Representing the 505
Joined: Sep. 2020
Posts: 4,446
Likes: 3,631
There are lots of moving parts this offseason with several key players needing new deals. Seattle draft is coming up and they would prefer to lose one of their low to mid-tier contracts in the form of Graves, JTC or Donskoi. Lots of people talk about buying out EJ but I'm not sure that would happen - that's a lot of dead space to deal with for the next four years but it would get them $4M back for the next two years an they'll need the $2M in dead space after that (when Mac comes up for his contract). My gut says they wouldn't do that to him but you never know because they do need the space. He's still a good player but has had terrible luck with injuries the past few years.
I feel like they'd be better off if they simply found ways to get rid of JTC, Graves and Donny via expansion or trade; that would free up almost $10M right away and make room for young guys to join the roster. At that point, they can pay Landy and Gru near their market value to stay with a winning team, bridge Makar to get out from under EJ's deal, then re-sign Makar and Mac at the same time in the same way Toews and Kane did so many years ago. Is that the way it will play out? Probably not but it's at least plausible.