And get hit with upwards of a 1.9M penalty for next year's cap...with the bonuses...

That's not a concern at all... Take a look at our cap situation for next year before assuming that would be an issue pls

None of it is pretty but they will have room relatively speaking next year, Kronwall and Nyquist coming off the books and Howard will either not be signed or if signed at a lower cap hit.

This only works because you buried Ericsson which the Wings will not do. Heck he actually had a decent season comparatively speaking. They are in trouble no matter how you look at it. Even with the scenario you suggested they have literally zero cap space: meaning they cannot call up a player due to injury unless they put another player on LTIR which means that player has to miss 10 games or 24 days. If Larkin signs for 6mil they have to do something...

F you kenny see what youve done. This caps a mess and there are 6 or 7 players theyd dump in a second that would help. Rebuild kenny no mote of this vanek, or patches trade or this nonsense

Unless a players is traded with a salary of 3 mil or more they will have cap problems. Signing Vanek was the issue, I like him but the should have signed their own RFA before signing anyone else. You have 22 players and are at the cap.limit.

AA is the easiest and probably the most coveted player they could trade, as he is young, cheaper than most and no NMC or NTC. Nyquist, Helm and the rest have either one or the other, in which case they can dictate more of their future.

Yes Kronwall, Howard and Vanek come off the books but they have to worry about the replacements and in another year they have Mantha to sign.

And you do realize that Detroit has over $20 million in salary cap for the 2019/2020 season+ Another $10 million with Kronwall and Z on LTIR that's $30 million to spend next summer. With no big signings due. Pretty sure the 1.9M penalty with the bonuses is a non-issue.

Your construction illustrates exactly the opposite -- you have no cap room and you're one man short. The most Larkin can take (without a further move) is $5.25M because you need room to bring up someone from Grand Rapids, and most of the likely candidates are signed at 900k or above.

I signed Larkin at 6.25, if they sign him at 6 and don't bury Ericsson they could send down Witkowski and be inside the cap, this is probably the most likely route I just went the route I wanted. Also, I'm sure they will just roll with a 22 man roster and make a trade at some point to give the kids more of a shot