[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

There is a massive difference between Monahan and Eichel. Eichel >> Monahan, Hall < Tkachuk. In a cap world having a player like Hall that could be very well be signed for cheaper than what he’s getting paid (by like 1/3 of what he’s paid right now) and grabbing a franchise center who is locked up for 5 years after this one is much more enticing than downgrading Gaudreau to Konecny and also trading for Forsberg, who is a pending UFA in 2022 and Arvidsson who is already too hot and cold enough (just like Monahan). You then have Gaudreau and Hall as your top 6 LW’s and Eichel/Lindholm as your top 6 C’s, with Dube and Mangiapane taking the RW spots.

Whoa, where did Hall come into this equation? Hall wasn't part of any deal. With Hall involved that is a non-starter. We're moving out just short of $14M in salary and bringing in $18M. It is not likely that Hall is going to take much of a step backwards from his current $8M salary. So you have to figure out how you're going to fit $18M in the budget AND resign Gaudreau (which I think is a lost cause). Or are you suggesting Hall in place of Gaudreau? Because we've seen that in Buffalo right now and we know that doesn't work. I would not want to go that route in any shape or form. I'm open to Eichel, just don't think the squeeze is worth the juice.

You could argue that I am relying too much on Hall signing here. If he doesn’t, no harm, no foul. We can use that extra cap space in the offseason to go for a top 6 RW. I just don’t think Forsberg and Konecny make this team better, I think Eichel does. And if he didn’t want to be here, at least we had him for 5 years before he bounced. We increase our window significantly with Eichel/Lindholm/Backlund as our 3 centers rolled out. It’s fine we upgrade our position we lack most, not bolster the wings.

What extra cap space are you talking about here? Eichel is $10M. Hall is not going to take much of a hair cut on the $8M he is making this year, no matter how badly his numbers look. He isn't going to give Calgary a hometown discount to where he fits in the budget. If that were in the cards I think it would have happened this past summer. I think Hall has his eyes set elsewhere.

The cap space issue actually closes the window, not extend it. We would have to completely retool several areas of the team. We don't have enough quality young cost controlled players to fill out the team in the spots we need bodies. So we're going to have to rely on more guys at league minimum and players that are going to have to punch above their weight class. This is exactly where Milan Lucic's contract is massive anchor and detriment to the team. With these high priced players, you need to squeeze every dollar out of every player contract so you can afford the best middle six possible.

This isn’t even considering that we were able to retain Gaudreau AND grab Eichel. PP would be miles better, and you can have Eichel and Gaudreau on separate lines to create a more dangerous lineup, as they both need the puck to make the plays happen.

So you're suggesting that Gaudreau is going to be on another line and not with Eichel? What was the use of bringing in Eichel again? Who is Eichel going to play with? You're going to have to throw up a proposed lineup because you've lost me here. We're carving up the depth we have on the top lines to bring in a player who can't get it done in Buffalo, only to give him less talent to work with?