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504Heater wrote:That's the give and take here, Columbus does NOT need Leclaire and all his injuries, so Ottawa takes him and hopes he returns to last year's in-the-running Vezina pace, but in return they must take Gerber.
Long run Columbus is happy because they shed the contract and let Mason take the reigns, Ottawa's in an interesting position to totally showcase Leclaire for the deadline - or my some miracle if Leclaire plays lights out, we have the tandem for next year with Elliot. Auld at 1 million should be a moveable goalie (for like nothing). Then you'd have Leclaire and Elliot basically in a tandem, you give Elliot a good look in the NHL - like 40 games to Leclaire's 40 - and even better, when Leclaire goes down, Elliot gets his taste.
I'm not in favour of doing this because Gerber's coming off the books anyway, Leclaire creates a logjam of goalies (even if he is a little better than Auld), Russell is too small (but I hear a killer little puck mover), Vermette is traded for size and a little skill.
Schubert's the throw in, I can't see anyone else off our roster we'd part with for this.
I swear, add it all up and it actually smells right $$ wise and hockey-trade wise - doesn't mean I like it though.
This is all just a guess anyway.
I just think that it would be wise for them to keep Leclaire until the season is over. First, I think his value would be higher then, and secondly, if he is healthy, he's a great insurance policy if Mason gets injured, trips up, or Satan cashes in his soul.
I'm really ready to move Schubert, as he's really not giving us a whole lot. With Kuba coming back, now could be the time. I would however like to hang on to Vermette until closer to the deadline. Often teams get goofy on deadline day, realizing that window to acquire a needed piece is fast closing. Despite Vermette's lack of production, he possesses very many attractive qualities. It's the same argument you used on me with Neil as a target of a playoff bound team
Straight up, do you think Murray is going to be here come trade deadline? Or Hartsburg for that matter? Like I said previously, I have a hunch that there will be a new regime in place a month or so prior to the deadline, so they have time to make the proper assessments.
