The only solutions for this team to get a true 1C would be to either aquire Hertl via trade/fa or trade for Eichel and pay up extra to make BUF retain 2M in salary. Both options would force MIN to trade out Dumba and Rask, as well as give up loads of Futures. I would just trade Dumba and Talbot next offseason, and then rely on the youth.

Rossi will be that in a couple years, no need to break the bank on one, unless it's eichel

I agree. If we are able to get Hertl/Eichel for relatively cheap, then sure, we'll do it. But we shouldn't give up assets of tomorrow just to fill a need today.

if you think the wild or only a number 1 center away from tampa and colorado then you should go and look over their rosters. Yes the wild would be competitve if they add a number center (not getting what you need for a 6.9mil cap hit) but still not tampa or colorado.

"we'd be right up there with the Avalanches and Lightnings."

That's a bit of a stretch, I like the Wild and the direction they're headed in but to compare them to the Lightning or the Aves is a bit of blind optimism

The cap hit is obviously a joke. But what comes to your claims, this squad woyld definitely be able to challenge Tampa. This team has more depth and does not lose too badly in star-power. Tampa is one hell of a team, but the back-to-back Cups glorify their players too much.

Conservatively tampa has3-4 players if not more that are better than anyone on this roster. They "arguably" have the best goalie in the league, plus the one of the top dman in the league. Like ya wild would be improved and moving in the right direction but come on, even if you want to compare them to the current tampa roster its still not close. Kaprizov has one year where he was just under a point a game player are you going to say thats your comparable to Kucherov?

The Wild is the most appropriate team to acquire Eichel, problem is they would have to part with one of Rossi/Boldy, Dumba, Rask, maybe Kahkonen and a bag of valuable picks. I'd just wait for one of Rossi or Boldy to take the 1C role

To clarify, I never said this team is BETTER than Tampa. I said they'd be up there WITH them. And yes, Tampa has an amazing top6, but their depth is basically non-existent.

This Wild team would have a different identity. While Tampa is a top-heavy, star-stuffed squad, this Wild team would be an unstoppable machine with no weaknesses.

Also, Kaprizov had 51 points more than Kucherov last year

Boldy tried to play C in college and, quite frankly, sucked. He's better suitable to the wing. So I'd put my money on Rossi rather than him being our 1C

That one piece puts you way over the cap. And then there's next year where dead money becomes a big issue. Also, how much faith do you have in Talbot?

Not trying to be a downer, but I can't see how this team really becomes a contender in the next handful of years unless Rossi and Boldy are absolute studs from day one. Those buyouts are a killer.

Obviously some cap management is needed, I just wanted to see what the roster would look like with a true 1C. And the buyouts never were the problem - the contracts were. We would have those cap hits anyway, but the buyouts actually relieved that pain a bit.

That’s a big piece

I mean, 60-70% of team become like the avalance or lightning if they add a free 1c. You are going to have to give up assets to get this 1c. Think along the lines Dumba+Rossi+1st+2nd.

“Pay up extra to make BUF retain 2M” do you know how much it would take to get BUF to eat $10M in cap over the next 5 years that isn’t happening.

Cap management? Bill G made that just a tad more difficult with dead cap money over the next what 4 seasons?

Billy G had no choice. Fletcher screwed over us with the contracts in 2012. We would be paying 15 million to two pylons anyway. With the buyouts, we at least get relief this year + the next.

Ya kap did and then Kucherov put up 32 in 23 playoff games. Hes hitting records that only Gretzky and Lemieux have touched.

no weaknesses but cam talbot is your starter? Wild could land eichel without touching any roster player (forgetting about the cap for this) and smart money is still on Tampa is a 7 game series., Goaltending is no where near their level, and Defensively wild are solid but Hedman is a different animal al together and tampa still has the edge there and their top 6 blows the wild outta the water. I understand some biased towards our own team but there needs to be a little realism in there.

As I said, the Wild would be WITH the Bolts. The Bolts would probably still be the better team. I'm not arguing against that. With that said, this team would definitely have a legit shot at winning the Cup, although every run needs a bit of luck as well.

Suter wasn’t a pylon and the amount of cap relief was truth be told kinda negligible when you take into account they will be taking dead cap hits of $12M, $14M, $14M in future years, I’m just kinda curious how the owner signed off on it.

Leipold actually embraced it. He wants nothing more than to bring a Cup to Minnesota and didn't see it being possible with Parise / Suter in town.

Sure, Suter wasn't a negative in his performance, but how many quality years does he really have anymore? He is almost 37 and his offence already dipped. The buyouts were
A) the cleanest way to handle Parise's/Suter's eventual departure from the team
B) a chance to set up a new culture, a new leadership core before our prospects come knocking on the doord if the NHL
C) a way to save money for this year and the next
D) kinda forced, thanks to Chuck Fletcher's amazing cap management

Overall, these buyouts were the right call. Yes, they hurt. But not as much as having Parise and Suter for 15 million for the next four seasons