Go ahead and make it $2.2M. If CHI is retaining, they might as well retain the max amount. But, yeah, if CHI is willing to move Murphy and TOR isn't on his No Trade List, I see no other reason CHI would decline this proposal.

ij

I would love a $2.2M retention but can't see the Hawks wanting that for 3 years

Why trade Brodie when you have the cap space to keep him? That left side is pretty lackluster.

Chicagos stance seems to be, no money on the books after Bedards ELC expires.

He's been struggling and over reaction is the only reaction in Toronto.

Brodie makes $5M and is playing like a 6th defensemen

They dont have that kind of cap space

Rasmus Ristolainen, you are a Leaf.

Brodie is the new Larry Murphy.

Over reaction indeed. Getting rid of him with no replacement on the left side to have Benoit and Lagesson pick up the minutes is not a good plan. And if he’s been that bad, why would NJ spend a 3rd on him?

I absolutely could see them being fine with $2.2M for 3 years. Kyle Davidson has stated on multiple occasions that he isn't going to be loading up on free agents and that he is doing this rebuild through the draft and development and letting it happen organically. So, the retention and cap hit are certainly a valuable asset, but when it comes down to it, CHI isn't gonna need that space. If anything it might help them get to the cap floor without adding another contract. I think KD would be ok with it.

I don't think that is a hard stance at all. They are just trying to keep term down so they don't get stuck with contracts on the books when they need to resign the kids. But, even at the league max of 20%, Bedard's next deal isn't going to make things tricky at all. Especially with how they are currently structured. So one extra year of a $2.2M cap hit is more than manageable, especially if it is bring back assets that help our rebuild and helps get us to the cap floor. Unless, of course, they want to go nuts in the 2025 and/or 2026 free agent class. Which I also doubt they do.

I respect the stance, definitely shouldn't be a hard line if they can add something good long term. Or get some good assets for taking someone or retaining on something.

For sure. Thats why I was saying it mainly depends on how badly CHI wants him around to help develop the kids, and what his no trade list looks like.

Actually Murphy has two more season after this one, so the retention would come off the books the same time Bedard would need to be extended.

As for the retaining $2.2m per season, the money is not that important, the bigger issue is tying up the retention spot for two years which is why the offer would need to be enticing enough for the Hawks to want to do that. I think the offer as proposed above would be sufficient enough to get Davidson to agree to the trade.

It's more about the utilizing the retention spot than the amount retained is the point Garak was making. Not sure the Hawks would use a retention spot for the next 3 years to move Murphy IMO. A late 1st isn't valuable enough to do that, but on the flip side, Murphy isn't worth more than that either necessarily.

Chicago is going to struggle getting to the cap floor; so Bedard and Korchinski's next agreement, isn't a concern against the cap after 2 more seasons. It's really looking at the team 4 years from now where more ELCs from prospects coming through the system become a concern; in other words another year after Murphy's agreement expires.

I mostly agree but that dead cap always finds a way to be troublesome. I expect the UFA market to be wild over the next few years, if the cap keeps going up by the maximum.

Which I expect it to do until the new CBA is signed. Bettmans a bigger troll than me.

Right? Not sure I missed that. haha. So yeah, it would line up just fine.

I think that is part of the reason why KD is keeping everything so open ended and short term, though. He doesn't want these cap hits to get in the way of his rebuild. We have plenty of cap space and it's highly unlikely CHI goes after any big fish free agents. Especially not through trade, and most of them never make it to unrestricted free agency anyway. Two years of retention after this season, is not that bad and lines up perfectly with the expiration of Bedard and Korchinski's ELC's, along with possibly Nazar who could presumably burn the first year of his ELC at the end of this season if Michigan misses or is a quick out in the playoffs.

Hawks aren't going to be active in free agency, based on Davidson's comments, at least until the summer of '25. Bedard and Korchinski could (and may) collectively lock up $20M in cap space in the summer of '26, but still the Hawks will be so far away from the cap at that point it shouldn't be a concern even if they add a couple big names in the summer of '25 and or '26. More concerning is 4 or 5 years from now when other prospects will be due such as Oliver Moore or Frank Nazar if they develop into the players they are expected to become as high level prospects.

So the question is: is K.D. Ready to move on from Murphy? I’m going to say that if he is, Robertson is not of much interest. Switch him out for a better prospect.

Leafs pass on all Murphy trades just not the defender we need and I would be very very surprised if he was moved at this deadline or ever, Chicago doesn’t seem to care about selling assets they’ll likely just resign him, he’s a fan favourite, and the leafs aren’t trading Brodie lmao

Brodies an 8th defensemen on a contender, can't wait for the guy to get him off my team ASAP

Murphy is a top 4 defensemen contenders will want