Quote:
Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald
I think that if the Flames make a move for Eichel, one of Tkachuk or Gaudreau is out the door. To maintain the budget, one of them has to go. It doesn't matter which, but one has to go. That is a good thing IMO, as the assets we lose in the deal for Eichel we may be able to recoup by dealing away one of Gaudreau or Tkachuk. We might come out of this looking pretty good if the right deals are made and Eichel recovers.
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Say the deal is something like:
To Buffalo: 1st in '22, 1st in '23, Zary, Pelletier, Lucic (who Buffalo then retains money on and flips), Monahan (who Buffalo then retains money on and flips)
To Calgary: Eichel (Buffalo could also incl. Eakins as he'd help us until Eichel got healthy in 21/22)
(this trade is likely more rich than what the end deal would look like, but the key is Monahan and Lucic leaving)
In 2022/2023:
Gaudreau ($9M) - Eichel ($10M) - Coleman ($4.9M)
Tkachuk ($9M) - Lindholm ($4.85M) - Mangiapane ($6M)
Dube ($2.3M) - Backlund ($5.35M) - ?
? - ? - ?
?
Hanifin ($4.95M) - Andersson ($4.55M)
Valimaki ($1.55M) - Tanev ($4.5M)
? - ?
?
Markstrom ($6M)
Vladar ($0.75M)
That leaves the bottom of the roster (8 players) with $8.8M on a projected 82.5M salary cap, or $1.1M per player.
Flat out - that's how it should be in my eyes. The bottom of the roster gets constructed with cheap UFAs and youth. No more overpayment. The biggest problem with the roster above is Valimaki slotted as a #4. To have a top-4 defenceman at that $1.55M range is likely unrealistic, but with $1.1M per player for the remaining 8 players to fill out a roster, perhaps money can slide around (...or perhaps Valimaki proves himself as a top-4 guy).