Hawks not giving up 2nd for Johnsson. I'd give up a 3rd

Not that disagree with the concept of the trades and signing, but wouldn't the Ducks be much better off spending 7m on UFA and keeping their very high first rounder than trading for four years of Nylander.
That is the competition the Leafs and all teams have when trying to dump cap, and not wanting cap back in return.

I won't even comment on the impracticality of a 20 man roster....or even a 21 man roster

Let someone else give up a third. Johnsson is not worth his cap hit.

Assuming the trades happened I like the signings except for Fast. Take him out and sign Thornton to as low as he'll go and add kivalme, Petan and Lily as depth. Dermott isn't getting 1.7 either. I'd give him another less then 1 mill contract to prove he's NHL ready.

Nylander isn't returning you the #6 pick, Noway Anaheim does this. And signing Pietrangelo and drafting Drysdale makes no sense as Drysdale will easily be a top pairing RD and you basically block him for 7 years with Pietrangelo. Even on the 2nd pairing you'd be wasting his talent there.

Toronto is taking a loss in the Anaheim trade. With the #6 pick you would hope to draft a player as good as Nylander down the road. If you sign Pietro that's an all-in move, so why move for a draft pick there. You don't need to cut salary so drastically.

Maybe. What UFA at 7mil would provide similar value? maybe Hall, Dadnov, Hoffman?
All 3 will decline. The upside to Nylander is that he will continue to get better and can play center.

The next 3 picks are NJD, Buff, Minny. Maybe one of those are better suited.

6OA > Nylander

Agreed, although this draft is pretty deep.
The other option is subtracting depth (Johnsson, Kerfoot, Holl).

It's close

Absolutely disagree. Your 6th overall pick has NO GUARANTEE to ever play an NHL game. Sure. everyone is hyped about prospects but that happens consistently. Even if they do, it won't be likely for another 2-3 seasons at earliest. The Leafs are contending RIGHT NOW. They don't need a player (who is unlikely to ever be better than Nylander) who will help them in 3-4 seasons. They need an impact player right now, which is what Nylander is.

When do teams looking to contend for championships dump one of their best players for a draft pick? How often is that going to help them? And do we forget that Kapanen just got a package that included a prospect, along with the #15 pick. If he's worth more than #15, how is Nylander not worth 6?

hawks decline. Hawks view Johnson as a cap dump. We can get similar production out of our ELC's, that johnson would be blocking by coming to chicago.