The flames are probably gonna try to dump monahan. I can guarantee you you can pick him up without giving up a first. And even then I don’t think you want him as your second line center, he’s been really bad these past couple years

Oh I know, but the Rangers aren't gonna have a lot of options for a 2C unless there's a BIG trade that goes down. If Calgary is willing to eat $2M for a year, I'd be willing to give Monahan a shot at redemption.

Can we say major gross overpay on Monahan, A 1st is totally insane. Probably doesn't return more then a 4th round pick.

Flames would trade Monahan for a minimal return as long as they aren't retaining

Rangers need the retention in this scenario. Hence the overpay.

Hagel is going to cost more than Barron + Kravtsov and hopefully he doesn't get dealt.

Would definitely rather Strome over Monahan. Though it's tight with giving Frankie 3mil. I don't see a reason for Kappo to get anything over 1.5mil at this point. I think it's also time to move on from Chytil and have Goodrow take the 3C. These moves make way for Strome at 5-6mil with Hagel and Vatrano, and even a bit more breathing room for a reputable backup

You could have Dvorak for that price. He's better than Monahan, and only 4.45M for next 3 years.

So signing Strome isn't an option?

Not if I’m running the team it isn’t.

Thankfully your not.

If you think Monahan is worth more in trade than Hagel, I'm glad you aren't a real GM.

Strome will cost 6M a year, they can't afford him next year.

I disagree. If it takes $6m/year to sign Strome they can afford it by trading Chytil and moving Goodrow to the 3C slot, They could trade Nemeth as well.

They have 10.7M to sign Strome, Kakko, Blais, Vatrano, 2nd goalie and 2-3 depth players. Yea maybe they trade Nemeth and Chytil and get an extra 4.8M . But then they have to replace them.

Strome 6M
Kakko 2.5M
Vatrano 2M (if they resign)
Blais 1.5M
Goalie 1M
3 depth players 3M
Nemeth and Chytil replacements 2M

That's 18M total, with 15.5M in cap space if you trade Nemeth and Chytil. You're over by 2.5M . Could cut a few dollars here and there, but not enough. If you don't resign Vatrano, you still gotta replace him by a 1M player.

Nemeth is replaced by Jones and Goodrow takes 3C. Kakko prob gets less than that on a 2 year deal and they have some prospects like Cuylee and Othmann that may make the team nest year, both on cheap ELC's. They can get a back up for a little less than $1/m. It will be tight, but is can be done. Vetrano is the wildcard. Is he a rental or not? Perhaps they plan to sign him and trade Blais? I hope not, but could happen. My point is they have to have a legit 2C, which Strome has been for them, and Chytil isn't close to being. If they let Strome walk, they will need to spend as much or more to replace him with anyone as productive as he has been, so why not just keep him? The group loves him and he is still only 28.

I know they want to keep him, but can they? Like i said, you're over by 2.5M, and i didn't count Nemeth and Chytil. Every player i added, i counted for 1M on the cap. Even if they cost 800k each, you're still over by 1.5M . You'd have to get rid of Vatrano and replace him by another less than 1M player. So basically, you have to let go of Nemeth, Chytil and Vatrano, and replace them by low cost players. Yeah, maybe that work. We'll see.

As far as I know the cap increases to $82.5m next season. If they trade Chytil and Nemeth, they have $17,333,531 in cap space with 13 players signed. If you sign UFA's Strome ($6m), Rooney ($850k), Kinkaide ($850k) and Vetrano ($2.75m), plus RFA's Kakko ($2.0m) and Blais ($1.5m), and promote Jones, Lundqvist and Barron (all $925k), you have 22 players and $608,531 in cap space left. Its very tight, but possible. It's also very possible Drury signs either Vetrano or Blais and trades the other at the draft. Of course, he also has to move Chytil and Nemeth. Drury has some work to do for sure, we will see what happens. I just hope he doesn't think Chytil can step into the 2C slot, because that's trouble IMO.

Good work sir. They could even give a bit more than 6m for Strome. Interesting. They could get a nice pick for Chytil.

It's going to be an interesting off-season for sure. I think a lot will depend on how they do in the playoffs.