@JuanDamienNebraska here is an ACGM I just made of a scenario where both Karlsson and Granlund are under the cap (though this is highly unlikely)

Even though that would definitely be one of the best Top 4s in the league, man would that bottom pair worry me. I’d much rather keep POJ, especially if Friedman is our 6th.

If we can get Karlsson at 7 million that’d be beautiful. My gripe, besides wanting to keep POJ over Smith, would be the Olofsson move. I think that if we’re keeping Granlund then we should invest in a defensive forward rather than a, though young, a one dimensional offensive guy. In this model wouldn’t mind putting Rust back at 2nd RW and using that third from the Olofsson trade to get Tanev for the third.

I’m still in favor of moving Granlund. Not only due to his play style and cap hit, but also because I believe that Nylander can produce for very cheap if given a legitimate opportunity. The fourth line wouldn’t allow him to come into his own and his offensive game to flourish how I believe it can.

We shall see. Let’s just all be glad that Hextall is gone and acquiring Karlsson is even a possibility thanks to Dubas lol.

I wish it were that simple as LTIR for Carter.

Well from a GM standpoint, you tell Carter he has no role in the starting lineup anymore and that he is either going to be made available for trade (which no one wants) and even then, Carter most likely isn’t waiving to 90% of the candidates that even would consider trading for him.

So, it’s either healthy scratch and he sits in the booth all season and still goes through a full NHL season or he can be smart and retire and get paid his NHL contract sitting on his couch at home. It’s a mutual win win for both sides. It’s slim to happen but man would that be nice.

Yea I get that, bottom pair is pretty lackluster but I had to make due with what the options were in this much of a cap crunch.

Ehh but then that doesn’t really do much to the bottom 6. The whole topic of discussion right now seems to be that our bottom 6 doesn’t look finished and doesn’t fill enough holes to where we can afford sacrificing more money without more scoring. We need a defined finisher to top off the forward group. A middle 6 one at that. I see Olofsson fitting that category. Sure he isn’t Patrice Bergeron on the defensive side of the puck (miles away from it actually) but he is an instant pp2 option and can be slotted in the top 6 or bottom 6 and fluctuate wingers around there. That instantly adds much needed depth, more goals, more production, more offensive fire power to the team which has been the problem for 2+ seasons now. Depth. Scoring. With the additions of Eller, Acciari, Nieto, those are all key components in the bottom 6 that can contribute to the defensive side of the puck (Granlund too when he can actually find his game this year) and then there’s that lasting hole of depth scoring which Olofsson fills very nicely.

And on top of that, not very often are there young 27 year old proven goal scoring forwards on the market on expiring deals, available for chump change. I’d be all over that if I was Dubas. That again circles back to his whole plan of low risk-high reward type of off-season. This is literally that exact move. I compare this a lot to the Reilly Smith deal with Vegas, though there are differences in the objective of that trade then there is to this one.

And you are very right, I personally think Nylander can quietly post a 40-50 point season this year on Malkin’s wing and be a sneaky good forward in the metro. But again, had to make do of the scenario in this case. Though in this lineup, you could slot Eller down for the ultimate 4th line of Nieto-Eller-Acciari and then have your third line being Rust-Granlund-Olofsson and you put Nylander up on Malkin’s line.

Absolutely, it feels so refreshing to finally see moves being made and the right ones at that. It’s gonna be fun to see where Dubas goes with this but he is far from done. That’s the best part.

I'm completely fine with Smith on the bottom pair. I think ideally he's with someone other than Friedman, but there's options there. Ruhwedle could work until TDL.

Karlsson trade looks good to me, think it might end up being very similar to that.

Not a huge fan of Olofsson, ideally we can get a 3C with that money, but he would certainly be an upgrade over what we have right now in bottom 6.

This is just pure speculation, but from Carter's pov if he's not in the lineup the first half of the season, it's possible he would want to waive at deadline and go to a team in the playoff hunt at half retained maybe. Unfortunately he will probably get a roster spot just because it seems like Sully is intent on keeping him in lineup

Fair on the 3C point, was thinking Roslovic would cost about the same price and probably serve a more valuable role on the team.

Yea man Carter is holding us back from so much potential with that extra $3m to spare. Guess we will just have to wait and see what happens but I do think there has to be some sort of plan in place to at least try to do something with that $3m or build around it if he’s on the roster.