Who adds what?
Joined: Jul. 2017
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Panik and Kovalchuk had similar point totals the last two years, but Panik had 200 more hits and was part of the league's best penalty kill. Kovalchuk is eight years older, has been a healthy scratch since November 9th, and has an NMC.
LA needs to add some kind of pick/prospect and retain as much as possible to get this done. Djoos cleared waivers and has only a 200k buried cap hit, but provides the same kind of injury replacement depth and playoff experience as Ryan, who carries a 700k cap hit all year. Not sure that switch is really helping the Caps, even though they're pretty similar.
A 3rd round pick and a replacement-level player who's just three years younger don't get Edmonton a proven #4D and effective penalty killer on a great contract. You misspelled Bear.