Vegas Golden Knights
The offer: Kevin Hayes for David Clarkson’s contract, 2019 Knights first and third round picks, 2019 Blue Jackets second round pick
While the Golden Knights do have some valuable prospects at their disposal like Cody Glass and Erik Brännström, their most viable trade chips are their draft picks, especially in 2019. The Knights will have 10 picks in the 2019 draft if nothing changes, and could deal those picks to get their team back to the Stanley Cup Final for the second year in a row.
The Knights also have a ton of salary cap space, so they could take back Hayes’ contract without needing to send a contract the other way. With that said, the Rangers could take David Clarkson’s outrageous IR-bound contract off their hands for the next two years, saving Golden Knights ownership just shy of $11 million.
We saw the Knights give up this same package at the trade deadline for Tomas Tartar, so there is a bit of a track record here, too.
The Rangers would love this offer because it would boost their number of top 62 picks to five, three of which would be first rounders if Tampa Bay wins the Stanley Cup.