), Dion Phaneuf TOR ($3.00), John Carlson WAS ($2.50), Dan Hamhuis VAN ($2.50), P.K. Subban MTL ($1.00), T.J. Brodie CGY ($1.00), Tom Gilbert MIN ($0.75), Matt Niskanen PIT ($0.75), Chris Tanev VAN ($0.75)

Here is my current farm team:

Farm (salary is starting salary when called up):
F: Ty Rattie STL ($2.00), Nazem Kadri TOR ($2.00), Pat Maroon ANA ($1.50), Michael St. Croix NYR ($1.00), Cory Emmerton DET ($1.00), Igor Makarov LOL ($1.00), Reilly Smith DAL ($0.50), Maxsim Mayorov CLB ($0.50)

D: Brendan Smith DET ($1.00), Aaron Ness NYI ($1.00), Jake Muzzin LOS ($1.00), Eric Gelinas NJ ($1.00), M.A. Bourdon PHI ($1.00), Raymond Macias LOL ($0.25)

Active Roster - 1 empty roster spot to fill at upcoming Free Agent auction
Farm Roster - 14 of 20(max)...6 draft picks (#31, 33, 64, 67, 71 and 74) at upcoming Draft


***I've most likely left out some relevant info. I'll add it when it comes up.***

NOTE
Active players are listed in following format:
POSITION - NAME - NHL TEAM - # SEASONS UNDER CONTRACT - SALARY FOR EACH SEASON UNDER CONTRACT
ex/ F Steven Stamkos TAM 3 $7.25 $8.75 $10.50
Stamkos is under contract for 3 seasons and his salary is...
2012-13 $7.25
2013-14 $8.75
2014-15 $10.50

Farm players are listed in following format:
POSITION - NAME - NHL TEAM - (STARTING SALARY WHEN CALLED UP TO ACTIVE ROSTER)


Here are three separate significant trades recently made:

TRADE #1
Traded:
F Mikhail Grabovski TOR 2 $1.25 $1.25
F Martin Hanzal PHX 2 $2.00 $2.00
D Marc Staal NYR 3 $2.00 $2.25 $2.50
F Anton Lander EDM ($1.00)
F Max Reinhart CGY ($0.50)
D Dmitri Orlov WAS ($1.00)
2012 4th round pick (#75 overall)

Acquired:
F Matt Moulson NYI 2 $1.75 $2.00
D John Carlson WAS 2 $2.50 $2.75
F Nazem Kadri TOR ($2.00)
D Aaron Ness NYI ($1.00)
D Eric Gelinas NJ ($1.00)
2012 2nd round pick (#31 overall)
$0.50 2012-13 (this cap$ was flipped for a 2012 4th round pick-#67 overall)

My thoughts:
- Hanzal is overvalued in this pool due to absence of other stats (hits, PIMs, etc...)
- Moulson > Grabovski
- Staal has offensive skills but hasn't taken the next step (concussion, MDZ/Girardi/McDonaugh, etc...)
- Staal's salary is an example of stagnant salary
- Lander is two-way player on a loaded EDM team...magic 8-ball sees the 3rd line in his future
- Reinhart is a decent prospect but value is inflated due to Calgary's poor prospect depth (likely #2 behind Baertschi...wouldn't be #2 on most teams)
- love Orlov but he needs development time...Carlson helps now
- Kadri has NHL skills...just a matter of opportunity
- Ness is small but has offensive skills..somewhat of a flyer here
- Gelinas has offensive skills and plays D on NJ (Larsson, Merrill and ___?___) Flyer!
- 2nd round pick will give me a better chance of a quality prospect than 4th rounder
- cash flipped for another draft pick
- the return on this deal was too good to refuse
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TRADE #2
Traded:
F Jussi Jokinen CAR 3 $0.75 $0.75 $0.75

Acquired:
F Martin Erat NAS 3 $4.00 $5.00 $5.50
2012 2nd round pick (#33 overall)
2012 4th round pick (#71 overall)

My thoughts:
- acquired F Zach Boychuk CAR 1 $1.25 in an earlier deal at little cost.
- Jokinen's role in Carolina's offense has diminished (J. Staal) and will likely continue to do so
- Erat is still a major piece of Nashville's offense
- extra salary fits under my cap
- NHL points between the two may be close but Erat should score more goals increasing his value in the pool
- draft picks make this a deal I couldn't refuse

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TRADE #3
Traded:
F Patrik Berglund STL 2 $2.00 $2.00
D Andrej Sekera BUF 2 $2.00 $2.00
D David Rundblad PHX ($2.00)

Acquired:
F Joe Pavelski SAN 3 $3.00 $3.50 $4.00
F Ty Rattie STL ($2.00)
2013 2nd round pick (predicted to be between #25 & #30 overall)
(this trade also allowed me to retain D Chris Tanev VAN 1 $0.75 who I would've had to drop)

My thoughts:
- swapping Rundblad for a forward (on farm) of approximately equal value was a goal (attempts at Calle Jarnkrok, Tomas Tatar and Kyle Palmieri failed)
- Sekera either needs more time or will never realize his offensive potential (his salary is stagnant and he has a lot of other offensive D around...McNabb, Myers, Ehrhoff, etc...
- never had any intention of moving Berglund due to his skills/upside, but I view Pavelski as already having what everyone is waiting for from Berglund...this was a NOW over FUTURE decision
- Pavelski should be good for around 30 goals
- Rattie's offensive skill-set is top-tier
- 2nd round pick should provide a quality prospect
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Summary

Active Roster
OUT: Mikhail Grabovski, Jussi Jokinen, Martin Hanzal, Patrik Berglund, Marc Staal, Andrej Sekera
IN: Matt Moulson, Martin Erat, Joe Pavelski, John Carlson, Chris Tanev

Farm
OUT: Anton Lander, Max Reinhart, Dmitri Orlov, David Rundblad
IN: Nazem Kadri, Ty Rattie, Aaron Ness, Eric Gelinas

Picks
OUT: 2012 4th (#75 overall)
IN: 2012 2nd (#31 overall), 2nd (#33 overall), 4th (#67 overall), 4th (#71 overall), 2013 2nd (predicted #25-30 overall)

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Did anyone read all that? LOL

Thoughts?

THANKS!!!!

[dongjohnson]

I read the whole thing... here are a few thoughts...

I think you upgraded your NHL level talent, but slightly at the cost of prospects etc. Orlov and Rundblad are considered blue chips for a legit reason. I honestly don't think much of Kadri either. I know you already know that, but point to consider.

An independent thought, have you tried to move Hossa? His salary will kill you. I'd be looking to swap him out for a lesser, cheaper forward and a good prospect.

[digitalmonkey]

I read the whole thing... here are a few thoughts...

I think you upgraded your NHL level talent, but slightly at the cost of prospects etc. Orlov and Rundblad are considered blue chips for a legit reason. I honestly don't think much of Kadri either. I know you already know that, but point to consider.

An independent thought, have you tried to move Hossa? His salary will kill you. I'd be looking to swap him out for a lesser, cheaper forward and a good prospect.

Thanks for the input!!!

I agree that Orlov and Rundblad are blue chips but I also have a lot of quality dmen on my team, plus I have Brendan Smith on my farm. In my view I swapped Orlov for Carlsson, and Rundblad for Rattie...and I'm ok with that.

I considered moving Hossa, but the possible return wasn't appealing. He's only signed for this year and will almost certainly not be resigned by me next season.