Quoting: Lambchopz
In terms of straight up money being taken on where they get no actual player back, 3.2 mil for one year you could estimate at like a 2nd rounder. Now that’s 5 times over. Ignore Gobson as a player + taking on Kassian (who makes similar money for 2 years, and yes he is an NHL player so while it isn’t worth a 2nd per year to drop him off, it probably costs a 3rd overall to dump him), you’re giving here a mid-late 1st and Pulju for 5 2nds worth of value let’s say. Estimating a mid-late 1st to be worth let’s say 3 later 2nds, that means it’s Pulju for 2 2nds. While Pulju definitely holds more value than 2 2nds, he doesn’t hold an insane amount more than that, and goes to show that you’ve paid a bit more than what was needed for just the retained salary. With Kassian dump, 5th + depth prospect; and of course the main piece himself, you’re quite far behind on value. Personally I’m not as high on Gibson as lots of others are (yes he plays on a bad team but his results are still pretty disappointing), he still has lots of potential to be the goalie he has in the past on a better team that he has a reason to play hard for, and you’re minimum like a Dylan Holloway short on value here. Maybe this deal could go as is without the retained salary, but in a tight cap world that retained salary holds a **** ton of value
If you subscribe to advanced analytics, the value of Puljujarvi is the equivalent of $7.2 million AAV and he isn’t even in his prime years yet. He does far more than score and once he starts scoring, that value will be even higher. You are getting him for much less than that and potentially for 8 years.
Kassian is the protector missing from the Ducks today, he can skate very well and has a lot more skill than he is given credit for and is hugely popular with his teammates. He brings a lot to the table and his cap hit is gone after 1 year. He will fit in and could set it up for a cheap 1 or 2 year deal the following season.
Gibson has been disappointing, seems like a change would do both him and the Ducks good.
The 1st round pick is compensation for salary retention for those years, but 8 years of JP evens that out.
The 5th rounder and long shot prospect are for the extra 3 years of control over a 4 OV pick and are also a bit of compensation for a goaltender who comes with a lot of potential risk.