Midseason Mailbag: Realistic trade values and who wins a season of "Alone"

I do my best to answer your questions.

Happy Tuesday everyone.

We’ve made it through the All-Star Break, and it’s a busy week of hockey to get things going here at Shap Shots.

It won’t be immediately after the game, but I’ll have a 20/20 up tomorrow morning on Stars-Sabres.

I’m also spending the week at under-18 Five Nations tournament in Plymouth before the NHL-college hockey double header in Detroit on Saturday featuring Canucks-Red Wings and Michigan-Michigan State.

Here, I’m writing this while watching the Czechia Under-18 national team practice.

In the mean time, let’s answer your questions.

Liam Delehanty Will we see the return of expected by whom in the future?

Yes, Expected By Whom? will return.

It’s on hiatus right now while my co-host and his family Prashanth are waiting on a heart transplant for his 1-year-old nephew, who has been diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) which affects 1 out of every 100,000 kids.

For now that’s understandably the most important focus for Prashanth and his family.

If you’d like to help them out, you can donate to the fundraiser here to provide support.

JimInNC-NJ What to do with the Devils? It seems like the only sensible additions should be those thought of as “long term” — ie, a goalie, no rentals. Yes, it’s possible they squeak in the playoffs and Dougie returns from LTIR — so adds to bolster D and tending would help, and LTIR gives them lots of room to work with. But….they still might not have enough runway. And given the cost of acquiring help, it seems like the best option is to continue to look for a goalie but otherwise sit tight. Maybe keep open options for the Summer…? A half-AHL roster is not worth going all-in. Thoughts?

We have pretty similar opinions here.

I like the Devils long-term plan, but I don’t think they should be in the rental market this season.

For the Devils, this feels like the season where you maybe even sell a rental in Tyler Toffoli, and any late-season push into the playoffs is gravy for a young team that could build off the experience.

Long-term, the Devils need a goalie. And the best time to make that move, in my opinion, is in the offseason where prices won’t be as inflated on the trade market.

In the end it might cost Lindy Ruff his job, but as a GM it’s your job to look at the big picture and this season doesn’t look like a true championship window to bet on for New Jersey.

Trace Johnson Everyone always undervalues/overvalues trades, EX: Cgy fans/media: "We are getting Stankoven for Tanev" Stars fans: "We will give Ott a 3rd for Chychrun and a throw away roster player"..... What do you think a real value trade would be for the Stars to get Tanev or Chychrun?

I don’t think the Stars have the pieces they are willing to part with for either Tanev or Chychrun.

Both are going to cost more than I think the Stars are willing to offer.

If I were Ottawa, for example, I wouldn’t trade Chychrun to Dallas if I wasn’t getting back Logan Stankoven or Mavrik Bourque — he’s a player with term, and bona fide top-four defender.

Tanev’s value feels like it’s going to be inflated by a seller’s market. And if I were Calgary, I would be asking for Stankoven and Bourque, even though we know Dallas won’t move them.

In reality, the only way I see Dallas landing Tanev is if they are willing to package a first-round pick and potentially trading Lian Bichsel to the package. It’s a hefty price, but after seeing what happened with Vancouver and Winnipeg’s trades, I would be asking high if I were the Flames.

For the Stars, it feels, the those marquee names are going to cost too much for Jim Nill’s taste.

JERRY GANTT If Stars bring in 2 new defensemen, who do they replace? Same if bring in one?

I don’t see the Stars bringing in two new defensemen, if anything I think they bring in one and I’ve been a big proponent of them going after Sean Walker as a right-handed defender.

If the Stars make that move, I think we could see Dallas carrying eight defenders through the end of the season and the playoffs. Joel Hanley would effectively drop to No. 8 on the depth chart, while Nils Lundkvist and Jani Hakanapaa would be scratched by Pete DeBoer — the Stars, even on the third pair, remain loyal to Ryan Suter.

Max Redd Tyler Seguin, Jamie & Jordie Benn, Miro Heiskanen, Ty Dellandrea, and Marty Turco all get cast on the TV show Alone on a season shooting in somewhere like Patagonia. In what order and on what day do they quit? Bonus points for what forces them out of the game. Does anyone go the distance and win?

I’m assuming you are talking bout the show “Alone,” which I had to google and learned was a survival type show, where they drop participants in the wild with nothing but a backpack.

Patagonia, the region - not the store - also happens to be a region in South America, which I don’t know nearly enough about.

With that lack of knowledge, but a knowledge of the individuals you listed, they would finish in this order.

1. Jordie Benn

2. Miro Heiskanen

3. Ty Dellandrea

4. Jamie Benn

5. Tyler Seguin

6. Marty Turco

Since it’s a survival type game, age bias comes into play against Turco here. And amongst the others, Jordie Benn is the only one that has truly had to “rough it” in his career, the others on the list have been hockey phenoms or labeled as one when they were teenagers — even Jamie Benn as a fifth-rounder.

That time grinding up through the old CHL and ECHL, I think that comes in handy for Jordie here.

Adam W. I hope Toronto was fun and successful! Thoughts on the skill competition? I really liked it, it reminded me of the old QB Challenge that the NFL/QB Club use to do. I do think they need to make sure all of the players involved want to give a solid effort. I also think they should expand the money so the top two players get paid. (Its hard to see anyone topping McDavid for one but they're was numerous players who I could see coming in second.)

I thought it was good, the All-Star Weekend, even the “game” was better than I expected. The skills challenge for me got a needed re-mix, and I think it’s a step in the right direction when you have a storyline to follow for the entire event.

Nikita Kucherov not caring, and not being afraid to show it, was a downer because there are other players that could have been included — I would have liked to see Alex DeBrincat get a chance, for example.

I also like the winner-take-all aspect of it, because it forces a player like Connor McDavid to still bring it in future editions of this showcase — no one can settle for a tie or “loser point,” like in the NHL regular season.

Let’s tweak a couple of the events, but let’s stick with it and make it even better when the All-Star Game returns in 2027 after the international competitions in 2025 and 2026.

Chris Hyde Do the Stars resign Wedgewood after this year? Does a two-year deal with AAV of $1.25M - $1.5M sound about right if so? If not, which other goalies do think would be a good fit to backup Oettinger at a sub-$2M salary?

I think the Stars and Scott Wedgewood come to an agreement on a deal like the one you mentioned, two years and close to $1.5 or $1.75 million AAV.

If not Wedgewood, the other goalie I’d inquire about as a back-up would be Laurent Brossoit, who has NHL playoff experience and is currently backing up Connor Hellebuyck in Winnipeg.

Simon Cave A straightforward and very trivial question from me: why do people refer to offside as “offsides”?

Great question, and for whatever reason it seems to be more of an American thing.

It’s not just a hockey thing, we see the extra “s” show up when people discuss soccer and football, too.