Ottawa already has a logjam at LHD they'd be taking on an extra year at 2.5 on the cap with a bunch of RFA's to sign after that 2 year window. Also, with Sanderson coming in and Holden extended. That leaves our left side looking like this next year:

Chabot
Sanderson
Holden
MDZ (Honorable mention to Brannstrom who is LHD but plays right side).

No room for Nemeth and makes no sense from an Ottawa perspective.

I understand your point. Clearly they do not view DZ as an NHL D Man. If they do view Nemeth as one, and think he is an upgrade on Holden then they may be willing to take on the extra 500k. Not like Holden isn't movable for a team looking for depth too. It's not a crazy proposal, just depends where Ottawa Front office ranks DZ, Nemeth and Holden.

Melnyk is cheap and wont want to take on the extra money and year of Nemeth's contract.

We dont want Blackwell or Stralman and I dont think Seattle would want to retain money for 3.5 years on Gourde.

Why don't we want Blackwell? He'd be an upgrade to the bottom 6 and would be cheap. Same for Stralman. Those are depth moves.

We need to upgrade the middle 6 whether it is Lehkonen, Reilly Smith, etc.

Stralman wouldnt move the needle. Someone like DeHann or Kulak would help much more on the 3rd pairing.

I agree. I would like to have Blackwell. But we HAD him and Drury chose to protect Rooney instead of him

It's more the log jam at LHD with a few prospects that'll be more than ready to make the jump in 2 years time (Kleven comes to mind in NoDak). Nemeth isn't that much of an upgrade over Holden, especially one that would be worth the extra 1.2 million in cap for the one year and then another 2.5 on the cap the following. While the intention for a fair deal is there to be had, it's lacking long-term sense for Ottawa. Especially when you look at the financial outlook of the team in 2 years time.

All in all, I think MDZ and Ottawa part ways mutually this summer. Or they ride out the rest of his contract in the minors. It was a mistake to sign him to two years. Everyone knew it, including MDZ. He's a point per game player in Belleville but won't see another minute of ice time in Ottawa. If a team, like Arizona, needs a warm body, there could be a deal to be made where Ottawa sends MDZ and a late round pick to them for future considerations to do MDZ a favor.

The expansion draft was in the past. I was surprised he protected Rooney over Blackwell as well, but they're both useful bottom 6ers.