No team is contending for anything with Risto on the top pair

Call me crazy but I like Risto's play as the season has gone on. I think he is a solid 2nd pair dman and can be effective if he keeps growing.

He will be 29 next season. His game is now longer growing and will likely start to regress in the next few years due to the physical style he plays. Fine on a 2nd d pair if his partner carries the load and Risto is getting only 18-20 minutes per night

Since when is 29 bad for a dman? Yeah his style of play is physical, but so what, dmen have to be physical. It's a flimsy take to me to say the least. He really started turning it around in the 2nd half, presumably after he got used to Torts system. Another year of that, plus hopefully next year being the first steps to contention, will show he can be relied on for 20-22 mins a night.

Jesus, giving up a ton for 1 year of 2 vets in a rebuild is a bold strategy.

-Calgary passes because this is wayyyy too much cap coming back for them. Lindholm & Hanifin = $9.8M AAV; Konecny + Laughton + Provorov = $15.25M. Seeing that they're already basically against the cap for next season, that means they have to find a way to shed $5M before the start of next season - I don't think adding Laughton and a 1st rounder three drafts away is necessarily worth putting yourself in a position where you have to sell off a decent player for pennies on the dollar.

-I guess this is fair value, I'm just not sure why Columbus would be a team looking to add a top-6 center when they're basically in the driver's seat for getting one at the draft. Obviously, if the lottery balls don't fall their way I could see it being more likely, but based on where things are right now they don't need Hayes.

-5th for a depth guy like Seeler is fine; but why is Arizona giving up a 2nd rounder for a guy who'll be turning 24 in the fall and has already said he's not signing with Philly? Why wouldn't they just wait a few months, save the pick, and see if he'll sign then?

-Buffalo passes. They have enough up-and-coming forwards that there will really be no spot for Allison, and Atkinson is coming off major neck surgery - so it's hard to know if there's any value. I'd rather keep Jokiharju & Jost then get an extra 4th rounder if I'm the Sabres - they're arguably the two more valuable players in this 4 player deal.

That is true for this year, but that money is going to grow significantly the year following. And as we've all seen, Canadian teams are behind the eight ball in negotiations due to the taxes, but also the way of life with the whole Covid thing is really taxing. Several players have said that was a huge factor in their decision. Once those contracts are signed, Calgary will be in for as much money, for one less player, for way more term. This provides flexibility for them down the road.

The rumor for Columbus is out there, depending on whether or not they believe in Sillinger and Texier. If they don't land Bedard, having Hayes there would be a boon.

I just chose Arizona, this is the 2nd the flyers will receive for not signing Jay O Brien, I just like seeing a 2nd round pick there is all.

I think Buffalo would love having a vet like Atkinson who can still pot some goals if you play him with a skilled center. Allison is another young guy with potential but just seems like he can't put it together here and there is a log jam at RW. I don't think the guys you are getting rid of have huge value, but the salaries work.

We need a little boldness from this front office.

The front office has stated this is a rebuild. We won't be going after vets especially using our young assets.

29 is not a bad age for a defensemen. However, expecting further growth and development in their game moving forward is foolish. Over the last couple of decades of the thousands of dmen that have played in the league only a handful have improved at that age with a much larger portion of them regressing significantly from that point on

Lucky for me this is Arm Chair GM, really don't care what the front office says.

I would be just fine with him continuing on this path and improving in only the sense that the system comes more naturally so his play therefore would increase positively a bit.