It's close but would rather have Stone then Panarin. I'd also put Caggs on the 2nd line and Kahun on the 3rd. Kaggs plays more physical and has speed and with Strome and Cat the Hawks will need a more physical winger. Dahlstrom and Jokiharju are playing on the wrong sides. Dahlstrom has not shown he is due for that kind of salary increase nor has he shown he should be playing over Koekk. Defense would look better as;

Keith - Jokiharju
Murphy - Boqvist
Gus - Seabs
Koekk 7th man.

The only reason Jokiharju isn't playing right now is because he has a clause that if he plays more then 40 games before he turns 20 years old, his ELC becomes a UFA instead of RFA.

Not sure what to make of the Dallas trade. That's a lot of money to commit to Nichusshkin and also a lot to give up for him being a 1 year rental. I'd remove sikura or Hayden out of the trade. Perlini needs to get moved. Hayden offers more on the 4th line then Perlini has shown.

Can you clarify your stament on joki’s contract? I understand that if Joki plays 40 games this year then the hawks loose a would be RFA control year, not him becoming a UFA at the end of this contract.

What do you mean by "would be RFA control year"?

Essentially once a ELC contract is up, (this is all to my vague understanding), the player becomes an RFA. The amount of time that player is an RFA depends on two factors, NHL seasons completed (40 games) and age. I believe that at the age of 26 with a couple years of NHL experience a player is eligible to become a UFA. The way I understand it is, henri playing 40 games this year would subtract a would be RFA year from the amount of time he can be a RFA.

I would recommend reading up on it, this website has a bunch of useful tools.

This website doesn't cover anything specific around 40 games. My understanding is the RFA becomes a UFA if he plays 40 games or more a year; this from an article I read on The Athletic or Comcast sportsnet when they sent Jokiharju down to protect the 40 games. I know there is the 10 game rule on a burning a year they can protect the player at age 27 but not sure exactly what the 40 game number effects becoming a free agent because the ELC is 3 years.

The trade is less about Nichusshkin and more about getting more draft picks and Robertson.

I am almost 100% positive that all players become RFA’s after their ELC. No team would ever allow a clause that works like you describe. It’s probably also banned by the CBA.

You can not become a ufa after elc . the collective bargaining agreement does not allow for this . after elc a player becomes rfa with no arbitration rights for two years after these two years a player a players becomes rfa with arbitration rights for two years . then he can become ufa .My guess is joki is not playing so that he does not get credited with 2 seasons of exp. because then he would have to be protected during expansion draft but i am not sure of this . a team can not put a ufa clause in a contract it is not up to them this is part of the nhlpa agreement with the league . the league would not allow the hawks to circumvent league rules like this .

There is something to do with the 40 game number. I'm not entirely sure but something about it burning a year of free agency.