Trade for Couturier?

[CreamTeam]

We have a owner who is shopping Couts. I honestly was hesitant as I didn't feel like I wanted to pay the price so I did not go after him when he put him on the block. But he has come to me now and we have started talking. He opened with my Pastrnak and Barzal for his Couts and Mikael Granland. Which I declined as I really don't want to trade either player he was asking for. He is waiting for a counter proposal from me now. Would it be insulting to offer Aho for Couts or even a good idea? Should I really be going out and getting another C at the cost of a winger? My team isn't playing all that great this year 8-12. I won't be making the playoffs and currently hold the 4th overall pick.

Keep 25 Players
Roster & Scoring


3 C, 3 LW, 3 RW, 3 F, 4 D, 2 G

C - McDavid, Matthews, Backstrom, Barzal
LW - Keller(C,RW) Connor, Druin, Galchenyuk, Dvorak, Guentzel(C)
RW - Pastrnak, Voracek(LW) Simmonds, Nylander(C) Ho-Sang, Aho, Rust
D - Karlsson, Provorov, Ristolainen, Hamilton, Ekblad
G - Vasilevskiy, Murray, Jarry

3 points for every Goal	ALL
1 point for every Power Play Point	ALL
1 point for every Short Handed Point	C, LW, RW, D
2 points for every Assist	ALL
1 point for every 2 Penalty Minutes (0.5 per)	ALL
1 point for every 10 Faceoffs Won (0.1 per)	C, LW, RW, D
1 point for every 2 Shootout Goals (0.5 per)	C, LW, RW, D
1 point for every Plus Minus	C, LW, RW, D
Defense
1 point for every 10 Hits (0.1 per)	C, LW, RW, D
1 point for every 10 Blocks (0.1 per)	C, LW, RW, D
Goaltending
5 points for every Win	ALL
-2 points for every Loss	G
-3 points for every 2 OT Losses (-1.5 per)	G
3 points for every Shutout	ALL
1 point for every 4 Saves (0.25 per)	ALL
-1 point for every Goal Against	ALL

[DocMcPuffin]

Please don't take this as gospel but I've read a few things about Coats and some say this season isn't one to make crazy deals for him. Personally, I think Aho is the better player and I wouldn't trade him for Coats.

[CreamTeam]

Yeah I kind of agree with that thinking. I think it has a lot more to do with Giroux's resurgence than Couturier honestly. I would even be more inclined to go after Konecny if I was going after a young Flyer forward. At some point I figure Couturier will be taken off the Giroux line in the future. Then his value could plummet.

[hockeymanG23]

Coots is sure having a great season and his play driving has been quite good for a few seasons now but that doesn't translate to boosting his value.

Aho shouldn't be offered and considering his original asking price I would be hesitant to continue discussions but Id start with some players who are still promising like Drouin/Galch/Ho-Sang/Guentz and see what he thinks.

Tell him that despite your interest you're quite sceptical of the production of a 25 year old who has never scored even 40 points in 6 seasons but if he requests stay high I'd likely pass.

[Mr. Guru]

Couts is carrying his own line and Giroux happens to be on it. Couturier is gonna be a very good player for a long time. This is his breakout party.

But if I were you Id keep the winger considering your centers are stacked

[DocMcPuffin]

Yeah I kind of agree with that thinking. I think it has a lot more to do with Giroux's resurgence than Couturier honestly. I would even be more inclined to go after Konecny if I was going after a young Flyer forward. At some point I figure Couturier will be taken off the Giroux line in the future. Then his value could plummet.

I'd definitely look at Konecny over Coats. Long term, I see more value in him. Coats is playing well but it's taken quite a while for him to get to this point and Konecny has been pretty darn good during his short time in the league thus far.

[Mr. Guru]

I'd definitely look at Konecny over Coats. Long term, I see more value in him. Coats is playing well but it's taken quite a while for him to get to this point and Konecny has been pretty darn good during his short time in the league thus far.

This is the first time Couturier has been given this much ice time and more importantly offensive time.

He had very impressive offensive numbers in the Q before being drafted too. He was used as a 'shutdown' guy in Philly for how long now? His PP TOI has doubled this year. He's finally given the reigns to show us his offensive side and he's doing just that.

Couturier all day over Konency and it's not even close.

Couturier plays like 5 more minutes a game than Konency.

[hockeymanG23]

Missed the banter about Giroux before my first post but I agree with Guru here. Coots drives play well, it makes sense that he would be productive with good line mates as opposed to Read/Raffl/Weise/Umberger/etc.

Try to use that past crappy production to drive the price down though.

To be fair, Konecny looks like a beaut too and I wouldn't hesitate to pursue him but Coots IQ is on another level and thats a big part of his effectiveness, especially with Giroux and the revolving door of quality RWers.

[Martin5150]

I suspect the Flyers have figured out they need to surround him with high end offensive talent. Weather that's Konecny, Giroux, Voracek, Morgan Frost or Lindblom, he's not going to be relegated to 3rd line or checking duties again. This year will likely be an outlier, but I'd pay 80 cents on the dollar for sure. Historically he was in the running to be a #1 overall draft pick, but a bout with mono derailed that. He has a strong pedigree

[anthonybeaty]

Of course he is shopping Couts. Couts is having a career year and IMO isn't likely to have another like it any time soon. The guy has been in the league for 6 previous seasons and hasn't broken 40 points ever. The closest he came was a couple years ago when he hit 39 points in 63 games. Giroux seems to be rejuvenated this year and his 50 assists have to go to someone.

One average, he has been 1/2 point per game for his career which has 7 years to consider.

[Atomic Wedgy]

Couturier has been deployed in a different fashion this year. He has a different role with the team and is being asked to do different things. This is the major reason for his breakout.

The other GM is trying to capitalize on the breakout which he definitely should try to do. However as a few others have mentioned, the perceived fantasy value of Couturier is still lower than what your trading partner expects. I have watched quite a few games this year and I dont think there is much chance of him going back to being a 35 point player unless his role changes again. Seeing how successful he has been this year, I dont see why the coaches would decide to return him to a defensive minded role. I think he going to be good for 60-80 points every year for the next 5-7 years.

I think your Pastrnak and Barzal for his Couts and Mikael Granland is a really bad deal for you. I dont think you can negotiate from this point. I would reply that you are too far apart in valuations to negotiate. Maybe he will come back with something more reasonable. No harm in him trying to get the best deal, but the ask is way more than I would give.