Change Miletic to Hallander or the 2nd to a 1st and it probably gets done.

I agree with you. I created this package as a baseline...the pick and prospect is interchangeable.

I think the Kings would go for Johnson + Addison + 2021 2nd for Derek Forbort

Not a bad thought I just don’t think the penguins are going to trade johnson only to get back a guy that’s almost as bad as he is.

Anaheim sees your offer and raises to Jacob Larsson plus the 2020 third for Johnson, Addison and the 2020 first.

Not sure what fans would think of that but I’d do it. Larsson would load up the Penguins left side for quite a few years. Losing Addison would suck but I’m very high on John Marino to be an option at RHD in the future. Plus losing Addison is a non factor if the penguins are able to extend Justin Schultz.

As you point out, your left side would be set with DuMoulin, Pettersson, Joseph and Larsson. You wouldn't have to replace Johnson with Merrill and you'd have a guy who is under team control for more than one year at about the same cost, plus you get to keep Simon. I think this would be a good trade for both teams.

You'd give up another 1st round pick to upgrade from Forbort to Larsson?

??? No, the trade is Larsson plus Anaheim's 2020 third for Johnson, Addison and Pittsburgh's 2020 first. I guess my puzzlement is your use of the word "another."

It’s the difference in age and skill level that does it for me. Plus with how many times the Penguins have thrown their first round pick away for a deadline rental what makes anyone think they wouldn’t do it to get the upper hand and potentially win a cap dump?

And note that Larsson is a former first-round pick and that I'm suggesting you get a third back.

Pittsburgh has traded away their 1st round pick in 5 of the last 7 drafts. This would make it 6 out of 9.

Trading a 1st round pick for a top pairing defenseman is one thing, but unloading a 1st to dump Johnson and get a depth defenseman in return is another thing entirely.

I think it would be a mistake for PIttsburgh to trade a 1st round pick for $2¼ million in cap savings (they can bury him in the AHL).

Dunno why u always want to ditch simon. Hes cheap and outperforms contract. Hes effective. Why not rust who has a decent cap hit

Because Vegas is in a cap crunch...that’s the only reason I traded Simon.

Now I understand "another."

That sending Johnson to the AHL (or, next year, buying him out) saves Pittsburgh around $2.25MM in cap is a commonly held misconception because it fails to take into account the fact that someone has to replace him on the roster. And the real problem isn't this year (because putting him in the AHL does solve the problem temporarily) but next year, when the Penguins have to decide what to do about Galchenyuk and Murray and at least 4 other RFA's.

people vastly overstate how bad the Johnson contract is, its bad but there are 30 worse in the league.

Exactly. It’s gonna take a sweetener to move him but nothing extreme.

I'm not saying that demoting Johnson magically provides Pittsburgh with $2¼ million in space. It doesn't. In fact, they only get $1.075M in space if they send Johnson to the AHL ($400k actual savings if they replace him with a league minimum contract). However, stashing Johnson in the AHL means that the Pens' cap sheet shows JMFJ with a $2¼M cap hit next to his name, and trading him means that space is freed up to spend on other players. My only point is that Johnson's cap hit isn't so terrible that it warrants losing another first round draft pick to get rid of it.

If the problem is next year, then the Pens should wait until next year to move him. 3 years of JMFJ's contract should be cheaper to move than 4. However, initial reports from the GM meeting earlier this month estimate that the 2020-21 salary cap will be around $84.5 million if the players don't use any escalator at all. That's a significant increase that will allow them some leeway.