I know any AGM with an offer sheet is inherently unrealistic because of how rarely those happen, but oh well. I'm a sucker for two-way centers, and Cirelli's already a great one. Just 23 years old, and he put up 44 points in 68 games while playing the 2nd most SH minutes of any forward in the NHL. Why try to make Kuzy into something he's not when the Lightning's cap situation means there's a guy out there who can do everything Kuzy doesn't, while still being productive, and he'll only cost a 1st and a 3rd in compensation? And not even this year's picks? Kuzy can move back to his natural position on the wing and we never have to see him try to win a faceoff again.
The major flaw is that adding Cirelli makes next year's cap crunch even worse. It pretty much necessitates losing Oshie in the expansion draft, and even that might not be enough. Worst comes to worst, you trade whichever one of Kuzy and Vrana underperforms next year. If neither one underperforms this team is a cup favorite, so it's a good problem to have.
As far as the other new guy, Grant's an all-around upgrade on Dowd. With the roster crunch forcing Panik down to the 4th line, he and Grant make it one of the best 4th lines in the game, almost a low-end 3rd line. I added him with the idea that the Caps hire Gallant, who loves to roll all four lines. He could probably get a higher salary elsewhere, but maybe after playing for 7 teams in 7 years he'd value getting to settle down in one spot with a longer-term contract than a guy like him would typically get.
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
So I have to think tampa finds someway to match that. They always seem to make the numbers work somehow. So if you do get him you might want to consider moving kuzy now instead of waiting. Its a terrible ufa class at center and other than domi there arent alot of options out there on the trade market. You might clean up or atleast get a cheaper wing to help the cap number.
So I have to think tampa finds someway to match that. They always seem to make the numbers work somehow. So if you do get him you might want to consider moving kuzy now instead of waiting. Its a terrible ufa class at center and other than domi there arent alot of options out there on the trade market. You might clean up or atleast get a cheaper wing to help the cap number.
Worst case scenario, Tampa matches and is forced to make deeper cuts elsewhere to the roster, so it's still a win for the Caps.
Ideally I'd like to see Kuzy play out his whole contract in DC. This was a down year for him and he still was on a 68 point pace and was one of our best players in the playoffs. Having him on the wing solves a lot of the problems with his game, with the added flexibility that he can move back to center if needed because of an injury. The Caps got a big lesson in how important that is this playoffs when Eller left the bubble and Backstrom got hurt and they were forced to rely on guys like Dowd and Boyd to move up the lineup. Also, the options to trade Kuzy seem like they'd be pretty limited right now. The flat cap means most of the contending teams wouldn't be in play for him, and he's got a 15-team NTC that probably eliminates the teams that'd be the most interested, like Buffalo, Minnesota, and Winnipeg. At least if they're forced to trade him next offseason there'll be one more team to potentially make an offer.
McDavid, Connor
250 000 $)
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