Overall, I would be fine with everything here and I think it's pretty realistic in terms of what Benning wants to do.

Getting rid of Eriksson in any form is a huge plus and hopefully the Ducks ownership would rather pay an NHL player than an injured one, even if the injured one costs less. That would be a huge move for the franchise. I also like that you brought back Markstrom; Demko hasn't proven much yet and making the wrong decision on you're goalie can ruin a franchise. This buys us more time in that department. I'm not sure Markstrom would accept that term, but the goalie market is very weird (Lehner this summer got one year). I'd rather not trade Stetcher, but if for whatever reason Benning feels he has to or Stetcher requests a trade then that's the exact deal I would look to make. Dumping Sutter even with retention is a win and while I'd rather not move Baertschi, it seems like management has moved on.

The main thing I'm skeptical about here is Barrie. He's a good player and all, but I'm not sure there's a need or a fit for him here, especially if Hughes sticks on PP1. If Barrie isn't running you're first unit, he's not being used to his full potential and becomes more of a liability. I don't want to pay that price for a PP2 defenseman. At 5 on 5 he's good and bad but overall not worth that price. If he wants to take a hometown discount to play in Vancouver (ie. less than 6 million per) then sure, but I don't see that happening. Personally, I would look to move Pearson as hopefully his value will increase playing with Horvat and I don't see him as a long term option in the top 6. '

Good job though.

I don't get the Stecher add for Toronto. It's all over the forums and it doesn't really make sense for the Leafs. Marincin's comparable enough: and they have enough organizational depth at D that they shouldn't give up anything significant for a guy who isn't realistically much more than a solid 2nd pair guy.
Leivo at that money would be a surprise. If his sh% regresses a bit he's probably getting approx. 15 goals 40 points this year, which'd likely put him a couple million higher. Keeping him is very good though.
Dealing Baertchi would be a mistake, he's better than most of that bottom-6. The org might do it, but dammit this is YOUR Armchair-GM! To hell with Benning! VIVA LA REVOLUTION!
Barrie add makes some sense, but a 5v5 shutdown guy is probably the big need behind Myers, whose defensive impact is bad and is aging (research has shown that special teams play ages better than 5v5) Idk if one'll be available, just spitballing.
Too much money for Markstrom, but at that term it probably barely matters.



Pearson's basically a league-average player. You'd like an upgrade, but he's fine as a middle-six option. Barrie'd probably be a better PP1 option than Hughes, but yeah 8 mil is probably too steep, (though the term is nice). I overall really like the high-cap low-term stuff going on here, not enough GMs do it. Asset back for Sutter is really nice.

Yeah good job!

In a vacuum, Barrie probably is a better option than Hughes purely because he's right handed and has a better shot, but those are very minor upgrades for 8 million per. The Avalanche believed he would simply go to the highest bidder, which they didn't want to do given Makar can step into his minutes seamlessly.

Needing a shutdown right handed defenseman directly leads to re-signing Tanev. I'm not sure if that's the best play. He's looked very good this year with Hughes, but the injury history is still unsettling. And if we're not re-signing him, then are we trading him at the deadline in a year where we're actually (hopefully lol) pushing for the Playoffs? Same could be said about Markstrom as well and it's a tough choice.

I don't even want an upgrade on Pearson necessarily, I just don't think he's that good of a fit. He was on a hot streak to start the year, so I'd look to move him as soon as he hits another one.

Personally, I have hopes of acquiring either Kapanen or Puljujarvi. I think both would be great fits with Horvat, wouldn't be overly expensive, fit in with our core age wise and are cost controlled for the next little while. For Kapanen, obviously a defenseman to Toronto makes sense and Stetcher fits the mold as another relatively young player in a similar situation, just different positions. If Toronto doesn't like Stetcher then there's not much to do besides hope they get desperate enough to deal him for a Tanev rental. For Puljujarvi, I'm really not sure what we could do to get it done. None of the wingers that Edmonton would likely want are wingers that we would be willing to give up. I thought a deal could be worked out involving Baertschi or Goldobin, but they both went unclaimed, so their value is in a state of flux right now. I might even drop a 2nd round pick if we could get him over this year relatively soon.