The 2nd makes sense for Connolly if he's already signed to that deal. If he's just a pending UFA, then the 2nd is a bit high.

I think the real question for the summer is: do we trade Holtby? I have some concerns, mainly around the fact that franchise level goalies are very difficult to come by. If Samsonov is all that he's cracked up to be, though, we could get a really high return for Holtby.

Only problem with trading Niskanen is that he has a modified NTC - 10 teams he wouldn't accept a trade to. I'd assume that this means that Ottawa would be on that list he wouldn't waive for.

I really think they have to trade him. I wish they didn’t, but based on everything we’ve heard about Samsonov, they have somebody they think can replace Holtby’s value. Despite what some people think, they do NOT have a replacement for Backstrom. The likelihood that they’d have the salary cap available to sign both to appropriate salaries AND have room to re-sign any RFAs (not sure on outlook for that now), especially after at least one bigger contract due to Vrana after this year and any necessary additions to the team...it just gets very pricey, very fast.

When push comes to shove, I think it’s about maximizing the value for Holtby while we can, because he may very well walk for nothing when he knows he can go somewhere else and get a big contract and be the undisputed #1. At the very least, they’ll trade him to a contender at the deadline next year, but they may not want to run the risk of injury or him having a bad year.

I'd bet money that OTT is on Nisky's no trade list but there are plenty of teams that will pay that price for Nisky so that isn't the problem.

Con is a UFA so we won't get any return for him, unless someone wants his rights which is highly doubtful .

a) Agree prob need to trade Holtby while return would be good.
b) Deal w/ Conno agreed in principle so we could get a middle round pick. Shouldn't be hard to do.
c) Nisky trade should happen and agree it prob won't be OTT, but there are other teams with more than enough cap and usefulness for him.

For C: thinking it could be Dallas, Vancouver, Edmonton, or Toronto. Niskanen is better than Hainsey still, and they need help on the right side.

Agree. There will be a lot of veteran D shuffling this summer. Trouba, Edler, Myers, Seabrook, many others...and some guys retiring (Kronwall, Chara, Hamhuis, Hainsey, Girardi, Orpik, Engelland)