man, that contract stinks.

Timo and Labanc are gonna ask for more, Timo probably in the 5 mil range for a bridge contract and Labanc around 3.5 mil. Braun my not be worth keeping considering you now have arguably the two best RD in the league, you can get rid of Braun's contract and sign Heed, for example, who is cheap and has the ability to improve a lot.

Yeah, the point is, they have options. People are "gloom and doom" over the amount. That's the price of being a perennial contender. Have to pay to keep talent. Meier is the real priority, if he won't take a bridge like guys in the past, you pay what you needed to and move on from Labanc or it's a strong possibility they trade Braun or Dillon this weekend knowing that they can't re-sign them next year and they're now 3rd pair D at 3+.

the two should be moved to alleviate cap space and get useful future assets. With 26.5M per year for 3 defs, you'll need to have some cheap ELCs for the next 6 years to still be contenders

k. that karlsson contract still stinks.

They've got guys in the wings. Doug Wilson has done a ridiculously good job of not only hitting on the rare 1st round pick they keep but also signing long term the guys they trade 1st round picks for. In order to stay competitive, you have to find useful players later in the draft or via Free Agency which he has also done.

If they can avoid having to trade either, thats a very solid D-corps. If they have to trade one in order to keep enough pop up front, that can be done too. I'd be surprised to see them move both.

You know what else stinks? Teams that don't have good offensive defensemen. This team has 2 Norris winners. It's a lot now. In a couple years it won't be so egregious. You do what you have to in order to keep top end talent. Guys like Karlsson aren't just readily available.

I would so much rather see Doug move Braun than Dilly - Dillon played really well with Karlsson & Braun had such a bad season

I'm just saying, the last couple years I've watched him play and I always think the same thing. He's still an awesome player, but he's on the decline.

He's only 29....he had a stretch of 29 points in 18 games before he hurt his hamstring. He was never the same the rest of the year.

true, but let a couple younger guys get some ice time. But yeah, Wilson's basically a hall of famer GM already.