Draisaitl or Kucherov ?

[buggybdrizzy]

I have the chance to trade OEL for Draisaitl or Kucherov. Which would you prefer long term? I know there is some bias with Kuch having more NHL time.

Upside to Leon is that I could stash him as a prospect and carry him forward next year without affecting my keeper cap.

[CatEye]

I prefer Kucherov because he plays with T. Johnson and Palat from now and possibly with Stamkos and Drouin in the future.
Draisaitl play with Hall and Nugent-hopkins but when Eberle return he will slide to the third line and in the future, they are
so many good players in Edmonton who can pass behind him.

Cat-Eye

[rangerfan2430]

I prefer Kucherov because he plays with T. Johnson and Palat from now and possibly with Stamkos and Drouin in the future.
Draisaitl play with Hall and Nugent-hopkins but when Eberle return he will slide to the third line and in the future, they are
so many good players in Edmonton who can pass behind him.

Cat-Eye

This and Kucherov is more proven

[The Comish]

If you're bound and determined to deal OEL, then Kucherov would be my choice. He's a keeper.

[blayze]

I wouldn't trade OEL for any of those guys.

And Kucherov vs. Draisaitl... is that a serious question?

[Monsterbot]

You should be asking for Drai and Kuch for OEL...

OEL is an absolute beast and is only scratching the surface. Once Domi, Duclair, Strome all get going watch out.

Why run out and buy high on Drai after two good games? Love Kuch but I would be trying to pay bellow market price for him given his slow start.

[buggybdrizzy]

I tried, but he wouldn't budge on Kuch. Looks like deal is done for Draisaitl.

I realize that without any context, everyone would choose Kuch.

So here's the context:

We can only keep a bit less than 40 mil, and OEL is great but at 5.5 million, I'd rather use that cash to pay forwards. I already have Rielly, Jones, and Carlson (at 3.97 mil). And probably gonna move one of Rielly/Jones or both (who also need contracts). I need the cap space to pay Strome, Barkov, Forsberg. I came into a league as an expansion team and now there are 17 teams. I've focused on getting loads of young, talented forwards. I don't wanna pay a lot for Dmen, as the marginal upgrade over average is less than for forwards. Also, I can stash Draisaitl as a prospect and carry him forward until 23 without a hit against my cap. Kucherov was active on someone else's roster and therefore ineligible. I would have to pay him, and that would be fine, but he opted not to trade him.

[Samfolds]

I tried, but he wouldn't budge on Kuch. Looks like deal is done for Draisaitl.

I realize that without any context, everyone would choose Kuch.

So here's the context:

We can only keep a bit less than 40 mil, and OEL is great but at 5.5 million, I'd rather use that cash to pay forwards. I already have Rielly, Jones, and Carlson (at 3.97 mil). And probably gonna move one of Rielly/Jones or both (who also need contracts). I need the cap space to pay Strome, Barkov, Forsberg. I came into a league as an expansion team and now there are 17 teams. I've focused on getting loads of young, talented forwards. I don't wanna pay a lot for Dmen, as the marginal upgrade over average is less than for forwards. Also, I can stash Draisaitl as a prospect and carry him forward until 23 without a hit against my cap. Kucherov was active on someone else's roster and therefore ineligible. I would have to pay him, and that would be fine, but he opted not to trade him.

Hard to say for me if that was good or not....

How many D do you play compared to F? I have a hard time beliving that OEL is not marginally better than most non-elite forwards ...

You are not in win now mode I guess? Will you be able to keep Drai on the farm team even when his ELC expires and he signs his (likely) bridge @ ~ 4.5M? If you can't, I think you got owned in this trade and even if you can, you are only delaying your cap problems as he'll be paid close to what OEL is being paid, but he might juste be a 60 pts forward going forward... OEL might touch 60 points in not too long as a defenseman (I think he has the potential given his talent and short term situation)!

[havanablast21]

I wouldn't trade OEL for any of those guys.

And Kucherov vs. Draisaitl... is that a serious question?

THis right here!

OEL > Kucherov > Draisaitl IMO

[buggybdrizzy]

I think the nature of our league has a lot to do with it. OEL wasn't even kept last year, so I was able to draft him in the first round. And he just went to a very rich team, so I imagine he gets dropped again, or else traded for peanuts in the offseason so he doesn't lose him for nothing. I don't think I got owned at all, I think he'll be nice trade bait to get a goalie, which may be the most important thing at this point. I am not in win now mode, hence the gambling.

[SeaDawg]

In most leagues OEL has huge value, but if he was unprotected after last season (when he had a monster season scoring 23 goals) then you must know what you are talking about.

I also much prefer Kucherov to Draisaitl, but again this comes down to your league's uniqueness. If you can protect Draisaitl without having to use a main roster spot or take on any extra salary, that has value.

[StuntMan12]

Kucherov for me. Its still early.

[buggybdrizzy]

Hard to say for me if that was good or not....

Will you be able to keep Drai on the farm team even when his ELC expires and he signs his (likely) bridge @ ~ 4.5M?

We can keep prospects until they are 23. Since his birthday is after the start of the season, if my math is right, I can conceivably keep him until 2019 before being forced to activate him, thus counting toward my cap.

In hindsight, it was a crappy comparison without context, and my apologies for not giving the context in the original post.

[baumer]

How is kuch more proven? He did it one year and that hardly makes him proven. Why not take the chance and go for Drais?

As for Eberle coming back and taking his spot. That remains to be seen. If that line is still producing in a month why would you split it up?

Maybe Eberle goes to St. Louis for Shatt.

Hey one can dream.