Blues easily decline. A late first, a UFa roster player, a prospect who gets injured and an AHL player is not enough for Buch. Forget about getting any retention

Buch with retention is likely the kind of deal that requires Knies. Good player, in the timeline with this retool around Kyrou and Thomas. Likely doesn't need Knies for a team going into a full rebuild to be incentivized enough, but in this case it would.

Tbh especially with retention you’re probably looking at Knies and 2 1sts. First line winger at 4m for this season and 2 after is probably going to cost around Chychrun if not slightly more.

I think no matter what it would require Knies, and it could make sense for the Leafs with the term. Getting Buchnevich at 5.8m would probably mean losing Bunting unless he's taking 3m flat, so they would need to rely on Robertson or a cheap free-agent signing to fill a top 6 role. I think the ask starts with Knies and a first, and would be at least 2.5 1sts in value. I think the Blues would retain 800K-1M as a retooling team, but how much more they would need on top, or how enticing the inclusion of Knies would be for them to want to accommodate the Leafs' cap needs?

Tough to tell. I don’t think Army wants an extended rebuild. 3 years of retention is quite a bit. We still have fairly good pieces. But losing ROR, Buch and Tarasenko and possibly Barbashev really limits our ability to be competitive in the next 2-3 seasons. Realistically, I just don’t see them moving Buchnevich. Knies is a quality piece, add a couple of firsts especially one in 23 and the Blues FO would at least have to weigh the possibility of doing it.

Hawks decline

I would imagine if they move Buchnevich, then they are resigning O'Reilly. Knies should be NHL-ready for next year, so he that should provide them with a lot of cap flexibility if he can contribute in a 3LW role. So, while they lose two impact players in Buch and Tarasenko, and a valuable piece in Barbashev, I think they could potentially find adequate replacements in free agency to be somewhat competitive depending on who is available. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if they miss the playoffs next year, then after that, they should be competitive.