Quoting: Affectionate_Side_64
I don't think that's fair to him and I fully expect a trade request to be made if it hasn't happened behind the scenes already. He is a #1D starting to exit his prime and he signed long term with the Hawks expecting them to be competitive. The Hawks are undergoing a scorched earth rebuild unmatched by any team in league history. They've traded Dach, Debrincat, Hagel, McCabe, Lafferty, Kane, Domi and chose not to resign Toews. I don't understand why Jones would be the one exception as a 28 year old D man making 9.5 mil who does not fit their timeline to compete whatsoever.
Regardless, spending 9.5 mil for a player coach who will likely be 33 by the time you can even hope to compete doesn't make sense. Add some veterans on the cheap for sure, a #1D making 9.5 mil is unnecessary and wasteful. If you choose to trade him later, you'll need to retain more while getting less assets in return. There's always the discussion of older guys like Toews, Kane, Doughty sticking around to fill a mentorship role, but Jones is 28 and still has his own career ahead of him.
You got the prize you were aiming for and now you need to begin adding quality and quantity that fits your timeline; Hirvonen and Robertson could both be in your lineup as early as next year and both have top 6 potential. Liljegren is a long term solution as a top 4 RHD, and you're adding another 1st to continue bringing in talent for the future.
I think it's highly unlikely 1 fewer retention slot causes any real constraint in the future.
Anyway, you're entitled to your opinion but I don't get the thinking behind letting one of your most valuable trade assets fade into obscurity to become a cap anchor down the road.
Hawks are not 5 years away from competing; likely 3 seasons. They have some stud prospects not just Bedard; Korchinski, Reichel, Nazar, Vlasic, Regula, and a lot more.
Lillypad is fine but the Hawks are LOADED with younger and arguably more talented defensive prospects so not much value.
Hirvonen is again just fine, but he's way undersized so hard to see how that plays out if he can play in the big leagues.
Robertson is a walking injury at this point and has little value in the market.
Murray is obviously a dump.
You're asking the Hawks to retain $10.5M in dead cap, plus take on a dump in Murray, and a bunch of pieces that don't add much more if any value than the prospects already in their system. Hawks pass