The point of this is to see if the cap is reasonable rather than to stimulate realistic trades, so replace Sergachev and Foote if you find it necessary, it's still the same thing.
The Avalanche get depth scoring, which is a major need, and a prospect with fairly good potential in Barre-Boutlet.
The Devils get a very good prospect in Raddysh, and a 1st round pick (albeit a late one) in exchange for taking on the cap hit of Bobby Ryan, which should be manageable (and Ryan can be a good player if he's not injured).
Callahan provides veteran leadership and is a dependable fourth-liner. The Rangers have shown interest, and should have no problem managing the rest of his contract. So, they accept this for a draft sweetener (and you can add a prospect if necessary).
The Stars need depth scoring, and, if given enough ice time, Killorn can score 20+ goals. He has an NTC, but could probably be convinced to waive it as the Stars have players like Seguin and Benn and are definitely on the rise (plus, there's still no state taxes, and warm weather).
The next season, Johnson probably goes to Seattle, since it's close to his hometown, and if he waives his NTC, he'd probably be the best player exposed (McDonagh would also be a good choice, but they can add a draft pick or someone like Fortier to make sure they take Johnson). The salary cap probably goes up by a couple million, and Carle's buyout comes off the books. That leaves them with almost $10,000,000 to re-sign free agents (not including their current salaries). That should be enough to keep Vasilevskiy, Sergachev, and Cirelli. Hopefully they can develop prospects to fill holes in their fourth line and third defensive pairing; otherwise, they trade the rights of some of Cernak, Volkov, Joseph, and Meloche to various teams for ELCs that can play a fourth line role.
I doubt Yzerman signs Miller only to trade him right away. I think for better or worse Miller is a long term Lightning, your concern should be about Point and Gourde who will both need new contracts. If Nylander doesn't sign a bridge deal this summer, Point has all the negotiating power to ask for over 6 million a year next summer.
I doubt Yzerman signs Miller only to trade him right away. I think for better or worse Miller is a long term Lightning, your concern should be about Point and Gourde who will both need new contracts. If Nylander doesn't sign a bridge deal this summer, Point has all the negotiating power to ask for over 6 million a year next summer.
I probably should have mentioned that the Miller trade and the Killorn trade are both supposed to be for the 2019-20 offseason, so they have kept Miller for a year of his contract before the trade. Maybe Yzerman thinks Miller is more valuable than Gourde and plans to lose Gourde instead. If they trade for Karlsson, there's no way they keep Gourde and Miller, and Yzerman's not letting Point go.
Yzerman signs most players to bridge deals, under the assumption that, if they produce, they get paid a lot of money. For example, they got Kucherov for a few years for $4.7m, and he was worth a lot more. But now, he's getting $9.5m (after this season), and had he signed a longer term deal instead of the $4.7m deal, it probably would've been $6.5-$7.5m per season, but he never would have gotten $9.5m. Palat and Johnson did the same thing. The idea is that Yzerman signs Point to a bridge deal, and then after that deal signs him for more money than he would have been signed for had he opted to not do the bridge deal. Of course, he's worth more than $5.5m, and I think regardless of what Nylander does, he can easily get $6.5m or even $7m if he wants a long-term deal. If he does a bridge deal and waits, though, he could end up with Stamkos or Kucherov-money. If he doesn't want a bridge deal, he has enough negotiating power to secure more than the $5.5m. They do have almost $2m of cap space remaining, so they can afford it for a year, but they probably lose Cirelli or Sergachev the next season due to cap issues.
I probably should have mentioned that the Miller trade and the Killorn trade are both supposed to be for the 2019-20 offseason, so they have kept Miller for a year of his contract before the trade. Maybe Yzerman thinks Miller is more valuable than Gourde and plans to lose Gourde instead. If they trade for Karlsson, there's no way they keep Gourde and Miller, and Yzerman's not letting Point go.
Yzerman signs most players to bridge deals, under the assumption that, if they produce, they get paid a lot of money. For example, they got Kucherov for a few years for $4.7m, and he was worth a lot more. But now, he's getting $9.5m (after this season), and had he signed a longer term deal instead of the $4.7m deal, it probably would've been $6.5-$7.5m per season, but he never would have gotten $9.5m. Palat and Johnson did the same thing. The idea is that Yzerman signs Point to a bridge deal, and then after that deal signs him for more money than he would have been signed for had he opted to not do the bridge deal. Of course, he's worth more than $5.5m, and I think regardless of what Nylander does, he can easily get $6.5m or even $7m if he wants a long-term deal. If he does a bridge deal and waits, though, he could end up with Stamkos or Kucherov-money. If he doesn't want a bridge deal, he has enough negotiating power to secure more than the $5.5m. They do have almost $2m of cap space remaining, so they can afford it for a year, but they probably lose Cirelli or Sergachev the next season due to cap issues.
I think the very key thing almost everyone misses is this, Yzerman got Kucherov for a cheap bridge deal and then paid him 9.5 for 8 years. Do you think Yzerman would have been happier had he given him an 8 year deal at 7.5 2 years ago? Yzerman is the poster boy for old school guys who don't like giving star money to young players. It will cost him dearly, if Nylander refuses a bridge deal then bridge deals for young stars are dead and that will mean Point will want minimum 8 years at 7 million and the Lightning do not have that kind of money.