I think Gardiner and Bear get packaged together and they try to bring back Nino

Weird there’s been no rumblings about him signing anywhere

He’s part of the secondary tier of middle 6/bottom 6 forwards that are getting squeezed right now. I think he will have to sign with a team with cap space (Anaheim maybe?) if he wants money. His window for coming back to the Canes is basically closed - no money unless they literally give away Gardiner and Bear. They’d also have to address 3LHD or assume that one of the young guys takes that spot.

I’d rather give Chatfield a shot than Gardiner

Cup winning teams don’t have guys like him making 4M

In a vacuum I agree, but you can equally make the argument that cup winning teams usually have a deep and experienced blue line. But I agree that Chatfield deserves a spot. Defensive alignments and pairing tend to work out when you have good players.

Package Necas, Bear, and Gardiner+pick(s) in a trade for Chychrun. Go get a bottom 6 winger for 2-2.5 mil and let’s ride

I would do this in a heartbeat, but Canes seem dead-set on keeping Necas…and I don’t think there is anything realistic there for Chychrun unless Necas goes the other way.