Of course Lou will say he's going to match any offer sheet, but a $10 million+ AAV contract with their cap situation would be a frigging disaster for them. If Barzal is going to be difficult for them to sign for whatever reason, then you come hard with an offer and hope he washes his hands of the situation.
I would offer Monahan + because Monahan gives them a 25 year old 1C coming back who is under contract for 3 more years at a rate that is much cheaper than what Barzal will command. In three years several of their bad contracts will be off the books so extending Monahan then would in all likelihood be easier than extending Barzal now. I don't know what the plus would have to be.
Any sane organization wouldn't move Barkov, but the Panthers are not really a sane organization. They were looking to shed money before the COVID shut down, who knows how desperate they are now? Barkov only has two more seasons too, and then he will command a massive extension but there is time to deal with that.
Point is another one that should never move, but just have a look at Tampa's cap situation. If you can't get them to budge on Point then I'd be going hard after Cirelli next who is an RFA and needs an extension that will take up just about every last penny of their remaining cap space next season, then they still need to extend RFAs Sergachev and Cernak, add 2 MORE defenseman after that and still a couple more forwards too.
Eichel is only getting trade if he demands it. I'm thinking his camp might have been close this summer, and that's part of the reason the Sabres fired everybody but the janitor.
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