Uh...where exactly is all the optimism? lol

Kings say no to the Russell cap dump. They don't want or need him on their team

Welcome to the Coyotes, Oilers, and Sabres purgatory. Optimism always comes next year.

Yeah they do. The Kings aren't competitive next season, and Moverare is effectively a dead contract for them.

so is Russell's contract. They are not going to pay a 6/7 d $4 million against the salary cap. There are better choices and options for them out there.

He costs $1.5M. The cap hit is negligible for a basement team.

The cap hit is the biggest drawback. IF the Oilers want to move Russell, they are going to have to include a sweetener for a team, LA has better options.

Then name them. There are Kings fans that can tolerate Russell for nothing. Edmonton shouldn't pay a cent to move him. He has utility.

Canes say thank you for the cap space

If Russell has utility, why do you want to trade him? Russell also has a limited no trade clause. The Kings would be better to pick up Leddy for 7th round pick and then move him for assets at the deadline.

Would u consider Pulj instead of AA on the canes trade? Either way canes do it most likely

Oilers need the cap space so probably wouldn't swap players unless CAR retained salary. Honestly though I think Holland wants to see what he has in JP before trading him

Except Leddy has another year remaining which is not ideal TDL target for many teams in 2-3 years of flat cap. Russell has lower cap hit and could have retention making him much easier to fit on a cap team come TDL time. Similar to Scandella last year MTL traded a 4th for him then flipped him into a 2nd and conditional 4th after 50% retention.

Leddy is a better defenseman than Russell. Leddy can play top 4 minutes whereas Russell plays 5/6 minutes. Two totally different players.