Big Swing

Team: 2022-23 New York Islanders

Initial Creation Date: Nov. 23, 2022

Published: Nov. 23, 2022

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Florida's in a bind. They're absolutely capped out and Anthony Duclair is coming back in the next month or so - meaning his $3M AAV moves from LTIR to the active roster.

The obvious move would be to dump Patric Hornqvist and his $5.3M AAV - but he's got an 8 team NTC that would presumably knock out a lot of the usual contenders for cap dumps, and his 1-1-2 line in 16 GP doesn't really make him an asset you can try and find a home for on another team.

So the other option, as reported by the "always reliable" David Pagnotta (so I'm taking this with about a pound of salt) is that the Panthers are exploring moving Duclair himself.

Duclair is a good player coming off a tough injury - so that's going to be a big issue. But he's signed to cheap term ($3M this year and next) and he's coming off a 30 goal season. And he's still only 27 with three 20+ goal seasons in his career to date. Instead of potentially selling the farm for a rental like Tarasenko or Kane, Duclair has the potential to be an affordable upgrade on the top 6.

Not sure what the ask would be for Florida - I think Holmstrom is a decent prospect that's close to NHL-ready, so he fills a need there. Would be willing to swap in a Sam Bolduc or similarly-valued prospect based on what the Panthers want, but don't think Raty/Iskhakov/Dufour would be on the table.

The pick could be a 2023 4th or a 2024 3rd, whichever Florida wants. If Andrew Ladd actually plays a game and we keep our 2023 3rd, I'd be fine giving that up too, but I don't think we can offer that up at this point.

Soshnikov included to give Florida some NHL-caliber(arguably) depth at the league minimum. Being as close to the cap without a full roster has a lot of challenges, and if they *need* to call up an emergency player because injuries put them below 20 skaters, it can only be guys making the league minimum - which Soshnikov does. Would be willing, again, to swap him out for any depth player the Panthers wanted at that cap hit.

ROAST AWAY BABIES