Thats a touch too much cap and term to Nichushkin (id say max 4-5 year deal 4.5-4.75mil).
Id rather bring back J Johnson vs Murray.
Id rather bring back Sturm vs Acciari.
Not a fan of Newhook being everyday 2C next season (hes not ready yet in my opinion).
EJ should be moved in favour of resigning Manson

Can they move EJ? He has a NMC. It’ll be tough.

I disagree on moving EJ in favor of Manson. Manson is better at this point in their careers, but keeping EJ is a placeholder for MacKinnon’s future raise. If you commit that term to someone else, the only “bad” contract you have expiring is Compher. You’d be forced to move a good asset to be able to afford doing business in summer 2023.

EJ isn’t worth $6M, but he’s also not a total black hole as a bottom pairing defenseman.

EJ provides a list of 19 teams his willing to accept a trade to.
I think if COL retains a little bit (like 1-1.5mil) he has positive trade value as a rental to a playoff contender.
If COL doesnt retain, they add a late pick or B-C prospect to move him.
If COL cant find a trade partner, id argue it makes sense to buy him out for the 2mil x 2yrs vs 6mill in one year

If all it took was $7,000,000 x 7 years to sign Filip Forsberg he'd already have resigned with Nashville. He's not signing that low with Colorado. Try more like $8,500,000 to $9,000,000 per x 7 years to sign him.

agree to disagree then.
Next year is the last year of Mackinnon win now window.
Id rather have Manson at 4 mill then EJ at 6mil
Theres a million different scenarios to make the cap work in year 2023 with mackinnon raise

He has to give a list of 19 teams he can be traded to; one of those teams would have to agree to take him. If he still wants to play, one would imagine he can still be useful to one of those teams. Avs could retain up to half to facilitate the deal and get something of value in return (B prospect or a mid-round pick).

Best case scenario(s)? Someone picks him up at full freight or he LTIRetires - lord knows he has a long enough injury history that it wouldn't be too difficult to pull off.

Agreed, best case someone picks him up at full cost.
Most realistic, they retain 1-2mill to move him for some even value.
Worst case, no trade partners come to the table, he wont work with the team and he gets bought out.

See what kind of playoff he has.

The buyout route seems plausible except for the dead space in 2023-2024. That's when the new deals for Nate, Newhook and Bo kick in. If they sign any significant UFA's, they won't have space for that.

he'd have to be COL third best defencemen in the playoffs (behind Makar and Toews) to justify his contract next year. Even playing third pairing minutes wont cut it for 6mil.
I like the guy, but dont hold your breath.

Dead cap sucks but like i said, its worst case.
The impact of keeping EJ next year at 6mil and losing out on a player like a Manson or 2C FA signing is far far far worse then buying him out and not being able to afford 2mil for a depth piece in 23-24 (like a Murray or JJ or NAK or Sturm for example).

I agree with all of this, though obviously I think you roll With Newhook.

They can't buy him out. 2M in dead cap the year after next would be a killer. I'd rather retain 50% next year and trade him for nothing. Even pay some team a third to retain an additional 1M if needed.

Next year is the last year of cheap mackinnon contract.
Id hate to waste that last shot on a gamble that Newhook is ready to be full time 2C next year

Refer to my previous comment above where i state that retaining on his deal in a trade is clearly a better option than buying him out.
The comment you replied to me on is an agruement between paying him 6 mil next year vs buyout (retaining on a trade isnt on the table in this scenario).

I’d hate to waste cap space on a guy not named Kadri in the hopes he would be better than an ELC level Newhook contract and that extra money for other guys would bring.

But I definitely see your point.

I'm not sure that will matter - they need his money no matter what and his play has been declining a lot. They've got a lot of roster spots to fill and can't allocate that kind of money to a 3rd pair D.

Yeah but you said retain 1-2M. My comment went a lot further than that. I'd also argue that the buyout simply isn't an option. It's better to keep him and his 6M for a year vs the buyout.