Dayton sends Larkin, Miller 2 prospects & cash to Thunder for 3 prospects, 2 roster players & 3 picks...

Dayton traded away its last mid-twenty-something asset last Sunday. As the Musicmen show its commitment to the future, after Barkov, MacKinnon & Drouin left town, most hockey minds felt why would they stop there? Well, they didn't and for their trouble, Dayton adds three pretty solid high upside prospects and three more draft picks in the 2019 CCHL Entry Draft.

The Musicmen are now tied for fourth place in the prospect race with the Express with 58 prospects under control. With another deal pending after the 41st game mark, it is expected that Dayton will move into sole possession of fourth place prospect wise.

Also very much related to its future, Dayton has amassed a staggering number of draft picks over the next two drafts. In the upcoming 2018 CCHL Entry Draft, DAY now owns 36 picks, 11 more than any other team.

Come the 2019 Entry Draft, the Musicmen already own 40 draft picks, 22 more picks than any other picks.

76 picks over the next two years, combined with the quickly growing prospect pool Dayton has built in the last few months, Dayton is surely down right now, but brighter days, with a deep prospect pool also growing, not too far away.

Let's look at the trade:

DAY trades D. Larkin, C. Miller, Vili Saarijarvi-p, Christian Djoos-p & $5.5M to NIA for Taylor Raddysh-p, Brendan Guhle-p, Morgan Frost-p, M. Grigorenko, C. Rowney-M, NIA 4th-19, NIA 6th-19 & NIA 7th-19...

What did Niagara Falls get?

Dylan Larkin is a fine young forward who seems to be attaining a higher level this season in the NHL. Larkin will make for a nice addition for the Thunder and along with Drouin and others, should provide Niagara Falls a solid young core moving forward.

Colin Miller is a serviceable dman who will fill a hole for NIA. Prospects Saarijarvi and Djoos beef up the Thunder prospect system with two players who should have productive NHL careers.

The Thunder, hurting financially, also benefit by dumping about $2M bucks in payroll (Grigorenko, currently playing in the KHL and Rowney, a 4th liner with the Penguins) plus getting $5.5M in cash from the deal as well. A swing of net $7.5M will go a long way toward improving the Niagara Falls balance sheet.

What did Dayton get?

Taylor Raddysh - RW - 2nd rounder for TB in 2016, currently ranks 6th in the OHL scoring race. Raddysh finished 2nd in the OHL last year and projects as a top line winger in Tampa within the next few years.

Brendan Guhle - D - 2nd rounder of BUF in 2015, currently ranks 4th in the AHL among dmen this season. Expected to arrive in Buffalo sometime in the 2019-20 NHL season if not before then.

Morgan Frost - C - 1st rounder of the Flyers in 2017, sits 12th in the OHL scoring race this season. One of the fastest skaters in all of hockey, his role is unclear at this time, but his skill-set will surely land him somewhere in the Flyer lineup in a few years.

Mikhail Grigorenko - F- Never quite worked out for the former first rounder of Buffalo back in the 2012 NHL draft. He'll be off the next disk and finish his CCHL career as a buyout candidate for Dayton next year. His hockey career continues in the KHL at this time.

Carter Rowney - C/RW - a 4th liner for Pittsburgh, currently out until later this month with a broken hand. Rowney enters his contract year with Dayton next season and should be a depth forward for the Musicmen in 2018-19.

Summary: Good deal for both teams. NIA gets another high upside NHL-er who seems to be finding a new gear this season, as well as one NHL defenseman that will help NIA immediately and two well regarded defensemen prospects who should be in the CCHL in a couple years, plus the $7.5 Million in financial relief.

DAY gets three solid prospects, two seconds and a first rounder for basically Larkin. They appear to be able to afford the cash that was sent to NIA in the deal. The mid rounders in 2019 are nice, too.