Tried to emphasize some promising young forwards with upside, particularly centres (Stenlund, Lizotte, Gambrell [bonus is he’s a Washington native]). Only 2 UFAs, Driedger seems like a lock at this point and I think Bunting would be the best pickup they could get from Arizona, guys like Fischer aren’t incredibly appealing so might as well snag an interesting player in Bunting, who could break out in a bigger role (I have him on the 2nd line for that reason). LTIR are candidates to be flipped immediately (Zadorov and Johnsson could fall into this category as well, or de Haan if they pick him over Zadorov). RyJo is the only guy selected that I probably wouldn’t select without incentive, but I think he’s a real good fit as a playmaker with a guy like Tarasenko, if they’re going to take a bad contract, RyJo would be one of my main targets as a guy that is still a useful top six centre, just overpaid. This also still leaves them with 9mil cap space for upgrades, or to bring in an overpaid character guy like Tyler Johnson in exchange for more assets (I could see them swapping Johnsson to another team for a pick and bringing in Tyjo in exchange for a couple more futures to replce him at 3RW, stock their cupboards as a young franchise, and only increase their cap by 1.6mil). Pretty solid middle six, and with Bailey, RyJo, and Tarasenko they have a decent top line, assuming Tarasenko can return to form. Could definitely see them pursuing a big name forward free agent though. Vanecek is a guy I have in the trade immediately category because I think they can bring in another 1st for him, but I could totally see them keeping all of Driedger/Kahkonen/Vanecek and just having a super strong young goaltending trio, and letting all 3 fight for the 2 spots, a little competition and depth never hurts.
Other interesting guys I considered but that didn’t fit the way this roster was constructed: Appleton, Domi (I heard they aren’t interested in Domi, has that rumour been confirmed by a trustworth source?), Lind (another option from Vancouver, but I think the picks they could get from flipping Holtby are more valuable), Mascherin (safer pick from Dallas, Bishop is worth more in trade value whereas Mascherin is a talented young forward), de Haan, Namestnikov, Zucker/Tanev, Subban, Shattenkirk/Volkov, Clague, Eberle, Kerfoot, Dadonov
Receive compensation for taking on RyJo. Probably a 1st+ (I’d have interest in guys like Tolvanen/Tomasino (obviously, as well as Trenin, Ingram, and Carrier, maybe Jarnkrok as a veteran you can flip for more assets).
McDavid, Connor
$250,000)
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