As a leafs Fan, No Thnx

As a hockey fan and a sane person, OMG NO!!

OEL is a great D but c'mon.....a true #1 Center in the mold of Kopitar or Toews is unbelievably difficult to find.

I think that is the point, though. OEL is great. He is 24(?). He is a #1 D man on 25 teams. He is ELITE.

He won't be traded for 1st OA unless ARI has no reason to say no. Just like TML have no reason to trade 1st OA unless they can't say no.

It's funny but I really don't have any interest in OEL, we already have Rielly and Gardiner for offensive defenseman, I'm very biased but the only way I would trade the no. 1 pick is for Strome, Dvorak, #7, #20, Domi but I really don't even think I would take that deal, although they're great prospects it comes down to quality over quantity and I'm not passing up on a Toews for anything

If a trade gets done with these two teams it will be a huge amount of parts to it. ARI WILL have to put both their 1st rounds plus OEL as a starting point. No question about it. I can see Jake Gardiner going back the other way in that kind of a scenario. It may be an overpayment but you don't get a chance to draft a 1C very often.

But ARI drafted a 1C last year lol...

Strome isn't the Caliber of Matthews, it's like comparing Duchene to Tavares, Duchene is really good and is a solid option for a number 1 centerman but Tavares will carry your team for 15 years

Not sure how literal you are being. I'm sure you would move the pick for McDavid or Eichel though, among a few other players.

Exactly

I would not trade Matthews for Eichel. At all.

Oh then you don't watch hockey? Assuming someone told you they heard he would have went 2nd last year? That would be wrong. Everyone said then and almost everyone says now Eichel would still be the 2nd pick.

I would move him for McDavid alone, maybe Eichel and their 1st pick this year, maybe an Ekblad package (would have to include quite a bit more with Ekblad) but I can't think of too much more

But you are ignoring the fact they would be trading OEL (24 year old stud d man which there are less of in the NHL) for a likely 1C? Seems silly to me when you already have young F depth. Top pairing 25-30 min D man >>>>>>> established 1C, never mind prospect.

More than Eichel??????????? Why would Buffalo even do Eichel for the pick alone? Why would FLA trade Ekblad for the pick? lol. Bizarre....I thought I was a homer fan.

From listening to many sports analysts and writers they say he would've gone 2nd last year, and those are just 3 players I consider being young Franchise players

Better question...straight up for McDavid? Of course you would. But why would EDM not want a boat load more....?

Also part of the reason I value a #1 centerman more than a defense is you can find cornerstone defenseman in the draft a lot easier than a centerman. (See Giordano/Brodie, Faulk, Keith, Suter, Subban, Weber/Josi, McDonaugh, Karlsson, Ghostisbhyere, Letang, Burns/Eduard Vlasic

McJesus is like Crosby and Matthews is stacking up to be a Toews, puts up points, is ultra competitive, loves a challenge and plays an amazing two way game, I definitely don't think EDM would take the deal at all because he's their saviour as Matthews is ours

All 30 NHL GM's would probably be on the fence. See Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Bergeron, Monahan, O'Reilly. There are a lot of young high end C's being drafted between 10-25 picks these days too.

I agree it's just my opinion and I saw your other posts and wanted to say I don't think its the value thats necessarily thats off its just what Matthews represents, we've tanked all year for him and I think to be a winner you need to groom your own number center and defenseman and I think that Rielly can be our number one defenseman. I also think that the ability to be the team that selects first overall is pretty special for a fan base too,

The purpose of my post was that people keep asking for OEL, Domi, Duclair, Strome, 1st OA, etc, etc, etc. The fact is that won't happen.

I really hope they don't make the trade