Problem I see is the Canes are going to be significantly weaker on defense. Not sure this works. The Canes need to sign back one of Skeji or Pesce. Not to mention it makes it very hard to retain Slavin next summer.

Brodie is a decent buy-low here. If Chatfield can't handle top-4 minutes, Brodie can be a solid #4 in terms of TOI.

Canes have Burns, Andersen, Orlov, and Kuznetsov coming off the books for Slavin's extension, and a Nikishin ELC coming in. They are just fine on that front, and even better off if Morrow surpasses expectations.

Yeah but it still makes them even weaker and less depth on defense. The Canes really need to move one of those guys so that way they can allocate money more evenly.

Would Necas to CBJ for Provarov 50% retained, Boqvist, Dumais and a 3rd be interesting?

I’d be surprised if Necas signs for 8 years at that low of a dollar figure. Why would he?

I think the Canes would decline any Necas trade short of a for-sure top-4 RHD. Boqvist still has a ton of question marks.

Look above for the explanation. I don't know if Necas has as much leverage as he did in the past considering the poor faceoff numbers (which moves him further away from NHL clubs potentially viewing him as a top-2 centerman), and the usual hot-and-cold offense.

That’s more of an explanation for a bridge contract than this. His scoring history suggests more than this though I am sure someone will trade for him if you don’t want to pay him.

Brodie seems to hit the wall hard this season. Don't think he should be signed.

Brodie is #2 in TOI for the Leafs at 21:44 per game. Brent Burns, our #1 TOI guy, only plays 21:39 a night. Reducing Brodie's workload to 20:17 a night (Pesce's current TOI, and our current #4) could increase his effectiveness. Brodie likely would slot behind Burns, Slavin, and Orlov in terms of minutes/game in this scenario.

With Nikishin and Morrow coming into play, the loss of Skjei and Pesce gets mitigated. Having 2 very good top pairings is a luxury, especially when the 3rd pair has been playing like no worse than a 2nd pair for a large portion of the season. Whilst it will hurt to lose them, it won’t hurt as so many people seem to think. Orlov was brought in to replace Skjei, and with Chatfield surpassing many expectations, Pesce becomes a little more expendable.

As for your proposal, Canes would not consider that. No need for a LHD unless they are a stopgap for Nikishin, at which point a 3LD can be signed for cheap, acquired via trade for cheap, or Smith/Fensore can be brought up for that role. Boqvist isn’t all that interesting, and Dumais plus a 3rd isn’t enough to get Necas.

Necas signs 8 years at not even a million a year more than KK?

Good luck lol.

My comparison point on AAV was actually Teravainen. They are very comparable players from a production and positional standpoint at the time when Teravainen's extension was penned.

Teuvo only got 5 though.

I could see the Canes and Necas agreeing to 5, actually. Necas would be able to get a large UFA deal at age 30 with something like that.

Necas counters trade me

Look what Tippett got from PHI

Do you truly think those two are just going to step in and be able to handle that role? Defense is difficult to break into the league. College is a good place to develop but the league is a lot faster. It takes time to be able to adjust.

Absolutely. Looking at Morrow’s debut, I don’t think there is anything to worry about there. In all likelihood, Canes sign a defensively responsible 3rd pairing guy who can babysit Morrow for the season, with the next season Morrow likely making the jump up to play with Slavin. Nikishin will likely be handled the same way, but Nikishin is a bit more likely to be able to handle the extra workload sooner than Morrow in my opinion.

That sound you heard was necas filing for arbitration

He will just file for arbitration twice and walk to UFA

He has plenty of leverage

He only has to file once, he will be a UFA next season. He has all the leverage

I think Orlov is already the stopgap for Nikishin.

No, he will be a UFA in 2 seasons, not 1.

No, he has played enough pro seasons to become a FA at the end of 2024-25. 1 year in the AHL + 5 NHL makes 6 so far, at the end of 2024-25 he will have played 7 pro seasons making him a UFA at age 26. The rule states 7 pro seasons or age 27 whichever comes first.

Edit***

What is a Group 6 UFA?

A player whose contract is expiring and meets all of the following conditions will become an unrestricted free agent (UFA):
The player is 25 years or older (as of June 30th of the calendar year the contract is expiring).
The player has completed 3 or more professional seasons - qualified by 11 or more professional games (for an 18/19 year old player), or 1 or more professional games (for a player aged 20 or older).
This can include NHL, minor league, and European professional league seasons played while under an SPC.The player has played less than 80 NHL games, or 28 NHL games of 30 minutes or greater for a goaltender.

IIRC, there is a rule where Necas could play in the AHL and not have it count as a pro season. I think it actually was a slide year.