a first and a cap dump + lavoie isn't worth 25m in retention and a loss of a player of prices caliber. I get its not about Montreal but you need two to play the trade game and this isn't enough

We're not retaining 5mil on Price and taking on Koskinen and ONLY getting Lavoie + 1st

If you Really wanna do this make it a 3 way trade

MTL without retaining would want something like McCleod and a 2nd round pick and take Koskinen for cap purposed
ARZ is in Full Rebuild Mode and wont hit its max cap again for like 3 years minimum
Their GM did well drafting with his father choosing to covet Picks most over all so use that

Flip them a 1st round pick, conditional 2nd that becomes a 1st if EDM wins a cup and a 3rd round pick Conditional becomes a 2nd if EDM wins a cup
Thats the ball park for retaining that much cap longterm

You'd give up
Mcleod
Koskinen(cap reasons)
1st round pick
2nd round pick conditional
3rd round pick conditial

You get Price fresh off a SCF at 5m Cap 500k more then Koskinen

Price has been below average for 3 of the past 4 years, the fact that he got hot for 6 weeks doesn't make him an attractive target all of the sudden. I don't see why anyone would give up those assets for him when you can get better goalies in free agency for similar money without spending high end assets.

I'm only looking at it as about $15M retention.
I consider about $2M a year as the depreciation value for a goaltender with a $10.5M contract.



I get that. I said that's the maximum retention and only the main pieces I'd expect. If Edmonton moves Kassian (for example), they need $2M less retention. It depends where they can afford to cut salary before determining how much retention they need and what it will cost.



I would be fine with Montreal getting Lavoie and a 1st with the retention going elsewhere. I just don't see a 3rd party taking that much on for that length of time, or Edmonton being willing to cover that cost.
Montreal saves at least $5.5M of cap regardless. About enough for Primeau and a backup through those years. Retaining on your own player can be done cheaper than having someone else do it. It's not an issue if you can afford it through a period where your projected salary is below the cap.

Price has also been above average in the last 3 playoffs. Edmonton has won a single game in that same period. Sounds like a good reason to me.

Cheaper yes but Cost isnt an Issue for a Top 3 NHL team in the NHL from a Revenue and fanbase POV
The big 3 are why they created a Revenue sharing Program as they're the market that pay the bills
Cap on the other hand well... how often have you seen MTL retain salary ? We buried then bough out Alzner years later
rather then retain 50% when there was interest after MB gave his agent permission to talk to other teams

Since 2013 according to Capfriendly's Retained Salary History its happened 6 times with 5/6 at TDL for a beyond expected profit (plekky,scandella,kovalchuk,desharnais,weise)
Pacioretty was the only other one and we got a butt load in return in Tatar , Suzuki ,a 2nd flipped for pick that got Norlinder and Leguerrier
100% of these Retained Salary situations were no longer then 1 year with 5/6 being less then 3-4 months

We wont have a TML situation where Phil Kessel has been paid by Toronto while winning 2 cups in PIT while they miss the playoffs
Without Price we're not the same team he bails us out a lot but its more because he is our 3rd D who plays the puck better then anyone if you believe Hrudey ,Biron and Johnston
Primeau isnt a puck mover so there will be growing pains,massive rebounds and more time spent in MTL DZ

How do i know ?
When Allen plays thats what happens as he doesnt play the puck either like price
He had great personal stats but his win loss record was crap because MTL forwards were stuck
In the DZ back checking when their systems been basically designed on waiting around the blue line for Price pass

hasnt i think you meant (and i agree )

Oh, I don't mean actual money. I just mean if we retain $1M for 1 year on our own player, we'll probably consider it the cost of doing business to get what we want. Another team doing that for us would expect a pick, so direct retention is cheaper that way.



No. Edmonton won 1 game in 19/20. Didn't qualify in 18/19. Got swept last year. Nip it now before it becomes a thing like Toronto.

1m long term isnt as bad as 5m long term

Lavoie is a 6'4 Center who's developing nicely and will mature into a NHL player in 1-2 years on a timeline MTL can live with.
The upside here is Ducharme was his coach all Junior and knows how to Utilize him effectively
So MB would be motivated but that only take things so far