EDM trade is bad for EDM.

Tor trade is awful for MN.

Very unlikely Spurgeon signs for less than $6m. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get $7m+, he’s a legit right handed top pairing defenseman that can play a lot of minutes.

Edit: given that he’s almost 30, he may come down a bit in AAV if his deal is 7 or 8 years long.

On the contrary, Edmonton would LOVE to get rid of those two contracts and simultaneously get a big upgrade on LW. I think that trade is bad for Minnesota.

First off, Marleau isn't waiving his absolute NMC to go anywhere, so let's dismiss him from the discussion.

The Toronto trade doesn't help Minnesota achieve its two main objectives: finding replacements for Koivu and Staal, and getting younger without a significant increase in cap hit.

RNH is the best player in the trade. EDM would be downgrading from RNH at LW to Zucker; only saving $500k/yr and adding 2 more years of term.

I get the dumping Russell for cap space part.

I stand corrected. I had Zach Parise's career in mind, not Jason Zucker's. (And Parise would not be an adequate substitute due to the age difference.) You're right.