Way too much to dump smith.

What do you think it should cost?

I get that Smith is still a useful 4th liner who can take faceoffs and PK, but Chicago are in a cap squeeze and $3.25m (or $2.15m buried) would go a long way towards opening up capspace for Kubalik among others. Very few teams are going to want to take on that caphit.

The big factor is his buyout is only just over a mil. Buying out him and Maatta combined would save roughly 5 million, where as trading them both would save like 7 mil. Its not the biggest difference to dump the whole contract vs the buy out

Minor stats are a great way to be let down - see Reid Boucher

That makes sense.

Just had a look at Maatta's buyout. Surprising that it's only $680k for 4 years on a $4m+ contract, but I guess it's because he's still pretty young so has that 1/3 ratio instead. That's pretty good for Chicago, though a buyout over 4 years is a bit of a pain in a flat cap league.

I guess you can simply buyout Smith and have $1.1m in dead space. But wouldn't you rather just remove him entirely? Maybe a team like Detroit would be interested in a lesser cap dump but he'd have to waive to go to them i suppose.

Would you do something like Smith + 2nd for a 3rd instead of a 5th?

Is this in relation to Beaucage?

If that's return isn't to your liking please feel free to let me know what a fair return would be for Gusev.

it is and I'm not saying that Beaucage isnt talented at all his numbers look great!

Where the Devils are slotted in the draft + our other first picks we can draft a higher upside FWD and we have enough cap room to extend Gusev. I like Zadorov but I would rather go for Serge if I'm being honest seeing that Tampas cap situation isn't promising.

Yeah if it was Smith + 2nd for 3rd it would make a lot more sense. Unfortunately he probably doesnt have positive value, but if the dump is too much, we can just stomach the buyout.

I'd do smith plus a 4th for a 7th.

His buyout is decent, he is still a good 4th line player on a one year contract.

I think the only way Gusev moves is if it is for a 1st.

Thanks for your thoughtful response.

You can certainly draft a more upside forward, but at the same time you lack some 2nd and 3rd round sort of talent, and that's important to filling out a roster as well.

If you can get Sergachev that's definitely the better choice, but I don't think Tampa are going to move him. They'll do everything to move Gourde and Killorn which should be enough to fit everyone else in.

High picks are going to be more valuable than usual due to the flat cap and the ED, and Gusev doesn't have much of a track-record beyond this one season which makes it a risky proposition. It's also likely that his production would drop somewhat if he moved to a contender as he likely wouldn't be getting as much prime offensive minutes and PP time as he does in NJ (at least that wouldn't be the case in Colorado).

He did get traded for a 2nd + 3rd, and he's proven himself in the NHL now, but conversely that trade was also made when he was an RFA whereas now he's a pending UFA which makes a big difference.

Something around a Roster player + 2nd/prospect seems to be pretty solid value. Maybe there would be an additional small add, depending on the prospect/player.

Thanks for your replies, much appreciated.

It's a bit hard to set prices for cap dumps now before the offseason starts, as it could turn out that capspace is extremely expensive.

That being said, in theory I'd like to get a 2nd since Colorado are missing a pick in that round this year, so I'd be much more keen on Smith + 2nd for 3rd/4th deal than Smith + 4th for 7th.

Either way I think there's a reasonable deal to be made somewhere there that benefits both teams.

With regards to the player himself, do you think he would be ok with being a 13th forward, particularly that it's a contract year? I mean, 13th forwards still tend to get 60+ games but he might prefer a bigger role on a lesser team, but I don't think he'd be able to have much say in the matter unless he lists Colorado on his no-trade list which would be surprising for him to do.

If you have him, he's still a pretty useful forward that knows how to score in the front of the net, win board battles, PK, etc. If the blackhawks dont trade him I would expect he plays a majority of games next season.

Sounds like the ideal 4C/depth forward for a contender, albeit overpaid obviously.

What would you say he is worth in AAV if he signed a contract today?

depends on term. I would probably give him 1.5

Would you give him away for free in a trade with 50% retention? That way you save like $1.5m in capspace without having to buy him out and have $1m against the cap for 2 years.

hmm thats interesting. Probably not free but I would take like a 6th or 7th. After this offseason, we should be good on cap for a few years and the extra year wouldnt be too much of an issue.

no thanks from NJ

Yeah that's kind of what I meant when I said for free. A 7th is pretty insignificant.

Ah, haha yeah I probably shouldve assumed that lol

Okay maybe a 3rd and a 2nd that upgrades to a 1st if you extend Gusev.

I'm sure they'd prefer a team that negotiates a contract with Gusev beforehand and gives them a 1st though.

Nah it was fair to ask. Nice doing business with you anyways

picture checks out lol

Don't be mistaken, I love the guy but I'm still on board with trading him if he doesn't plan on re-signing here. just think a middle pairing defensive D and an average prospect is an incredibly weak return for a 60 point winger that's 27 years of age. He could be close to an 80 point guy playing in the Avs top 6.