tampa accepts

Would you swap Howard with Ethan Gauthier

Chyrhrun retained gets better than that

I'm higher on Howard you would have to add something. I like Findley as a project Gauthier is more a low floor 3RW but Howard has top 6 upside.

I’d probably do that Tampa trade, I like Howard too.

Tampa declines, and at max retention for this year and next, Ottawa would get more. Tampa would likely be able to afford Chychrun next year at 2.3, but after that they probabaly couldn't afford his next deal in the 7-7.5 range(at least, as a top pairing or high level 2nd pairing dman is going to command a large deal, especially with the rising cap). Tampa has to extend Hedman as well as some other smaller deals that offseason, so though the cap should go up to somewhere in the ~92 range, Tampa may have difficulty signing him long term. Tampa also has a solid left side(whem healthy), of Hedman, Serg and Lilleberg, and Chychrun isn't as good on the right side. He's a good player, but if Tampa does add on the blueline, spending big $ on another LD doesn't really address areas of great need. Tampa is also pretty optimistic about Howard I think, so while he's not untouchable, I don't see it for this particular trade.

I thought Sergachev could play right but the money is tight just depends on how much Stamkos and Hedman get. I know they tried to get killorn for a long term deal at around 4 they could do the same with Stamkos and Hedman. Since I think your window is gone after they retired but you still have vasilevskiy for a while.

Serg can play the right, but like Chychrun, isn't as effective on his off side. Stamkos around an aav of 6 is about as good as Tampa can realistically hope for imo. Whether Brisebois makes a serious offer for Chychrun and gives up 2 or 3 more quality futures all depends on Stamkos and Hedman. While I'm sure he has numbers for each that he won't exceed, whether he wants to have some flexibility with them vs having little if Chychrun is locked in is the question. There's no doubt though that Chychrun would help one way or the other, but since he would have to have a long term extension factored in or it wouldn't be worth it for Tampa, there are other factors and difficult decisions that would come into play.

My top preference is Walker from Philly, as he can help on the left this year with Serg out(and is solid there), then play his natural right side moving ahead. He'd also cost both less in trade capital and less to extend more than likely. Chychrun would be a nice add, but it may be much of a cost vs what Tampa really needs and where they should spend their cap for the years ahead.

When you won back-to-back cups you had a left side of Hedman Sergachev and McDonogh. I thought Chychrun could create that again.