Who adds what?
Joined: Jul. 2017
Posts: 13,677
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Ceci at 4.5 just doesn't fit on most teams this year. Of the seven teams with 4.5M of projected cap space, four are rebuilding and have less than zero interest. You could hardly pay Columbus, LA, NJ, or Ottawa enough to take on 4.5M of cap space on a #4 defenseman. You could try to give him away to NYI, Colorado, or Montreal. Good luck with that. Winnipeg almost has room....
Winnipeg and Colorado have some injuries on defense, but they're in playoff position anyway, so no immediate need for an overpaid rental who keeps them from making a big trade deadline deal.
NYI fans are talking about trying to add Taylor Hall. If you had 5M of cap space and had to choose between a #4D and a recent MVP, which one do you get more excited about?
Your market for a giveaway is down to Montreal. They can see that. They're more interested in Gostisbehere. So trading Ceci to Montreal involves retaining and adding a prospect, or it involves taking back a retained Karl Alzner, and having to buy out half of his contract next summer if he doesn't pan out. Those are somewhat bad ideas for Toronto.
If you retained 50% and add Tymashov and a 2nd, you could send him lots of places, for lots of players. One possibility might be Washington for Nick Jensen, who is off to a slow start offensively, but is a more established defensive #4 than Ceci, and on a better contract.