we miss leo k
Joined: Feb. 2018
Posts: 5,961
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this is a totally fine and realistic ACGM but as an Islanders fan it would be one of the more depressing summers if it happened.
-Mayfield will be on the wrong side of 30, and while a 3 year deal isn't horrible, I'd rather devote less to RD3 when the second pair (Dobson/Romanov) is going to need new deals in the last year of that Mayfield contract. If there's one thing this org has done well, it's develop defensemen, so I'd be fine rolling the dice with a Grant Hutton at RD3 if need be. And while I'd love Sam Bolduc to make the leap, I'd assume that Robin Salo would have LD3 locked up, barring a catastrophic 2022-23.
-One of the things Lamoriello does incredibly well is convince veterans to re-sign cheap. I could see Varlamov coming back on a $1.5Mish salary with bonuses attached. BAM - we've saved about $3M right there with those two moves.
-Let's also skip signing NAK at $2M, now we have $5M free and we can keep Josh Bailey (wait wait don't shoot) and also keep Kieffer Bellows and that 2nd rounder. Bailey only has 1x$5M left and he's gone after that. He's definitely not worth it, but he still at least passes well, so ride it out and keep the assets. He can't kill you that much on the 3rd line, and I kind of like seeing what a Raty-JGP-Bailey line would look like.
-Beau trade seems fair to me, maybe a little of an overpay from the Habs. I'd skip taking back Jake Evans, though - if Beau is moved, I'd want him moved for futures at this point.
-Bo Horvat at 7x$8M seems less than ideal to me, especially if it's pushing Brock Nelson to the wing (something I'm pretty sure I remember him saying he's not a big fan of). I'd rather ride it out with Nelson at 2C and use that $8M to sign a strong top 6 winger(hey look Pasta's a UFA next summer? who even knew!!)