Best offseason possible

Defense is definitely better but I'd say you've overpaid for what Manson should cost on the open market.

Up against the cap relying on both Smith and Keith to LTIR retire although should get an extra mil to work with next year, not enough though if either of them don't retire.

Biggest issue I see is the bottom 6 is getting absolutely destroyed this year and it's the same group.

Like I stated in the title this is my vision of the "best offseason possible" so it won't happen but would be amazing.

Keith and smith both have good odds of retiring though so that helps.

The bottom 6 is steal weak b u t if mcleod,benson or foegle at least 2 of them take that next step it will be marginally better .

In free agency overpaying usually happens and I don't think manson is the worst option to overpay on. He isn't super injury prone and his play style isn't reliant on age making him a solid choice.

With these moves though our d-core goes from bottom 5 to top 5 in one offeason

Well that’s a massive package for chychrun I get he’s worth more than Barrie but no way would I throw that much in the deal. I think most on here severely undervalue Barrie and pretend he’s a cap dump or an asset with little to no value which is absurd.

Best possible offseason should include some improvements to the bottom-6, no?

Also Chychrun only had 1 fantastic year where he was sporting an unsustainable shooting percentage. I get that he's also got a great contract, but people here treat him as if he's a top-10 defenseman but he's not. He's a 2nd pairing guy on most teams.