With all the struggles Lehner went through on and off the ice in his previous time here I can't see him coming back at all

I think it's safe to say that's a hard pass for Vegas

I love a good Michigan man, but you're giving Norris 8x8? He's had 1 50 point season. Scary

I take Connor brown for a third.

Ottawa wouldnt

Nope

Here's my reasoning for the Vagas trade.

There were rumblings the Sens were interesting in Karlsson when the season ended. Vegas needs cap space, and the Sens have some. This helps Vegas create room to manage their cap better. I think the Sens came out huge with the Debrincat trade, and will be better than they were last year; I just don't trust their goaltending, and even though Deboar was fired, his comments may have disillusioned Lehner in Vegas, and I remember he left Ottawa because he was stuck behind Anderson. Maybe he can return with a guaranteed starting job, and go somewhere he's familiar with.

Vegas definitely needs to cut cap but I don't think that's the move they make. Karlsson is probably overpaid for what he does but I'd still consider him a 45-50 point guy when healthy with strong defensive metrics (the Athletic actually had him slightly more valuable than his $5.9M cap hit this year). Lehner is a clear upgrade over Murray as well, but with his history in Ottawa I'm not sure if he's the guy I'd target? And all told, if you assume that Brannstrom re-signs for around $1.5M, Vegas is only saving about $2.8M against the cap while downgrading 2C and their starting goalie. They can clear almost the same amount by finding someone to eat Laurent Brossoit's $2.325M contract and still keep their depth intact and not roll the dice on a Matt Murray comeback.