One full NTC, and two M NTCs might say no. Gee why does any team want 5m X 3 Johnson?

TB takes it and runs.

Lavoie for that entire package would be good enough for them, it frees them so much cap space for the foreseeable future

Yeah, the clauses are a likely snag.

Johnson is not an objectively bad player, he's just on a bad contract (unlike, say Neal who has virtually no value now).

I'm willing to take Johnson if it also gets us Killorn and Palat. Reduces the number of UFAs KH has to chase. And the TBL forwards bring a culture of winning with them.

I don't know about just Lavoie; I'd expect there'd be at least a few other GMs that would offer more.

I started off with Archibald and Lagesson rather than McLeod and Jones. Maybe that's better. This does gut a lot of the Oilers futures.

Oilers decline
No body wants Johnson his contract is worse then Neal’s, Tampa would need to pay through the roof to move him
Killorn and Palat are straight cap dumps for Tampa and could be had for mid rd picks or mid tier prospects

Good. If you think Oilers decline this, perhaps it can be done for less.

Just because TB needs to clear cap space doesn't mean there won't be other GMs trying to snatch Killorn, Palat, or Gourde. There will be competition.

With all respect, saying Johnson's contract is worse than Neal's is just nonsense. After Jeff Skinner, Neal's is probably the worst in the league.

No Johnson’s has more term left on it then Neal’s,

Are you watching the finals. They’re making MTL’s top guys look like James Neal

Sure am
How many people had Vegas only getting a 3rd for Nate Schmidt when they needed cap?

But Johnson can still play hockey!

I'm sure Neal is a nice guy who is kind to children and animals but he's a slow liability on the ice.

I’m assuming guys with rings mean something to GMs. Chris Kunitz’s career got extended by like 2-3 years because of his rings

lol moves all your high-end young prospects on their ELCs and some high picks for a few 30 year olds making a lot of money. No doubt thats an immediate upgrade in talent and depth, but nothing even close to that will happen in a cap world. Edmonton would effectively be switching spots with Tampa for being in cap hell. no thanks from the Oil

Assuming is how GM’s make bad decisions, this is a flat cap league now, teams with cap issues will have to operate like the Schmidt deal taking back mid tier picks or mid tier prospects, the value on picks as gone up due to the flat cap, value on top tier prospects have gone up as teams needs these guys in the lineup on their entry level deals flat cap, the landscape has changed as teams are preparing for the cap to stay the same for a min of the next 3 yrs

lol thanks for your candor

How is it cap hell? Three contracts: one for one year; one for two; one for three. All three could likely be re-signed, if desired, for a lesser AAV.

Now, I agree I may be miscalculating how much of the Oilers future to throw at this deal, but I can't shake the idea that there is a good deal for both sides here somewhere.