I get a feeling the Isles would be willing to pitch a few other assets for salary retention. Price would be a marquee addition to the franchise, make no mistake, but it’s not really feasible from a cap perspective with Tavares’ and Bailey’s’ contracts coming up.

Maybe take Greiss instead of Halak (a bigger concern for cap reasons down the road), retain 2m on Price in exchange for a 2nd and 3rd rounder? Just a thought, I have very little idea of how fair that is from a value perspective.

I wouldn't trade price without a marquee piece.
Dal Colle was potentiality that when he was drafted, but he no longer qualifies.

Weber deal I'd consider in a rebuild scenario.

You can't retain on that many contracts at one time (3 max), and you've taken up all our retention spots for the next 4 years. Not a good idea.
Alzner is the only player I'd consider retention on, but not at his current value, which is lower than the two 3rds suggested. I'd move him for much less without retention though.

Edmonton would do that trade in a second, but can't because the salary cap would kill them.

no

Won't the Devils be 1000 times better off signing a UFA for 7.6m (Carlson) instead of trading for first rounders? That's why trading salary for picks, especially for bad contracts just don't happen. Rebuilds NEVER happen this way in a cap league.

New Jersey is a young team,looking to compete for the next ten years. They don't need to commit an eighth of their salary cap to a defenseman with one or two good years left in the game, but a million years left on his contract. If Vancouver or Chicago is still in the hunt at the deadline, maybe. If LA is, sure. They could take on Weber. But at a price that says, "this guy coming here helps us both. We feel like we should give you something, but not much."