Taking advantage of salary cap woes and preparing for the Seattle expansion draft.
The signing of a franchise left wing should be a top priority for Anaheim. The main options on the table appear to be Matthew Tkachuk and Patrik Laine.
Matthew Tkachuk's situation seems to be a bit of a blur right now; he came from a very good season for the Flames but, unless some moves are made, the team just doesn't have the space available for more than a bridge contract - something that Matthew probably doesn't really want (especially considering his rising production since entering the League) and also not solving the team's problem next season, when they will have several pending FAs and the expansion draft to deal with (and where they will be unable to protect all their young stars). It might make sense to try and get some sort of return for Tkachuk.
As for Laine, he faces a similar situation to Tkachuk's, with the downside of having a more quiet year after two very interesting couple of seasons. Laine's stock in Winnipeg seems to have gone down a little and the Jets probably want a "prove yourself"-type of deal before committing to Laine long term. Obviously, Laine is also looking for a superstar deal with the team, especially considering Nylander's antics last season, so the Ducks might also be able to capitalize on the situation. However, unlike with Tkachuk, the Jets have the cap space to match any offer sheet that might come Laine's way, even considering the impending FAs they will have next season.
Le salaire annuel moyen (AAV) de l'offre hostile est calculé en divisant la valeur totale du contrat par: 1. La durée totale du contrat, ou 2. Cinq ans
Having to address the FA situation of Alex Goligoski and Jason Demers entering the 2020-2021 season, Arizona will probably go with Demers, considering both players' production remains the same.
In that sense, Anaheim can try and go for Goligoski, 2 years older and making almost a full 1.5M more than Demers.
The 4th rounder serves as a sweetener for the deal and the salary dump - and the extra cap space can certainly help Arizona with the resigning of a few of their youngsters next season.
Nick Ritchie has put decent numbers for Anaheim, but nothing spectacular.
With Ritchie most likely not making the protected list for the expansion draft and the game itself morphing into a faster version, this might be a good time to try and get some sort of return for him before he becomes available for Seattle and/or a UFA entering the 2021 season.
Coleman is a solid depth option for Anaheim, as he can play in any forward position, and will serve mostly to beef up the trade a little.
Also, New Jersey will probably overlook Coleman as one of the players to protect for the expansion draft and can potentially use Henrique as bait for Seattle to keep their hands away from other players they may be unable to protect - and they will still have enough cap space to re-sign with some of their upcoming FAs.
Adam Henrique will probably be the other difficult situation to handle come the expansion draft.
Since he will most likely be left unprotected, it also makes sense that Anaheim tries to get some return for Henrique, a player with a very large fanbase all around the League; if the offer sheet for either Tkachuk or Laine goes through, they can use Henrique as a way of restoring some of the team's draft value.
Due to his NMC, one of the few destinations Henrique will probably accept to play in will be back in New Jersey, even if it does appear that the Sami Vatanen trade suddenly makes the Devils the clear winners from it.
McDavid, Connor
250 000 $)
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