I think u can keep the 5th and and brassard or hagelin if patch salary is retain and resign

I could be wrong but even at 1/2 retained the Pens go over the cap by about 750k. I think they need to add a contract which should lower what the Habs send. Brassard is the most likely contender b/c it should be easy to easily replace him internally by the Pens & the Habs can flip him at the deadline.

500k. Apologies.

Make the PIT 1st optional for 2020 and that deal works. Failing that, Montreal is better off starting the year with Pacioretty and trading Max 25 games in.

Not sure I like the Scherbak deal just yet, especially since Byron and Shaw are out to start the season. Keep Hudon on the LW and hold onto Scherbak.

Personally, i have my reasons to think that Scherbak will be a bust. But i hope i'm wrong!

I think you have to judge Scherbak as being a year younger than his draft contemporaries. He is a December 30 baby, which puts him at the back end of his cohort. Add in two meaningful stints on the DL and I think it's fair to give him another year to figure it out. Will he be Konecny or Boeser? Probably not, but the skills are there and, with better coaching, he could still develop into a fine two-way player.

I Agree that a year whitout Galchenyuk whit him off ice will be very good for him, but if he show nothing this year again, value will go way down