A few things first:
-This is a dream world where we get Yzerman back and he can work some magic on a few contracts
-Even if not, I have no Idea what the cap will go up to next year, I just know that it will given the pattern the NHL is currently on and that a new team is coming soon in Seattle. If any of the contracts seem way too conservative (Cough JImmy Howard Cough), Let's assume the couple million dollars extra will go to those underpaid contracts.
-Even If IRL they don't sign the crazy players I have signed, this jsut goes to show that the wings are not in nearly as dire of a position as they were even last year. They have to youth and cap room to ice a fast, talented team in the future, once the bad contracts come off.
-The NHL is a gongshow so you never know something might happen this week that screws up my entire plan. Such is life
Anyway...
Step one: Suck this year, win draft lottery
Get Jack Hughes. I can dream
Step Two: Trade Helm Like for anything.
Nothing against Helm, but in my scenario he's the 3 million I need to get off the books.
Step Three: Place Franzen and Zetterberg on LTIR
Frees up ~10 Million in cap space
Step Four: Sign Howard to a team friendly deal.
He's gonna be old by next season, and If he is loyal he can help us be stupid crazy next year.
Step Five: Promote some cheap young talent
Rasmussen, Hronek, Velano Oh My!
Step Six: Sign Karlson, Sign Panarin
Mazel Tov, now we have one of the best defensmen and one of the best wingers in the league. No idea why they would come except if Stevie Yzerman becomes GM and entices them with the same magic that he played on Kucherov to get him to make under 6 mil for that long. Also, 11 million is a lot of money, and not an unrealistic estimate of their cost.
Step Seven: With 21 Million to play with in cap space for 2020-21, Resign Mantha and Athanasiou, promote some young guns, and save money to pay Zadina and Hughes later on.
Step Eight: Looking far to the future, Filip Larson can be our next young starting goalie, Valeno can take up the reigns of third line center from Nielsen or Glendenning, A few out of Cholowski, Hronek, Sulak, McIssac, Lindstrom, Hicketts, Saarijarvi, or whoever they draft in the future can fill out our defense while they learn from Erik freaking Karlson. Having a team with so much youth will inevitably need cap space to pay them eventually, which coincides with either the ending of the worst contracts on the team or at least making those contracts more tradeable or buyout-able (definitely a word).
Fat chance of Helm waiving for Montreal, They're worse then Detroit. Panarin wont sign long term with Detroit and no way he's worth $11 million per? Maybe $9 million per at the very most.