[N26]

We are going to add six teams to the thread today. I've divided them into two groups and the first is:

WE ARE NEARING THE END OF OUR WINDOW

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Boston

FACTS:

Approximately 540 km from family home

Johnny has a strong hockey connection to the city

19 NHL players signed for 2020-21. A few on the CapFriendly list are borderline (Anton Blidh, Jérémy Lauzon)

Makes up a cap hit of $67 069 036 so cap space of $14,430,964

Significant UFAs- Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, Joakim Nordström

Significant RFAs - Jake Debrusk, Matt Grzelcyk

$5.0 million+ contracts - Krejčí (7.25) Bergeron (6.875), Pastrňák (6.67) Marchand (6.125), Coyle (5.25), Rask (7.0)

ISSUES/OPINION

Clearly at the end of their window. Could be the last year they are a serious contender unless they start retooling. Publicly acknowledged by Chara and Krejčí.

Most of the core, Bergeron, Marchand, Chara, Krejčí and Rask will be 33 or older next season.

Even if they get Chara cheap (which is somewhat likely) they will have a hard time re-signing Krug who has taken hometown discounts in the past and stated that he won’t this time.

They also have to be wary of upcoming contracts for McAvoy and Carlo when negotiating with Krug.

Their prospect pool has some names but there are several that may end up being tweeners (Senyshyn, Steen, Frederic, Zbořil, Vladař)

Ondřej Kaše was ineffective by the counting stats after the trade. 17GP. 0G, 4A, 6PIM -1 despite an over 60% offensive zone start ratio. This calls into question whether he really is a top 6 guy. His corsi numbers were generally good but many Boston players can make that claim

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Washington

FACTS:

Approximately 215 km from family home (basically the same as the New York teams)

17 NHL players signed for 2020-21.

Makes up a cap hit of $$72,599,877 so cap space of $8,900,123

Significant UFAs- Holtby, Dillion, Gudas, Kovalchuk

Significant RFAs - Siegenthaler, Boyd

$5.0 million+ contracts - Ovechkin (9.54), Bäckström (9.2), Kuznetzov (7.8) Oshie (5.75), Wilson (5.17), Carlson (8.0), Orlov (5.1)

ISSUES/OPINION

Also some public acknowledgment that they are at the end of their championship window.

Several contracts that will probably be burdens before they are done (Bäckström, Oshie, Eller, Hagelin)

What happens if the net duo of Samsonov-Copley falters? Re-signing Holtby looks near impossible without some salary dumps
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Pittsburgh

FACTS:

Approximately 525 km from family home

18 NHL players signed for 2020-21.

Makes up a cap hit of $71,650,175, so cap space of $9,849,825 (includes Juuso Riikola and Chad Ruhwedel)

Significant UFAs- Schultz, Sheary, Marleau

Significant RFAs - Murray, Jarry, Simon, McCann

$5.0 million+ contracts - Malkin (9.5), Crosby (8.7), Letang (7.25) Guentzel (6.0), Hörnqvist (5.3), Zucker (5.5), Orlov (5.1)

ISSUES/OPINION

End of their championship window dependant on how long Crosby, Malkin and Letang can remain elite.

Probably the most aggressive GM in the league at making roster changes. Has made 2 in the past 2 weeks

Which 2 of their 3 NHL goalies are they keeping? Seems Jarry is almost for sure and Murray the one to go but it could change

Prospect pool is pretty empty. Samuel Poulin and PO Joseph only ones rated above mid-level (maybe Björkqvist too)

Have already traded away 7 of their 2020 and 2021 draft picks including both firsts

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Second group of three will be up soon-ish