They really should get rid of Burns before Jones. Burns' deal will not age well in the slightest. The second his moving ability declines so does his entire play. Plus Jones is easier to buyout

It’s honestly a toss up who you want to give Seattle however my ONLY gripe with Jones is, would you rather 6 million for a goalie that’s analytically played like 1.5 million dollar goalie or keep a 8 million dollars defenseman who’s playing like a 4 million dollar defenseman? Also with Vlasic being bought out, I wanted to limit buyouts unless it was NECESSARY. Like Vlasic’s contact that’s only going to get worse.

I think it's fair, but I'd rather not do that Jones trade, Shane Wright is very good at hockey. I have a lot of issues with this roster:

Vlasic has a NMC which he wouldn't waive. That's 7 mil we can't use
Hamonic is a luxury we wouldn't need with Merkley entering the league at this time
Overpay for Raanta a little
Timo wouldn't stay on the third line (he's just currently in the dog house, give it a few games to change)
The way Donato is playing, he probably gets more like 3 mil (look what Labanc got for similar numbers, a 5x4 essentially)
With the current status of cap, can probably offer less to Gambler and Gregor
I'd personally go for a guy more like Armia Dzingel or Hyman instead of Hyman, but they would be pricier

I had no idea NMC included buyouts but fair enough.
Something tells me Merkley won’t be ready for a top 6 role just yet. I’ve been the biggest backer of him but we’ll see.
I honestly thought it was an underpay. Raanta is what the Sharks need to get into the playoffs.
Again the contracts aren’t supposed to be exact, which is why I still left 4 million in cap space.
Gregor for sure, but I feel like Gamby will get that type of contact to be the team’s third line center.
I’d LOVE someone like Hyman, but with Kane, Hertl, and Meier, why get ANOTHER grinder like scoring option, I’d rather a shoot first guy. So Dzingle would be an interesting option. Also with that Jones trade, this is what would happen if the team doesn’t tank. (No pun intended)

Absolutely!

I appreciate the reference haha

OOPS I read "buried" not "buyout" sorry

Burns is clearly still a top 2 D man on almost any team and he is a physical specimen, I see no reason he doesn’t age like a Blake or Charra so I say we keep him, Jones has looked much better this season so far and his numbers will reflect that before the end of this season. Vlasic IMO is the weakest link on this team right now.

Who is the 8 mill D man who plays like a 4 mil D man?
Vlasic buyout won’t happen for 2-3 more years, personally I’d rather bury him in the minors or force his retirement rather than have him on the books for 10 more years

Merkely is a great talent but he needed a year in the AHL and both Boughner and Wilson seem to agree with time! Bringing him up slowly is smart as he is an undersized D man and is a boom/ Bust prospect so rushing him could destroy him mentally.
I’ve really liked Gambrell’s game the last two games and Gregor and Leonard so far. I’m hoping that continues. Ferraro has been a huge grab and knuzohv has had solid flashes and I have high hopes! All and all this team looks a lot stronger than last year and has potential

Vlasic is our biggest problem, he’s serviceable D man so I don’t want to bash him, but a 7 mill a year serviceable player is a problem to our cap. I don’t want to buy him out so I’m hoping for a better option but I don’t see one.

Analytically, Burns is playing like a 4.5 million dollar defenseman but I still love him.

I highly disagree with that but ok.