it will cost at least Panarin money to get Johnny on the market

If that’s all it costs he would go back to Calgary. You would have to be looking at ~12 million to lure an MVP caliber player away

CGY wouldn't really be able to afford even 9m.

Currently projected to have 26m in cap space.
Tkachuk is going to cost them A LOT, even as an RFA. Currently making 7m, he will probably get 10m or more for a long term deal.
Mangiapane is going to need an increase from his 2.45m; he will probably get at LEAST 4m after the season he had (35 goals).
Monahan will also be coming of LTIR, putting his 6.375m back on the books.
Kylington will also need a raise to at LEAST 4.5m

With this they still need to fill at least 3 forward & 1 defense positions (say roughly 3.5m, excluding one of the forward positions for Johnny).

That is already 25m before Johnny is signed. Where is the money going to come from? Yes, you can trade Monahan for essentially nothing in return, but that doesn't get you to 9m. Maybe Tkachuk signs for 8-9m, but that barely gets you to 9m, certainly not in reach of the 11.6 Panarin got on the open market.


I personally think Johnny goes to NJD. They have Subbans 9M coming off the books, have their top two centers locked down, have a very young team as well as the #2 pick with very good prospects in their pipeline already. I think they are slightly ahead of Seattle in that regard, plus they are closer to Johnny's hometown. But hey, it's just my opinion.