CBJ pass and just pick Cayden Lindstrom.

You aren’t making this trade without including your ‘24 1st, and more.

Switch Mailloux with Guhle or Hutson and Columbus might do it.

I'd give up Guhle for the 5th overall

Jackets need top end talent, not depth. Easy no.

We need quality nhl prospects not middling pieces that will fit around edges. Easy pass without top asset coming back

I'm loving how everyone is sleeping on Mailloux
The guy is a future top4 guy.
I wouldn't trade him away in this package

To move up to where we assume CBJ will land, your trade package will likely be something like Guhle and your ‘24 1st.

And even that is dependent on where your 1st lands, and where CBJ’s scouts have their prospect list around the 3-7 range.

Unless Montreal or Columbus wins the draft lottery their picks are back to back. Guhle would be a huge overpay for Montreal to move up 1 spot.

Fair point. Issue is, what’s the incentive to move up one spot?

If it’s two teams who want the same player, and I’m either team, I’m asking for a lot. Otherwise, if the separation is a few picks, then I still stick by what I’m asking for. Value of a pick grows exponentially, particularly picking so high.

Point being, unless somebody’s internal scouting is screaming that the guy available at 8OA or something has top-end potential, no reason to trade. The justifications require more knots than straight lines.

There’s a reason why trades involving top-10 picks are extremely rare before the draft.

I don't have a horse in the race either way here. I am curious who you'd like to see Columbus take at 4th though, from an outsiders perspective it sure looks like they're deep at every position prospect wise.

Chiming in as a CBJ fan. I think they go forward. The top-10 caliber defenseman in this draft are almost all offensive defensemen, which they've already got in spades, or play LHD specifically, which is pretty deep organizationally. Probably take Demidov without even blinking if they land second overall, but failing that, whichever of the centers the scouts like most: Lindstrom, Catton, Helenius. Easier to take the center now even if he ends up a wing later.

I know Habs fans are hoping CBJ wins a lottery spot since they're the other most likely to take a forward in the projected top six or seven teams, which leaves the most choice available for Montreal.

Thanks for chiming in, always interested in hearing other fans perspectives. If the draft order stays the same I can realistically see a scenario where Demidov falls to you. Chicago could easily be looking for a future #1 dman, and Anaheim could do the same after trading Drysdale for Gauthier.

Chicago seems to be the wildcard, yeah. Get Bedard a wing, or go defense. San Jose probably goes either way, too. Ottawa, Anaheim (likely Levshunov), and Utah all almost certainly go defense. I could see Columbus maybe going with Levshunov, but as it is, their top four D are pretty much all set for the next six years so forward seems far more likely.