Canes would match, and likely offerhseet Caufield the year after when you've got your cap tied up.

OR sign cole b4 the season, we have the space for it

So... why wouldn't Carolina just do that with Necas? They have space for it too...

Oh please happen, I don’t want this to end

Could you offersheet Caufield or would he be 10.2(c)?

I believe Caufield will be offersheet eligible.

Q. Hughes is 10.2(c) this season and he has played 129 games and the most Caufield will have 92.

Weber is going on ltir for the next 5 years, Habs are going to have 8 millions more cap space than the canes for this fight. The only reason haha wouldn’t match is because the players isn’t worth half the price canes are paying. Letting Hamilton go when you have a weak defense to replace him with a center when you have no issues at center certainly isn’t progress. If you think Suzuki and caufield are going to make it to rfa status you are sadly mistaken, on the other hand, the canes are known for trying to low ball they rfas which is why the aho offer happened in the first place. So we know the canes prospects are going to hit rfa status regularly.

After looking into it number of games doesn't really matter. Since Caufield signed at 20yrs old he needs 3 seasons to become Group 2 eligible so until he is he can't be offersheeted.

I could be interpreting this incorrectly.

Difference is... Aho openly admitted to using Montreal to stay in Carolina. He said publicly he turned down a bigger cap hit because he didn't think it would be matched. Aho used to end his debate. Right now, Montreal will be in the fight for Shane Wright. Why would anyone want to sign there? Also, why didn't Kotkaniemi get locked up then? He was a 3rd overall pick and still has fantastic upside. But he continued on. Players don't like Canada tax you see. It's why Canadian RFA's are always among the last to sign (Marner, Nylander, Hughes, Tkachuk, Pettersen)

The difference in net salary between Carolina and mtl for a 6m base contract is 500k, so I doubt that would have ampered any negociations efforts as Canadian gms expect to be asked for that additional 500k. Carolina let go a top talent at defense who had twice as many goals and points as kotkaniemi last season while moving that money to overpaid offense. In the meantime MTL added Hoffman, Dvorak and Savard while making the Stanley cup finals so I think a team that improved over the team that beat the golden knights and the leafs should be able to convince players the conditions are in place to push further or at least repeat, not sure what makes you say mtl is looking at last position

Montreal lost Weber, Kotkaniemi and Danault. Carolina added Bear, Cole, Kotkaniemi, Andersen, Raanta, DeAngelo, Leivo, Stepan... there's a LOT of improvements on this Canes roster. Hamilton was let go because his deal is going to be an anchor almost as soon as the puck drops this season. Carolina have MAJORLY improved almost everywhere. Montreal still are weak down the middle.

idk about MAJORLY

None of the players that carolina took on are difference makers. Hamilton's production accounts for almost all of these guys production added up. Andersen couldn't keep up a .900 average with a defense that is of similar quality as carolina's and raanta's 905 is also under Reimer's 906 so wouldn't call those upgrades. I would also question the judgement of someone that brings a guy like DeAngelo in a locker room full of kids. I would've passed on that, no matter how low the price tag was. Montreal's center line is going to be better than last year's, Danault is going to stop taking Evan's ice time (who is faster and more skilled). Weber is not lost, he's on the LTIR where is highest value is for the cap space he provides. Most discussions about him last year were about how slow he was and how he should be pushed to retire. What we have now is better than a retired weber, he's a cap boosting weber. In the end we'll only see what the result is once the season start but my feeling is that the right pieces are now in the right slots and the underachieving centers issue we had have been handled. As to the "who would want to sign in montreal" point you are trying to make, I'd just say Carolina doesn't have anything very bright to show in that sector either, nothing matching montreal's recent UFA signings anyways (toffoli, chiarot, savard, hoffman).

They have, they're far deeper, and the drop-off at the top end isn't major enough to worry about missing the playoffs. The goaltender has VASTLY improved, the defense is deeper, yeah dougie walking hurts, but TDA is a 50 point guy and is capable of filling the offensive gap he leaves. Dougie defensively was a car crash so there's no drop off there. Plus, Bear and Cole make this deeper than Bean, Fleury, Hakanpaa, Gardiner did.

Start with the goaltenders, Freddie played behind a defense in Toronto that is FAR worse than Carolinas. Carolina's is one of the best in the NHL, they have one of the best defensive systems in the NHL. Slavin is undeniably the best defensive defenseman in the NHL, Pesce is right there with him, Bear, Cole, Skjei... these guys aren't bad in their own end either. Raanta's issue is staying healthy. He'll be great when he can play. Freddie is going to be a case of not overplaying him, hence they have 4 other goalies under contract including 2 prospects if anyone needs to come up and take the reigns for a few games.

TDA is also a kid... people forget that. TDA is a 50 point D man and he'll make up for the majority of the atributes Carolina lost with Dougie if he keeps his nose clean. Remember, Dougie was labelled as a cancer before he came to Carolina and look what happened with him, he's now viewed as one of the best D men in hockey.

To say Montreal is better down the middle is a stupid arguement. Evans may be better than Danault eventually, but Danault is one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL. His underlying numbers are incredible and Evans doesn't provide that stability.

Weber is lost. I get he's on LTIR and you get cap space and so on, but he's not there to QB the PP anymore. You do not have that 100 mph slap shot.

In terms of who wants to sign in Montreal, Chiarot is very eh, Savard is a French Canadian. Hoffman and Toffoli are interesting that you brought up, but are they better than the collective of Jesper Fast, Ian Cole, Josh Leivo, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Derek Stepan, Fredrik Andersen, Antti Raanta? That's just this year too, recently they had Dzingel, Gardiner (who chose Carolina over Montreal) I don't know that I'd say that Montreal has better luck drawing in free agents than Carolina does, especially with the state that team is in right now.