Minnesota declines. Suter and Parise's buyouts or going to be EXPENSIVE next year

I'm guessing Tampa declines too

They protected McD in the expansion draft. Doesn't make sense to unload him now

I'm sure McDonagh declines too. Can't see any motivation of ANY of the NTC Tampa players to leave their Cup winning team.

He's from Minnesota

He had NTC

I like it

I know, all the more reason he would want to stay in Tampa during the winter months. He has NO reason to leave to leave The Lightning and join The Wild.
But as pointed out, the Wild have an awful cap situation due to the buyouts.

Minnesota accepts that despite cap issues.

So? So are roughly 30% of all American born players currently in the NHL. It really has very little to do with anything.

People think that just because a players from Minnesota that they can just justify sending them to the Wild as either a cap dump or because they're unwanted. BeCAusE ThEY'Re FrOm HeRE. Meanwhile they completely ignore if the player they're sending us is an actual fit or something we would want or need.

The answer is, we don't want or need McDonagh.

Even with that retention. The Wild's leftside top 4 D are already set with Brodin and Goligoski, who already come with an $11M price tag between the two of them as it is. That's $13'ish Million on the left side alone with Kulikov included. And you want us to move our 3rd pairing defenseman on a reasonably cheap contract just so we can play someone who's making at least $5M there instead?

Seriously?

Furthermore, that's not even taking the buyouts into account just yet.

$12.3M in dead cap space in 22-23.
$14.6M in dead cap space in both 23-24 and 24-25.

So, no. Absolutely not! It doesn't matter whether he's from here or not. He doesn't fit. Simply speaking, Kuliov is much more valuable to us as it is.

Not a chance in hell we do.

You need a vacation, you seem stressed

No, if anything, I need to get back to work. As I've *been on vacation* as you put it for the last year thanks to the pandemic.

But I would of found this trade incredulous either way given it's sending us a cap dump we cannot afford or take any sense or measure of whether we're a good fit at all. We're not, and we're the last team you should be sending him to.

Just get a job.. lots out there

I got one within a week

NTC meant nothing in regards to protection slots. Only NMC's had to be protected. Tampa could've easily exposed McD, but valued keeping one of the best defenses together more than keeping one of Gourde/Palat/Killorn. Had they lost McD to Seattle, I would have been pursuing Kulikov as a ufa, but Tampa would decline this trade easily.