Eastside's Hockey Elite Collide

To NYR:

Nathan Gaucher (82)
Matvei Petrov (64)

To SJ:

Fabian Lysell (76)

Confirmed. Although I'm skeptical of playmaking wingers, Lysell has room to grow and I'm hoping he can get Tkachuk to score some goals and replace some of Kovalchuk's offense. Gaucher will be a decent checker and Petrov will be a fine depth goalscorer in time but neither are likely to be top 6 guys, so here we are.

NYR accepts. Per the chopping block, Lysell was an odd man out for the line structure. Brief review shows we have Nuke-Necas-Lysell-Farabee as OFF-oriented wingers. Nuke and Necas are just better, so they will play top 6 minutes. That leaves Lysell-Farabee playing in bottom 6 roles, which I don't mind having someone skilled there, it's not my preference.

Gaucher was a good boost who is still growing both at OFF and DEF. While he won't reach Lysell's level, he'll be a better shooter, and will eclipse him DEF which is what I need in the bottom 6. He's also 700K cheaper and a year younger.

Petrov is a bit of a sweetener and has a ton of OFF potential for chipping in as needed.

I will regret when Lysell grows +5 offensively, but then will regret less so when Gaucher/Kasper play bash brothers and run over guys.