I'd rather have your first this year (if you were to lose against MIN) but this is a deal that might work

This is a fantastic deal for VAN

The way I see it, it may still be below value simply taking the Marleau trade as comparison with a few others in the past as well like the Bickell trade and the Datsyuk trade notably. Ericksson's got two more years as opposed to the one for Marleau and the Habs are sending back Mete which is a decent young player in his own right. I feel if Mete is going to be going back, Hab's would need something else added here to bridge the gap.

Just from a market standpoint, that Marleau trade was when the market was good, getting better every year and without exterior factors being in play. As it stands right now, the cap is stagnant, will be staying stagnant for a while and a ton of teams have lost money. The amount of teams that need to cap dump has risen this year compared to previous years which only adds to the market value for dumping contracts.

I think not only will there be less teams willing to take on massive cap dumps but the amount of teams that will need/want to dump cap has risen. If we could associate a value to X dollar/cap being dumped, what ever that is, its higher than in past years. Its gonna be real tough to move salary/cap this year and maybe next so its really gonna hurt the teams that have to do it.

In all honesty, I think Van will have to resort to simply not resigning guys like Markstrom or any free agents like Demelo, coupled with a strategically placed buyout of Ferland. IMO this will hurt less than all the cap dumping they'd do to make space for EP and Hughes.

Completely agree, getting teams to actually take on a cap dump in this current environment is going to be very difficult and the cost will go up significantly...IMO

Thanks for the feedback; I agree with pretty much all of it. I was just curious as to why so many MTL fans post ACGM's where they trade Mete.

I think VAN will hold onto Eriksson for another year and look to make a move to clear more cap at the end of next season. It will be cheaper to either trade or buyout Loui then, or they may be able to make other moves like trading the final year of Roussel or Beagle's deals. I really hope that Ferland can come back healthy and resume his career; he'd be a great fit on this team when he's at the top of his game. If the concussion issues persist I could see a LTIR arrangement or early retirement for him though.

As for team signings this offseason, I'm betting Benning makes extending Markstrom his top priority. If no other significant multi-year contracts get moved out that would be the only big signing they'd have room for though. I definitely don't see the room for Toffoli and don't really see the room for Tanev or a replacement for him either, which really puts pressure on the blueline as they'll be bargain shopping for 3rd pairing and extra Dmen. Personally I think the team should have a number they won't go over for Markstrom and commit to walking away if he demands more. I'd argue that signing an upgrade on the blueline (like DeMelo) plus a good 1b to tandem with Demko would be favorable to overpaying Marky and having the defence get worse. What are your thoughts on that?