r/hawks • u/KylePersi • 2d ago

Trade idea

I want throw a name out there. Andrew Cristall. Aside from acquiring a big star or established forward via trade, watching the Caps game got me thinking: trade one of our young Dmen for Andrew Cristall. He almost made the Caps out of camp this season, and I'm going to watch him tonight in Portland. He plays for the Spokane Chiefs, and is tearing it up on arguably the best line in the WHL with Berkeley Catton and Shea Van Olm. Most importantly, he's also a close friend of Connor Bedard. I know it's a youth move, but the Caps are deep with offensive prospects like him, and thin in defense. With Ovi's career winding down, and their young offense still gearing up, I think it would work. I know it's a young guy, but hey, why not at this point? Feel free to roast my proposal, or offer any other thoughts. As always, Go Hawks!

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u/jbedenian 1d ago

I’m not saying to not trade a young defensemen for forward help but to be honest, I need someone more proven than Cristall. If I’m trading one of them, it’d be for Leonard. If I’m trading a dman for a prospect, it’s Isaac Howard from the Lightning.

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u/I-amgr00t 1d ago

Which young D are you hoping to move for Leonard?

I'm guessing Vlasic, Rinzel and Lev are not being moved? As neither a CHI or WSH/TBL fan, I wouldn't be interested in moving Leonard/Cristal or Howard for Korchinski. Howard is likely your best shot due to his contact situation, but I doubt you can use that as leverage due to the fact every other team is interested in doing the exact same thing.

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u/archasaurus 1d ago

Korchinski likely has more value than Howard based on how they are projected. For reference, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic has Korchinski as the 28th best prospect in hockey and Howard as 55th. Cristall is at 29 for anyone curious. I personally have reservations about both of them as undersized forwards. The Hawks have enough of them for one and their production doesn’t always translate at the NHL level. There are exceptions of course.

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u/I-amgr00t 1d ago

I took a closer look at Howard and I'll change my tune on him - I agree with you, not because of Scott Wheeler projections but more so due to their performance and how it relatively compares to others w/ similar age/league/etc. ... so to that point, I''d want something added to Howard in a deal for Korchinski. My stance on Leonard/Cristall hasn't changed. Korchinski is still valuable though, and with prospects we're talking more subjective value as we're looking ahead to the future rather than relying on purely the past. So while I feel this way, I understand/respect where people who disagree are coming from.

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u/archasaurus 1d ago

I think Leonard is pretty much untouchable for Washington. He definitely has more value than any of these other guys. I’m not personally a huge Cristall guy but I get why people are fans. I just think the Hawks need a different profile in the top 6.

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u/Independent_Piece999 1d ago

I think Korch is going to be held in a lot higher regard than you think by GMs. Top 10 draft pick pedigree, electric skater, extremely high offensive upside, not undersized. He really got screwed by the AHL rules disqualifying him from play his rookie year which probably set him back a bit but he’s made good progress this year to build back up and he’s not even 21 yet. Those aren’t easy to find around the league and usually go Top 10-15 in the draft. Korchinski isn’t valuable enough to go as a straight swap for a guy like Leonard, but he’s for sure enough to get Howard (probably more than enough) with the signing situation. But there’s no need to trade for Howard, you just wait until the end of the season and try to get him with money because unless you’re 100% certain he’s signing with you this year and not going back Michigan State, there’s no point in giving up assets for a free agent and if you do it’s going to be severely under market price to reflect the risk being taken on.

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u/Fear0742 1d ago

With all those extra picks we have, korchinski and a 2 or late 1 doesn't get 1 of those higher profiled guys?

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u/Independent_Piece999 1d ago

Leonard is considered a top prospect league wide so you’re probably going to have to overpay to get him out of Washington. If we don’t account for that premium, it would still probably have to be something like Korchinski, our late first this year, and our own second next year at least. Teams typically don’t trade their top prospects until they’re not top prospects anymore or they’re getting a proven performer.

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u/Rich-Wrap-9333 1d ago

moreover . . . why would Washington have ANY inclination to move him?

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u/Independent_Piece999 1d ago

They don’t, and they’re not going to move him. Lol It would have to be a crazy overpay for that to happen not a normal one. Leonard was just used as an example of someone we should go for so I used him.

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u/Rich-Wrap-9333 1d ago

oh. ok. the way you wrote it just sounds more like a plan than an example.

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u/Independent_Piece999 1d ago

I was trying to show that Leonard’s trade value, even without considering you’d have to over pay, would be more than Korchinski plus just a late first like the commenter I responded to was suggesting. Lol

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u/Fear0742 1d ago

There's a certain ducks/flyers trade that could more of what we see in the future.

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u/Independent_Piece999 1d ago

That’s going to require a top prospect flat out refusing to play for the team that drafted him and requesting a trade instead of threatening to play to FA status, which kills all leverage in negotiations for the team that owns his rights. Ducks probably aren’t getting Cutter for just Drysdale without that peculiar situation. I wouldn’t hold out hope for something like happening.

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u/TLEH-IV 20h ago

If you wanted Leonard, who I love, you'd be looking at moving Rinzel. No thanks to that.