Hawks would probably take nyquist for Fc's, hopefully flip later at 50% for value

I mean, if it comes to that, sure; but, I think we could get something decent for Gus.

That being said, CapFriendly currently has us at about $3M in cap space, but that is with 29(1) players on the NHL roster. If we move Chinny (who frankly could use more AHL time), (one of) KJ/Marchenko, Gaunce, Meyer, Bayreuther, and Tarasov, that buries about $5M of cap-space, penalty-free, in the AHL. Gaunce, Meyer, and Bayreuther are the only ones not waivers-exempt.

We still need to clear more space if we want to have a healthy buffer for call-ups, and to be compliant on opening-night, but the cap-situation here really isn't that bad at all.

For this move, I don't think Monahan is LTIR? I thought he was supposed to be ready for opening night? If so, that doesn't help our situation.

Gus definitely appears to be the odd man out at this point, given the short term left on his contract and the highest value we can unload for someone who is no longer in long term plans.
Gus does have some value still, but less now that teams know the Jackets will be in a cap crunch, especially if they want to sign Laine ong term.
Just wondering if the Jackets are getting a sense Laine may not commit here beyond next years RFA contract expiration?

They definitely overpaid to get Gudbranson. He probably could have been had for much less, say $2.5M?
They wanted him for sure when the Ryan McDonough thing fell through.
By getting Guds, it may have helped sway Gaudreau in considering Columbus too.

The key will be how the young guys perform in the next year or so...Chinakhov, Sillinger, Johnson, and Marchenko.
I am not sold on Chinakhov, he looked lost most of the time last year, probably because he played further down in the lineup, and he is a finisher and we do not yet have strong centers that can set up the wingers around them.
Will be an interesting summer.