Can Edmonton take on that much cap?

also i think Smith is going to raise his value. not much love for the guy, i hope he exceeds the low expectation a lot of fans have for him.

anyway, there's no way MTL takes him

LOL EDMs 1st for your cap dumps.

at least McDavid would have a winger to play with. those two would be unreal together. Edmonton needs all the NHL established players they can get ha. Murphy is a 4-5 dman.

And he would only have 1 year left on his deal. Definitely not worth a 1st and Murphy is a bum.

As far as your signings go. I think DeBrincat has earned that money, based on his play through 2 solid seasons already. Strome has not. If you are looking for a comp, I'd direct you to William Karlsson, but even at that rate, I think Strome will have to prove for a full season that last year's flash-in-pan success once traded to the Blackhawks was no fluke. I think $6 million for 6 years is a little high based on his career so far, but that obviously changes if he continues his success with this team.

You're spot on! I'd even ask Strome to play away from Debrincat for a bit. That's not really best for the team...so it may not happen, but the Hawks will find out what kind of player he is. Debrincat played on the 3rd line quite a bit in his rookie year and (like you mentioned) has proven himself all over. Strome needs to do the same.

As I said, DeBrincat has proven that size doesn't matter and his skill has led to plenty of success. I will predict that he will score at least 50 goals this season. Is that worth $8 million per season? That goal total alone is probably worth significantly more. I honestly have no issue with Strome continuing to play with DeBrincat if the chemistry is there, I just want to see what else he can do, on special teams, and playing more without the puck, on the defensive side of things. I hope Strome succeeds. I really liked him in Erie and hope his junior success will equate to NHL success for years to come.

GMs should never worry about players being so good.....possiblly Debrincat and Strome being so good they deserve big contracts that screw the cap. It's having players that aren't performing to their cap levels the are the problem. And with some many teams near the cap, dumping iffy value contracts so getting more difficult. One reason I was so surprised that the Hawks took on Shaw, Maatta and DeHaan and their long term deals this summer.....even if those guys perform to their contracts, how do make room for the youngsters and their contracts?