The team doesn't really need to get rid of any players for the purposes of fitting under the cap for the upcoming season. They do need to start making room for some of the young guys, although I think most of our young top prospects (Poirier, Klimchuk, Wotherspoon, Morrison, maybe even Granlund) will spend the year developing in Stockton.
Things get really interesting in 2016/17 though. With big raises needed for Monahan, Gaudreau, Giordano, and possibly Hudler, it's going to be vital to get rid of the contracts of guys like Raymond, Smid and Bollig for sure, and possibly Engelland and Stajan. I would prefer to keep Engelland and Stajan but spending 6 million on a #6 defenseman and a 4th line center will probably be a luxury the team can't afford at that point in time.
The problem is, who is going to take these guys? If Engelland continues his decent play from the latter part of last season, there could be a market for him for a single season at a shade under 3 million. Stajan will have 2 years left @ 3.125, which is pretty unattractive for what he brings on the ice. Raymond will need to have a bounce back year in order to salvage some trade value, but personally I don't think he has it in him. Smid is a giant question mark with his injury concerns. Bollig @ 1.25 is possibly moveable but that's obviously not a big anchor if he stays. there's also the option of putting him in the minors, if need be, which takes care of about 3/4 of his cap hit.
I don't see many of these guys being traded with no salary coming back, so you have to wonder if we'll see buyouts next offseason or trades with some salary retained. Going to be tough for Brad but I'm sure this is stuff that he has planned for for quite some time.
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