rayk: If the top three Fs are taken before the 4th pick in the 2026 draft, would Chicago possibly be better off moving down a few slots and getting another pick? They\u00a0 could still could get a highly-rated d-man plus an extra asset. Why\/how is trading up and getting overcharged a better approach? Thanks.<\/p>\n
From a straight asset valuation standpoint, you\u2019re right.\u00a0 If the Blackhawks have a few defensemen rated similarly and are okay with taking one, they could drop a couple of spots if either the Rangers or Flames wanted to move up to get one and pick up something extra for doing so.\u00a0 But that\u2019s only if Chicago thinks the blueliners are largely interchangeable and if New York or Calgary felt otherwise.\u00a0 Chances are the latter is true but odds being odds, one of the defensemen stands out the rest on Chicago\u2019s draft board.<\/p>\n
It wouldn\u2019t be right to say that Chicago wouldn\u2019t have a need for the second-round pick or whatever asset they\u2019d get to move down a couple of spots.\u00a0 But because of the depth they\u2019ve amassed, they may not attach as much value to that as you might think they should.\u00a0 And that might ultimately result in them not trading down if the draft goes that way; they\u2019d probably just take the best defenseman available in their eyes and go from there.<\/p>\n
As for paying a high price to trade up if they really want a forward, the Blackhawks are in a spot where they can afford to do so.\u00a0 They have a deep prospect pool and an emerging core group of youngsters on the NHL roster.\u00a0 They can afford to deal from their surplus to find a better fit with that core group if there\u2019s a deal to be made without it drastically affecting their overall system.\u00a0 And if they think that one of the forwards is so much of a better fit than the defenseman, the trade-up becomes defensible, even if it comes at a steep price.<\/p>\n
FeeltheThunder: Who do you believe Tampa might consider targeting in the UFA and\/or RFA markets? I was thinking they could pursue someone like Mason Marchment<\/a> to add a power forward element to their lineup, which is currently missing. Alternatively, they might explore submitting an offer sheet for a promising young talent like Mavrik Bourque<\/a>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m glad I pushed this one to the final mailbag from our most recent call for questions as Darren Raddysh<\/a> going to Toronto really affects this answer.\u00a0 They badly need to land an impact right-shot defenseman in free agency.\u00a0 Those are John Carlson<\/a>, Rasmus Andersson<\/a>, and Jacob Trouba<\/a>.\u00a0 And if they get one of them, more than half their cap space goes out the window and likely takes them out of going after someone like Marchment, who would certainly be a good fit for them.\u00a0 (Now, if they clear out a contract and open up cap space, that could change things but this is an as-things-stand answer.)<\/p>\n I noted recently in their Offseason Checklist<\/a> that I think they should keep an eye on the UFA market for goalies.\u00a0 Yes, they have Jonas Johansson<\/a> but if they can find an upgrade that only costs a bit more, it\u2019s worth paying the extra money as it\u2019s probably worth a few more points in the standings.\u00a0 There are better options than these three but Cam Talbot<\/a>, David Rittich<\/a>, and Vitek Vanecek<\/a> might come in more at the incrementally higher price point that Julien BriseBois might be willing to pay.<\/p>\n Beyond those two, they\u2019re probably down to more depth-type additions although if they want to make a swing, Patrik Laine<\/a> can sign a one-year, bonus-laden deal and maybe help their power play.\u00a0 Eyeballing the right-shot options on the UFA list (since that\u2019s a clear need up front), Jack Roslovic<\/a> is one to keep an eye on.\u00a0 His market hasn\u2019t materialized in two straight summers and if that happens again here, Tampa Bay feels like a great soft landing spot if they leave themselves wiggle room after July 1st.\u00a0 Noel Acciari<\/a> giving them some grit and faceoff ability wouldn\u2019t hurt in the bottom six either.<\/p>\n Tampa Bay\u2019s ability to do offer sheets is rather limited.\u00a0 In terms of their 2027 picks, they don\u2019t have control of their first-rounder and they don\u2019t have their third-rounder, meaning they can only sign ones with no compensation or second-round compensation.\u00a0 That\u2019s probably where Bourque lands but, again, with their biggest need now being a right-shot defender that will cost a big chunk of their $13MM or so in cap room per PuckPedia<\/a>, I just don\u2019t think they can afford him for the salary it\u2019d take for Bourque to consider signing a sheet.<\/p>\n DonInStPete: How do you feel the Lightning\u2019s prospect pool ranks?<\/p>\n Not very highly, to be honest.\u00a0 I like Sam O\u2019Reilly<\/a>, a player who seems like a very safe bet to make it as a third-line center, at a minimum and be a good secondary core player.\u00a0 Benjamin Rautiainen<\/a> is coming\u00a0off a breakout year so his stock is on the rise.\u00a0 Ethan Gauthier<\/a> had a decent enough first pro season and Ethan Czata<\/a> could be something.\u00a0 If Conor Geekie<\/a> still qualifies since he hasn\u2019t cracked the roster full-time yet, he should be part of the longer-term roster as well.\u00a0 I\u2019m not entirely sold on Jack Pridham<\/a> being a big point producer but at the price they paid to get him, that was a worthwhile attempt to try to add to the system.<\/p>\n But most of these players are complementary at best, not high-end pieces so it\u2019s hard to give this system a high rating.\u00a0 It\u2019s a byproduct of going for it year after year but the cost is that they have a pretty shallow pool overall.<\/p>\n Last offseason, Daily Faceoff\u2019s Steven Ellis ranked<\/a> the Lightning\u2019s pool 30th overall.\u00a0 Back in March, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic ranked (subscription link<\/a>) them 24th, with Geekie and Rautiainen\u2019s big year likely moving that up a few spots.\u00a0 To properly assign them a number, I\u2019d have to review all 32 prospect pools which would make this an incredibly long answer.\u00a0 But they\u2019d be in or around the bottom five overall if I was ranking them all.<\/p>\n Schwa: What\/who do you expect to be the biggest value asset traded this summer (pick, player, signing rights)?<\/p>\n What teams do you expect to be the most active (in actual moves not just kicking tires)?<\/p>\n There isn\u2019t a pending UFA whose signing rights would be worth more than Larkin and the only RFA who would have a similar valuation that has a chance to move is Jason Robertson<\/a>.\u00a0 Robertson has the better numbers but Larkin plays the much more premium position so I\u2019d still give Larkin the edge here in terms of the potential return in a swap.\u00a0 In terms of draft picks, there are rumblings about San Jose and Chicago being willing to move the second and fourth selections but those deals rarely happen.\u00a0 Maybe they wind up swapping with each other but that\u2019s not going to be a trade of a higher magnitude.<\/p>\n In terms of the most active teams, I could see it being Toronto.\u00a0 John Chayka very quietly made a ton of trades in his time with the Coyotes.\u00a0 Some were big swings, some were tinkering moves, and some were really minor swaps.\u00a0 But if he saw a chance to make an incremental improvement, he took it.\u00a0 He has already made two big moves this month with the Joseph Woll<\/a> trade and the Darren Raddysh acquisition.\u00a0 It looks like Morgan Rielly<\/a> is going to move at some point, opening up more cap space to play with.\u00a0 We know they\u2019re going to be center shopping and there is injury uncertainty with Max Domi<\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s not crazy to think there will be four or five more signings or trades to go along with the ones already made.\u00a0 Whether the Maple Leafs are demonstrably better when all is said and done remains to be seen but I expect their roster will certainly look different in the fall.<\/p>\n LA All Day: Could the Kings offseason possibly look like what they did at the trade deadline? One big move, a couple small buys and a couple soft sells?<\/p>\n If the big move comes in free agency, perhaps.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think the Kings have the draft pick or prospect capital to take another big swing on the trade market, unless there\u2019s another Artemi Panarin<\/a> situation where the player makes it clear that they want to go to Los Angeles.\u00a0 They have over $18MM in cap room available per PuckPedia<\/a> and while Brandt Clarke<\/a>\u2019s next contract will take a sizable chunk of that, there\u2019s enough left to make a splash if a key free agent wants to go there.<\/p>\n How much is GM Ken Holland going to want to remake his roster this summer?\u00a0 If he believes in this group, he might think that bringing in Peter Laviolette<\/a> behind the bench and changing their offensive system might be enough to kickstart things.\u00a0 That isn\u2019t to say he\u2019ll be complacent but it wouldn\u2019t shock me if most of their roster activity was incremental.<\/p>\n On the small buy front, they need to do something at center.\u00a0 Re-signing Scott Laughton<\/a> would help in the bottom six although it wouldn\u2019t help fill Anze Kopitar<\/a>\u2019s shoes either.\u00a0 And on the soft sell front, I wonder about Joel Edmundson<\/a>.\u00a0 Yes, he made it through 82 games this season but in a reduced role.\u00a0 If Laviolette wants more mobility on the back end, I think Edmundson\u2019s contract ($3.85MM for two years) is movable once options start to dry up on the open market.<\/p>\n vincent k. mcmahon: Do the Blues make a trade to move in the draft or do you think they\u2019ll stay put at 11, 15, and 29?<\/p>\n I know they were rumored to be interested in San Jose\u2019s 2nd overall pick, and assuming they would potentially make that deal what do you see heading SJ\u2019s way outside of the 11th or 15th overall pick?<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to answer these out of order.\u00a0 I can\u2019t see a scenario where the Sharks trade down from the second pick to the 11th.\u00a0 This is not like when GM Mike Grier<\/a> first took over and did trade downs to add more picks to a thinned-out draft cupboard.\u00a0 They have a plethora of picks and prospects now; they don\u2019t need quantity over quality.\u00a0 If they\u2019re trading the second pick to the Blues, Robert Thomas<\/a> is the player going the other way.\u00a0 And since it seems like St. Louis isn\u2019t as open to the idea of moving him (and San Jose isn\u2019t exactly looking for centers), it\u2019s not going to happen.\u00a0 GM Alex Steen could offer all three first-rounders for the second pick and it wouldn\u2019t be enough to justify the move for the Sharks.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t expect the 11th or 15th picks to move.\u00a0 Because it looks like St. Louis is going to embrace some sort of retooling phase, they\u2019re going to want to stay put with those selections.\u00a0 Maybe 29 gets dangled to move up a few spots if someone they really like slips but otherwise, I think they make their first two selections.<\/p>\n 29 is a trickier call to make.\u00a0 That\u2019s the part of the draft when we start to see more trade-downs and without the benefit of a second-rounder, I could see St. Louis moving down to an early second-rounder, adding another asset, and then trying to package some of their thirds to pick up another second-round pick.\u00a0 I could also see them moving the pick for a younger player scuffling with his current team but that the Blues think can rebound with them.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t put really high odds on this but my guess is there\u2019s a slightly better chance than not that they move 29.<\/p>\n jkumpire: From Frustrated CBJ Fan,<\/p>\n Is there actually going to be one UFA this summer that could make a difference to any non-playoff team this coming season? If Charlie Coyle<\/a> was the #1 UFA center\/offensive player on the board before he signed, that speaks volumes about the weakness of the UFA class this year.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dylan-larkin-detroit-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a>It\u2019s an easy answer but I think it\u2019s still going to be the right one and that\u2019s Dylan Larkin<\/a>.\u00a0 With the suggestion that his camp has expanded the yes list, that should be enough for Detroit GM Steve Yzerman to drum up enough of a bidding war to land the type of return that Larkin is worth.\u00a0 While he\u2019s not an elite top center, he\u2019d still be the top pivot on quite a few teams and a high-end second option on others.\u00a0 There aren\u2019t many pivots of that magnitude that get traded with five years left on their contracts so I have a hard time thinking that Larkin will be beat.<\/p>\n