The problem with your two big trades is that they create a cap problem for next year. First, you're a man short on the roster (Ryan Carpenter, who's only a $675k hit) so you've only got about $2.7M in space coming out of this year. Assuming you don't re-sign Bellemare, Engelland retires and an $82M cap next year, you've got roughly $8.2M to spend to re-up Karlsson, Tuch, Hayes and Schmidt plus get two more players to replace the departures. And don't forget that Fleury has a $1.25M raise coming. Bottom line: I don't think that less than $6M is going to be enough for your four free agents.

First off, I’d like to say that I wouldn’t be opposed to making this trade. While yes, the cap is something we have to deal with it’s not as bad as it seems. First off, I’m pretty sure Theodore is going to get RFA’d to hell so that we can sign him for around 3-3.5AAV or wait a few season at that and sign him long term at a similar AAV. That’s an extra 1million in extra space. Schmidt will likely get around 5milAAV if he plays well this season and Engelland would get the Vets Minimum. I’d definately re-sign Belle as he is huge for our team, but he also wouldn’t be getting a raise. Nosek and Subban are gonna still be on cheap RFA deals. Karlsson will likely only get around a 2million raise if he gets close to 30 goals and Hayes won’t get a massive raise either as a current 3rd line center and possible 2nd if Stastny drops off. Tuch wil also get a reasonable RFA bridge deal of around 3-4 million AAV if he grows as expected this season. Some problems though are Reaves’ contract and Tatar’s cap hit. I could see Reaves as a buyout after this season possibly and Tatar as a trade candidate if this season doesn’t go to plan, and especially if he’s gonna get stuck on the third line. Also, don’t forget that while the cap would be tight, we’re not the only team in the league that has to deal with it and we need to make a serious push for the Cup while Fleury can still play well.

Well said! And thorough, too.

So how'd we miss out on Riley Nash, Greg Pateryn and Dylan Demelo, all of whom I signed to earlier Las Vegas teams for the right money?!?

I would’ve loved those signings, it’s too bad McPhee likes overpaying the wrong players (Reaves/Holden) and not fill holes in the team like Nash and the Dmen would. Thanks btw!

Amen. And let me acquaint you with Larry's Theory: When your first pick in a draft is in the second half of the second round or lower, find a category to pick the guy who's at the top of that list instead of trying to pick the next guy in your order of picks. (Two teams were in this position in 2018.) Case in point: picks #61 and #62 this year. McPhee picks the 17th or 29th or 42nd-rated LW and hopes all the other teams missed him. Edmonton then picks the #1-rated North American goaltender. Which one do YOU think we're more likely to see in the NHL 5 years from now? I like George, but, really.

Yeah, I’m slightly worried he’s gonna cause problems in the long term like he did in Washington. Sure he drafted the Ovi and the rest of their core, but he made terrible trades and signings. A couple years after he leaves, they reap the reward of his work by beating his current team the the SCF lol.