Shoring up Defense for the Playoffs

Genuine question, would you rather have Chych at 4.6M for 3 years or Sandin at 1.4M for one more year then ~4M for 6+ years

Depends. If I want to win in the next 2 years I would want Chychrun, as he is the better player right now. Beyond that, I would prefer Sandin, as I think he has a very high ceiling, and could become just as good, if not better than Chychrun. But since the Leafs want to win now, the trade makes sense for them.

Hawks probably decline. The only reason they retain on McCabe this season is to get back a 2023 1st. And a 2023 3rd and Abruzzese for Domi half retained probably gets beat by another offer as well. Kerfoot and Holl are both cap dumps as far as Chicago is concerned. Without retention, they'll be difficult to move to any of the teams competing for playoffs spots. Most have very little cap space.

Hawks don't care about cap dumps or needing to retain to deal Kerfoot or Holl in later trades. The Hawks are one of the richest teams in the league, who have gone on record saying they are willing to take cap dumps from other teams.

If they retain $1 million on each Kerfoot and Holl, they can definitely get at least a 3rd round pick for each of them.

In your deal, Hawks are retaining on Domi and McCabe. How do they then retain on both Kerfoot and Holl? They only have one retention slot left. And what if Toews or Kane asks for a trade. Hawks will have to retain on them in any trade. Yes, they are willing to take on cap dumps provided the deals make sense for Chicago's rebuild. Hawks would take on Kerfoot and Holl if they get their asking price for McCabe and Domi.