we miss leo k
Joined: Feb. 2018
Posts: 5,961
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Regardless of how you feel about Casey Cizikas' value - why would he be the roster player coming back in a Tarasenko trade?
First - the Isles have enough deadline cap space to absorb VT's deal in full without retention, or sending another player back. I'm sure they'd take retention if they are making other moves, but I'd wager that for now you can pencil him into their lineup without it.
Second - if the Blues are selling Tarasenko at the deadline, I'm assuming it's part of a rebuild/retool. And in that case I can't see the Blues wanting to take a back a 4th liner who's older than Tarasenko and still has 4x$2.5M left after this year, again, regardless of how valuable you think he is. I'm assuming they're aiming for picks/prospects/young roster players in any sort of Tarasenko move.
Third - it's been widely reported that Seattle was kicking around a 3x$5M offer for Cizikas, who then signed 6x$2.5M with the Islanders - same dollars, just spread out longer. There's nothing officially in it, but I wouldn't be shocked if there was some sort of handshake agreement in place where Lou isn't going to just dump Casey early on in the deal. Him, Matt Martin, and Cal Clutterbuck are probably three of the least likely to be traded players in the NHL right now.