Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
The difference is that Vegas is in cap trouble now. Not after they won the cup. TB wasn’t cap trouble for their first one. They would have been for the second, but the Kucherov injury helped them keep the band together, and they didn’t lose assets in the process. Vegas has only once chance to replicate that, and a lot of things have to happen in order for those stars to align right.
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Reilly Smith is a UFA this year: -$5M
Patches has one year after this one at $7M - trade him with some modest retention and recoup some picks.
Dadonov is only on a 2 year deal - you can find someone to take him at 1 year $5M.
That’s $15-17M in money gone right there.
None of those players are essential - they’re luxuries.
The core of Eichel, Stone, Karlsson, Marchessault, Pietrangelo, Theodore, and Lehner is locked up, and you build around that for the next five years.
You don’t lose paying for talent. You lose paying replacement players $5.75M or $4.25M with term.
And they still get to make their “$18M over the cap” run this year.