Roster for 2021/22:

- Donskoi selected by Seattle in ED.
- Graves traded for futures.

Landeskog ---- Mackinnon ---- Rantanen
Burakovsky ------- Kadri --------- Kaut
Nichuskin ------- Newhook ----- Compher
Bowers --------- Andersson ---- Namestnikov (Rasmussen marinades in the AHL one more year in 2021/22 and then replaces Kadri in 2022 as Newhook bumps up to 2C).
O'Connor

Byram ------ Makar
Girard ------- Johnson
Samberg --- Timmins
Carlson 7D (Wilde slow-cooks in the AHL until Johnson is done).

Grubauer
Francouz

And how do you propose to fill out the roster the next year? Makar needs a deal and you currently have 23 million with only 14 players on the roster. Makar will take up at least 6+ million of that. That's 17 million for a lot of players you'll need.

it's actually not that difficult. $11m to cover landeskog and makar raises. $2m raise for a starter. rest of the roster can be elcs. -$3m for whoever seattle selects.

Sorry man but Samberg AND Chisholm are valued very high by the Jets (as they should be). Samberg could even crack a top 4 role as early as next year. I don't think there is even a remote chance they move either for Jost.

You think Landeskog is going to settle for less than 6 million? Makar less than that as well? If Makar wants term it's going to be Rantanen money, if he doesn't it's going to be 6+ average. Landeskog is likely going to ask for 8 as a starting point and may not budge from that. He'll argue he's the captain and is a 30 goal scorer who has other intangibles.

That would be no problem whatsoever.

Makar needs an $8m raise to $9m.
Landeskog to $8m, a raise of $2.5m.
Grubauer to $5m, a raise of $1.7m.

Total of the raises above = $13.2m

- Current capspace: $1.7m
- Cole $4.25m ---> replaced by Samberg ELC. Saves $3.5m.
- Smith $2.35m --> replaced by Carlsson $800k. Saves $1.5m.
- Calvert $2.85m --> replaced by Bowers ELC. Saves $2m.
- Bellemare $1.8m --> replaced by Andersson/Rasmussen ELC. Saves $1m.
- Donskoi ($3.9m) selected by Seattle --> replaced by Newhook ELC. Saves $3m.
- Graves ($2.75m) traded for futures ---> replaced by Timmins (~$1.2m). Saves $1.5m.
- Komarov ($3m / $2m buried) ---> attach a modest pick to him and save $2m (much cheaper to move him with just 1 year remaining on his contract)

That's $16.2m, which leaves $3m extra capspace compared to the $13.2m raises above. And that doesn't even include a potential increase in the cap ceiling due to the ED and new TV deal.

Those changes would allow us to run with the roster below for 2021/22. It's admittedly quite a young roster, but there's A LOT of talent there, and also plenty of veteran leadership sprinkled throughout the lineup.

I agree. In my calculation above I've factored in Makar getting $9m and Landeskog getting $8m. And there's still $3m capspace left to play with.

No chance jets do that

I have thought that Sakic is right there with Dubas for cap management skills. Many give Dubas a bad rap because he's up against the cap but his team is stacked and loaded with skill and speed. Sakic is on his way to the same situation but as long as he doesn't waste money by overpaying secondary players he'll be fine. Well done

Avs could maybe do 1 short term cap dump for something appealing, but as a team with serious cup considerations and knowing the MacKinnon super friendly contract window is short I would expect the Avs to use every dollar possible to help in that pursuit.

They already have Morrissey and Heinola at LHD, so why wouldn't they consider moving one of their other LHD prospects? Maybe Samberg is a bit much, so perhaps Chisholm would be more suitable? Perhaps Colorado adds a little bit, but I don't see why they would given that Winnipeg are getting the more proven player.

Out of everyteam that would've been my last guest for a cap dump situation, the rich getting richer. I don't like that.


Should be pretty easy, there's empty seats all accross that defense since that free agency exodus.


Back to back years where the cap was supposed to go up by a ton and yet nothing, nobody can predict cap from now on not even Bettman.

Thanks. I agree, on the evidence so far Sakic does seem to be very shrewd with how he manages cap. He's weaponised capspace in consecutive offseasons, first in the Grubauer trade, and then by retaining on Barrie to get Kadri. The way he's structured contracts of Compher and Donskoi to both end in 2023 is good too. And of course the Girard and Rantanen contracts are very good (especially Girard). We'll see if he can continue this going forwards.

Mackinnon's contract is indeed appealing, but there's only so much you can do with the capspace, short of removing players from the current roster. We're already a cup favourite, so unless there are some good 1 year deals in UFA I don't think there's any obvious move for Sakic to make.

Keep in mind that even with 2 capdump trades there is still enough capspace left to allow for a big deadline acquisition (due to cap accrual). In that regard, acquiring picks or prospects could actually be essential currency that we can use going forwards, both to boost the roster on ELC's, but also as valuable capital to use in deadline deals to put the team over the top.

Sakic has weaponised capspace in two consecutive offseasons (1st by acquiring Orpik's buyout to get Grubauer cheaper, and then by retaining on Barrie to get Kadri cheaper). As such I think cap dumps will definitely be something that is on Sakic's radar, especially in an offseason with a flat cap where the price to trade a capdump will be sky-high. That is, assuming that we don't ourselves use all the capspace by making big signings like Hall or Pietrangelo.

we take that 3rd and run

They don’t do it because they have a lack of defensive prospects that have a legit shot of making the NHL. Heinola, Samberg, and Chisholm right now are the only 3 that have that potential. And if you’re giving one of them up in better be for better value than Tyson Jost. If one of them is included in a deal for a Strome/Cirelli or other legitimate assets who could be a true 2C on this team or even a top pairing D man right now then you consider it. Otherwise those prospects shouldn’t be touched. Already have enough guys who are bottom 6 centreman. (Lowry, Copp, Roslovic, Harkins, Little if healthy) need a pretty sure thing as opposed to a maybe guy.

That is the key of course

I wasn't really sure what the value of the pick there should be, but you're right, a 3rd is probably too much.

Smith @ $2.25m still has negative value, so probably costs you a 4th or so to move.

Then you add Lias Andersson who's value is difficult to ascertain. But it can't be much, maybe a 2nd or 3rd.

Which makes the combined value of Smith (negative 4th), and Anderson (positive 2nd/3rd) effectively just the price of upgrading from a 4th to a 2nd/3rd.

With that in mind, you're probably right that a 3rd is too much. Maybe a 5th or 6th would be more appropriate.

Would NYR accept the trade below?

Smith ($2m retained)
Andersson

for

COL 2020 5th

Need to take back a little more cap for Isles to surrender Wilde IMO. It's not *that* far off but still need a bit more there somehow

Not really why get a weaker Lhd group for a 3C? Have copp at 3C I wouldn’t mind having jost but not for samberg I’d be kinda interested if it was Chisholm depending what avs are adding to it

Hmm I don't know about that. Wilde was a 2nd round pick, so a 3rd rounder isn't that far off, though Wilde does have more value as he has progressed well since the draft and is obviously closer to NHL ready.

We could offer a 2nd instead of a 3rd, but then again the difference between Wilde and a 2020 2nd is much smaller than Komarov. I'm not sure it makes sense to trade a 2nd for him unless NYI retain a bit on Komarov and/or send a pick back, but that probably isn't ideal for NYI. How about throwing in another mid-round pick, like a 5th?

Komarov + Wilde for 3rd + 5th

Or something like:

Komarov + Wilde + 4th for 2nd

Thanks for your feedback.

Hmm, if it's Chisholm I'm not sure I want to be adding to Jost. He's still only 22 years old despite having played over 200 NHL games, and could legitimately still break out. Many players take until about that age to even break into the NHL, but he's already proved that he's at least a capable 3rd liner, and has shown flashes of being more, especially in the playoffs as well as after the deadline this year (7 points in 9 games). It would be very risky to trade a young C like Jost to a divisional rival, especially for a prospect who has never played at a level above juniors.

I'm also not sure if Chisholm is the type of LHD we should be going after if we acquire a LHD. With Byram and Girard holding down the top two pairings going forwards we probably need more of a shutdown Dman type on the 3rd pairing. So Samberg makes more sense, even if we have to add a bit to get him.

Alternatively we could trade Jost to a team in the east like Florida or Rangers for a prospect like Gildon, Kolyachonok, or Robertson. That would be far more appealing than helping a division rival, unless the prospect we're getting in return is someone who's too good to pass up.

A lot of comments...I like it.
as a jets fan I do not like that deal at all. Samberg has top pairing potential, where you say Jost can be a 3C. The jets have soooo many guys that can play 3C (Copp, Lowry, Little, Roslovic, Harkins) they need D who have potential to develop into top pairing guys. I do like Jost and Im sure the jets would have interest, just not for a top prospect

Thanks for your feedback, interesting thoughts.

I think Jost would be a 2C with the Jets. He has the offensive ability to keep up with guys like Connor/Ehlers/Wheeler/Laine.

The problem with him in Colorado is that he's not good enough to carry offense on his own, and isn't a natural fit next to Kadri/Burakovsky, so he gets shoe-horned on the 3rd line. He's the type of player that needs good players around him to be at his best, but if you give him that he really excels. For example, in college he played with Boeser and was lethal. After the deadline this year when we had some injuries and he got top 6 minutes and PP time he got 7 points in 9 games.

There's still a good player there for sure. I just don't think he's going to reach his potential in Colorado, as we have Kadri at 2C and Compher at 3C who are better at those roles, and also Newhook on the way.

That said, it's understandable that you wouldn't want to trade a guy with top pairing potential for him.

How do you feel about a trade around Chisholm and Jost? With that trade Winnipeg would plug their biggest hole by getting a young 2C/3C and still have Morrissey/Heinola/Samberg as their D moving forward.