Win-Win Blockbuster Trade Ideas for the 2023 NHL Offseason
Everybody loves a good blockbuster trade, especially when it helps both teams in getting exactly what they want and need.
One of the best examples of such a trade over the past couple of years was when Buffalo traded Jack Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights for Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs. The Golden Knights got their superstar center that might bring them a Stanley Cup, Eichel got out of a situation he did not want to be in, while the Sabres got two potential cornerstone players for their rebuild that actually want to be in Buffalo and can help snap the 12-year playoff drought.
Everybody wins. Everybody is happy.
So with that deal in mind, let's take a look ahead to the offseason at some hypothetical blockbuster trades that should happen (these are simply our suggestions) and could be a win-win for everybody involved.
Jake Guentzel for Devon Toews
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The Trade Idea: Pittsburgh sends Jake Guentzel to Colorado for Devon Toews
Why it is a win-win
The Penguins have not won a playoff series since 2018 and just missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005-06. Some sort of a major change seems inevitable after all of that, and it is not likely to come from the core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
Guentzel, however, could be a potential trade chip.
Not only is he a pending unrestricted free agent following the 2023-24 season, but dealing such a significant part of their roster could serve as a wake-up call to everybody else that remains.
Even after missing the playoffs and with a new yet-to-be-named general manager coming in, this is not yet a rebuild situation. So you would ideally be looking for a hockey trade here, and one thing that Pittsburgh could use is an upgrade on the left side of its defense, especially with Brian Dumoulin likely to leave this summer.
That is where Toews comes in.
Toews could seamlessly slide into the left spot on the Penguins' top-pairing next to Letang, giving them another top-tier defenseman to help reshape a defense that struggled at times last season.
Colorado, meanwhile, has one of the deepest defense corps in the NHL and is going to be in the market for forward help. The Avalanche were not as strong offensively this past season as they were during the 2022 Stanley Cup run and captain Gabriel Landeskog has already been ruled out for all of next season.
With two top-tier players at their position, the salaries are close enough to work under the cap for both teams ($6 million cap hit for Guentzel vs. $4.1 million for Toews), and both players have one year remaining on their current contracts. It is a pure hockey trade.
The only downside for Pittsburgh is it would create another hole at wing, while potentially angering Crosby by taking away his go-to linemate. But maybe the Penguins need that. It would also be easier to find a top-six winger in free agency than it would be to find a defenseman of Toews' caliber.
Pierre-Luc Dubois to Montreal for Kirby Dach
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The Trade Idea: Winnipeg sends Pierre-Luc Dubois to Montreal for Kirby Dach, Florida's first-round draft pick (No. 31 or 32 overall) and Montreal's third-round pick
Why it's a win-win
This one is not a stretch at all as Dubois seems destined to end up in Montreal at some point in the not-too-distant future.
He does not seem interested in signing a long-term deal with Winnipeg, Montreal seems to be his preferred destination and there has been enough smoke over the past few months that something could actually happen here.
It was reported by The Athletic this past week that the two teams exchanged offers involving Dubois at different points over the past year.
Winnipeg wanted something centered around Nick Suzuki. No way Montreal is going to do that.
Montreal wanted to send Christian Dvorak and Josh Anderson to Winnipeg for Dubois, which is essentially a "take our bad contracts for your good player" offer. the Jets probably laughed at that as they hung up the phone.
But Dach and a first-round pick? That is reasonable for a pending RFA that seems determined to get out of Winnipeg as soon as humanly possible.
Last offseason we saw Chicago trade Alex DeBrincat in the final year of his contract (before becoming an RFA) for three draft picks, including the No. 7 overall pick. He was a two-time 40-goal scorer.
At the trade deadline, San Jose sent Timo Meier, a pending RFA, to the New Jersey Devils in a blockbuster deal centered around first-and second-round picks and a bunch of lower-ceiling prospects and fringe NHL players.
In this instance, Winnipeg would at least be getting a productive NHL center in Dach that still has some upside and is signed to a relatively cap-friendly contract ($3.3 million per year through the end of the 2025-26 season).
Winnipeg gets solid value for a player that does not want to be there, while the Canadiens get a significant piece that could give them an outstanding 1-2 punch at center with Dubois and Suzuki.
Erik Karlsson to Edmonton
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The Trade Idea: San Jose sends Erik Karlsson to Edmonton (retains 50 percent salary ) for Evan Bouchard, Kailer Yamamoto, 2024 and 2025 first-round picks
Why it is a win-win
There was speculation surrounding Karlsson and the Oilers leading up to the NHL trade deadline and it would simply be a lot of fun to see.
Could you imagine Karlsson, coming off of a 100-point season on a terrible team, playing on that power-play unit with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl? It would make an already all-time great unit nearly unstoppable.
The Oilers need to stop wasting time with McDavid and Draisaitl's prime years and make a serious effort to win a Stanley Cup with them, while Karlsson is rapidly running out of time to get his name on the Stanley Cup.
This situation could help both accomplish those goals.
Despite Karlsson's desire to win a championship, the Sharks are probably not going to be eager to just give him away, especially after the season he just had. Even though he is going to be 33 years old at the start of next season he showed this year he can still be one of the league's elite players and should still have a few more high-quality years left in him.
The two first-round picks certainly help the Sharks in their rebuild, while Bouchard could not only be a suitable replacement on San Jose's blue line for Karlsson, he is also young enough to still be a part of the next Sharks team that is competitive. Is it a steep price? Sure. But Karlsson is an elite player and in my proposal, the Oilers would be getting him at a severely reduced rate against the cap ($5.75 million instead of $11.6 million).
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Juuse Saros for Dawson Mercer
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The Trade Idea: Nashville sends Juuse Saros to New Jersey for Dawson Mercer
Why it is a win-win
The trade is a one-for-one.
The Devils have built an absolute force of a team that should be positioned to be a Stanley Cup contender for the foreseeable future.
The one thing they might be missing is a goalie.
MacKenzie Blackwood has not been the answer, while Vitek Vanecek is a nice placeholder but probably not somebody that is going to backstop a team to a championship.
While trading Mercer might seem crazy given his age and production, the Devils have more than enough offense to to make that move, especially if they are able to re-sign Timo Meier as a restricted free agent.
With Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Meier, Yegor Sharangovich and an extremely deep farm system they have the flexibility to deal from a position of strength to fill a position of weakness.
Saros would be ideal.
He is one of the best goalies in hockey and also signed for two more years at a very cap-friendly contract at just $5 million per year for the next two full years.
As good as he is, he is of little use to a rebuilding team like the Predators. Nashville's ceiling right now is a team that might sneak into the playoffs as a wild-card team if Saros puts it on his back and carries it and then gets blown out in the first round. Nashville has already made sweeping changes to its organization over the past year by dealing players like Nino Niederreiter and Mattias Ekholm. It should probably cash in the Saros chip while it still can.
Mercer could be a key building block for the long-term.
New Jersey with a goalie Saros playing behind that young forward group and defense would be, on paper, one of the leading Stanley Cup favorites in the entire league.
Connor Hellebuyck to Kings for Quinton Byfield
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The Trade Idea: Winnipeg sends Connor Hellebuyck to Los Angeles for Quinton Byfield and 2024 first-round pick
Why it is a win-win
The Kings are in a similar position as New Jersey in that they have ever possible piece a team might need to win a Stanley Cup .... except for a goalie.
It is actually a testament to how good the Kings are as a team that they performed as well as they did this season with the issues they had in net. Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen were not the answer, and while Joonas Korpisalo was a nice stop-gap solution, he was never going to be a Stanley Cup solution.
Hellebuyck is in the final year of his contract with a Winnipeg team that is in dire need of some sort of a change. He also seems to have little interest in re-signing with the Jets beyond this season.
This is the time to deal him.
Byfield still has star potential but has not come close to putting it all together in Los Angeles. A fresh start in Winnipeg with an increased opportunity (especially if the Jets deal another top center in Dubois) could be what he needs to start reaching his full upside.
The Kings get what could be the final piece for a championship and the Jets jumpstart a badly needed rebuild.
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