So, Zuccarello won't be getting a raise from his current contract? Seems believable.

We'll MAYBE sign ONE of Hayes, Ferland, or Zuccarello.

Tkachuk is going to command a LOT more; especially with the Skinner signing @ 9m. It's going to be 9mil+

Skinner's contract was for all UFA years. I agree that Tkachuk's UFA years will likely cost in the neighborhood of $9M but he has 4 RFA years to get through across his next contract. I don't think his AAV will go above 9-10% of the cap 7.5M on 4 year, $7.8M on a 5 year or $8.25M on a 6 year are my guesses and given Tkachuk's comments about the Mathews deal my expectation is his camp is pushing to get the UFA ASAP. With a guy like Tre (who has negotiated RFA contracts extremely well) on the other side of the table I think that means coming down on $ to get the term they want.

I also think the upper end UFA ship has sailed unless a lot of salary is moved out. The Flames will need a UFA goalie but that's it so far.

I think OP's Neal trade would not happen as Neal absolutely cratered his trade value with the season he just had. Nobody is giving up anything for him right now except for a anchor type contract in return. I think the Flames should see if last year was a blip/bad season or truly a regression at age 30 and address near Xmas time.

I do hope that Tre can work his magic once again but as I'm seeing these new contracts come in my realism is getting the better of me.

100% agree on Neal; even a buyout isn't an option given how long we'd have to carry that cap hit. I think there's a lot more reason to see it as a blip given his track record; we're not quite at a Brouwer situation just yet.

LovetheHayes and Zuccarello pickups.