I'm curious as to hypothetically how much cap space they would have saved if each one of those bloated deals was negotiated by a competent GM.
You have to think Draisaitl could've been signed to Johnny's cap hit given he only had one good year for leverage, inflated by McD. Russell could've been signed for an AAV of about 3, even then that would be just an "okay" deal (similar to Stone's). Koskinen's play has declined and by season's end (had they waited) wouldn't be a hot commodity, probably could be retained for 2-3 AAV.
That's already 4-5M.
And call me crazy but I think a guy like Treliving could've even shaved the great 97's deal down to say, 11 per. Less of an issue though cause he's the heart and soul of the organization.
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