Jets can add $4.9M in salary on Friday (5.84M - Perfetti's 850K P.Bonus). I don't care much about this year's draft, the only untouchables are regular lineup guys and Lambert, McGroarty, Barlow, Salomonsson, and Heinola from the prospect pool.
Toffoli is an RW that can make the Top6 truly dangerous. At 50% retention by NJ or a third party, he costs $2.13M.
Larsson is a shot-blocking, penalty killing, right-handed Dman. His trade is more complicated, not only because he has to waive his NTC. Since he's not a rental, you gotta be careful about the cap implications for next year. Regardless, his $4m cap hit - Kupari and Stanley at $1M each costs an extra $2M in salary.
Toffoli for $2.13M and Larsson for $2M totals up to $4.13M, which leaves plenty of room for injury callups before eating into Perfetti's P.Bonus.
As for what it cost to get them, I'm not bothered by any of it. The Jets' prospect pool can suffer a year without any decent additions. Not getting a first rounder for two years in a row kinda sucks, but if you can sign Monahan, Toffoli will just be replaced by Perfetti/Lambert/McGroarty next year.
Sign DeMelo over Dillon, let Heinola finally get some NHL time. Schmidt might need to get bought out, but Capobianco can be a 7th Dman. A depth Dman can be acquired at TDL2025 if need be.
Basically, in this scenario, all of this summer's departures can be replaced. You get two solid cup runs out of this team.
Other trade pieces I considered were:
-Chibrikov+5th > Lucius (personal preference)
-Gustafsson > Kupari (I like both of them, but there's only room for one next year and Kups probably has more trade value)
-Swapping Kups+Stanley for picks before trading said picks to Seattle if the Kraken don't want them.
The value is probably off on the Toffoli trade, can't wait to see what he ends up going for.
Lucius is in a strange spot. Great talent, but absolutely riddled with injuries since his draft year. Similar to Vilardi in that sense, would be great if he can get out of the injury curse.
The ask is probably a 1st, but I think the high 2nd + Lucius might sway Fitz.
The 4th rounder is for whichever team is retaining, doesn't have to be NJD.
Stanley helps make the cap work on the Jets end and is a mostly playable RFA. Not gonna be the Kraken's future, but can either play until the Kraken are good again or be shipped away for some draft capital.
Kupari is a young, 200ft centre who hasn't been able to work with Bowness's system. Strong defensively but has kinda been forced into a ginding + PK role, which has stunted his ability to produce offensively. Personally, I like him, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wants a change of scenery.
3rd rounder is a sweetener that probably doesn't tip any scales. Consider it a bribe to have Larsson this year instead of next year.
My thinking was that Kupari, a 1st, and a 3rd are probably more than Seattle will get for him next TDL. Stanley is more for making the salary cap work than any value he brings.
To Stanley's credit though, he hasn't been terrible this year. He's (no contest) the worst Dman on the Jets roster, but the 7th guy on a contender is still a serviceable bottom-pairing option. He is also 6'7", that is an uncoachable ability that Logan Stanley undeniably brings with his game. He's also really fond of throwing crosschecks which, considering how rarely it's called in this joke of a league, is more of an asset than a liability. I wouldn't deploy the Stanimal on the PP or the PK (or at all if there's another Dman on the bench to pick from), but he can and will act vaguely like a defenseman for 13 minutes a night. I can guarantee that Logan Stanley will limit his on-ice xGADCBLS% (Expected Goals Against Directly Caused By Logan Stanley) to anywhere from 1.5-2 in any given game. Stanley is truly one of the hockey players in the NHL, and that's a fact.
(His contract is up at the end of the season, Seattle can trade his RFA rights for a mid-round pick)