preds pass pretty easily

Why would the Preds want RyJo back even if they gain a couple of low picks? The Avs decline the Calgary trade flat.

The Chicago Bulls are more likely to trade for Johansen than the Preds.

lol

Not ready to give up Ritchie for a rental. That seems not so great.

Could the Preds even take Johansen back if they wanted to and how would that impact his cap retained status?

Nope. Retained players can't be traded back to the team retaining on them for one year.

You should never be ready for that; the guy has "2C at an affordable rate for the rest of the window" written all over him. It's entirely possible he doesn't become that but they've got to try considering how much money they have tied up in other players; they absolutely cannot afford a 2C that costs more than about $3M and that won't buy you much in the way of established 2C level players. They need to try like hell to get Ritchie to reach his potential.

Spot on!

Dan Vladar is, at best, equal to Ivan Prosvetov this season. Why would Colorado spend assets to acquire a more expensive, statistically worse goalie?

Don't forget the first as well 😜