Isles trade for rights to Boyle

[Josh]

Re: Isles trade for rights to Boyle

OK, so:

(Bold is UFA, italics is RFA, red is TRADE/SIGNING)

LW1 - John Tavares - Kyle Okposo
Anders Lee - Frans Nielsen - Michael Grabner
Josh Bailey - Ryan Strome - Cal Clutterbuck
Matt Martin - Brock Nelson - Colin McDonald

Calvin de Haan - Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey - Dan Boyle
Lubomir Visnovsky - Radek Martinek
Matt Donovan

Jaroslav Halak
Anders Nilsson

A few more good moves, and I honestly think they're a threat to make the Playoffs..

Putting it up like that leads me to realize two things: they are an amazing team at center, and they should draft Nicholas Ritchie, no matter who else is available.

[matchesmalone]

Re: Isles trade for rights to Boyle

Agree about them at center for sure. Note, Bailey also plays center. But Strome can also play the right wing and Brock Nelson can play the left wing, so there's likely to be some shuffling there, because I can't imagine either of Strome or Nelson playing the fourth line.

I can't quite agree about Nick Ritchie. As far as I can tell, the top four of Draisaitl, Ekblad, Reinhart and Bennett seem to be a clear cut above the rest. So if one of those were to fall to fifth, I would think they would have to take that guy. Personally, I would have Ritchie ranked about 8th or 9th, so I'm interested as to why you would be so high on picking him if you're the Isles?

[Alfie11]

Re: Isles trade for rights to Boyle

OK, so:

(Bold is UFA, italics is RFA, red is TRADE/SIGNING)

LW1 - John Tavares - Kyle Okposo
Anders Lee - Frans Nielsen - Michael Grabner
Josh Bailey - Ryan Strome - Cal Clutterbuck
Matt Martin - Brock Nelson - Colin McDonald

Calvin de Haan - Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey - Dan Boyle
Lubomir Visnovsky - Radek Martinek
Matt Donovan

Jaroslav Halak
Anders Nilsson

A few more good moves, and I honestly think they're a threat to make the Playoffs..

Who do you think they should target for the top line left-wing position?

I honestly think they should ask Matt Moulson about playing there again. I don't know the terms he left on (ex: if he asked for a trade), but he's a very good player who had great chemistry with their star player. He scored 30 goals three times playing beside Tavares. If he doesn't want to return, or money is an issue, I think they should look at Cammalleri, Michalek, Jokinen and Penner.

Also, assuming Boyle does not sign there (which is seems like he won't), who would you target for that last top four defenseman position?

[Josh]

Re: Isles trade for rights to Boyle

While Vanek or Moulson would be a great fit at LW1, assuming neither would go back, I'd target Jussi Jokinen and Mike Cammalleri. For the RD2 slot, I'd target Matt Niskanen and Tom Gilbert. If I was able to land Niskanen however, I'd play him at RD1 partnered with de Haan and bump Hamonic down to RD2.