Younger next year

Overall a solid AGM! I'm particularly keen on your choice of Carrier, your line combos, and your overall goal of getting younger. That being said, there are a few things I'd change:

1.) I'd say you're overpaying Debrusk (~400k), Pickard (~600k), Holloway (~600k), Desharnais (~500k), & Lavoie (~200k) given the context of the term you've offered each of them
2.) I'd say you're underpaying Durzi by around 1mil and don't think SLC will make him available, at least not for that. I'd also rather use that money to target A. Carrier in UFA
3.) I don't imagine Broberg agrees to a 3-year deal and as such would likely end up on a similar deal to the one I proposed Holloway gets (900k * 2yrs). Saves another 400k
4.) That factors out to ~2.7mil in what I'd deem overpayments. For the sake of argument, I'll grant you either the Durzi acq. as listed or that Carrier (or similar) would cost ~4.25mil

Using those savings, I'd prioritise dressing at least a 22-man roster by adding 2 FAs (ideally below age 30), swapping Carrick out for Laczynski, and maybe finding an upgrade on Fischer. I wouldn't be surprised if Hamblin ended up back in EDM next year, either.

$1.75M for Carrier is too much, not sure why you're so enthusiastic about that signing.

And if Durzi is worth only $4-5M x 5, he sure isn't worth Kulak + two 1sts. That's more than Edmonton paid for Ekholm, for goodness sake.

And Ceci is worth more than a 5th.

Carrier is one of the rare bottom-6 forwards that consistently contributes to outchancing and outscoring while also being a physical, forechecking presence. He's a wonderfully effective player. Would be a great player for either or both of Lavoie and Hamblin to play with/learn from and would be entirely worth a 1.75mil cap hit for a couple years.

Durzi is probably worth between 5.25 and 5.75mil on that term. As for the picks, you're willfully misrepresenting the return as the author's trade includes picks coming back. So it's Kulak and 3 total rounds of trade-ups for Durzi. The return for Ekholm was FAR more than that.

A 5th as a return for Ceci is plenty reasonable in my eyes. He's not the cap dump some people make him out to be but whatever his trade value is will be hurt by the fact that, if EDM doesn't win the Cup, there'll be pressure to upgrade at that position in particular.

Edmonton doesn't have to move Ceci though, he's an effective top-4 defender. With RHD being currency in this league, I would think a top-4 RHD with 1 year left could get reasonable value from one of the many teams that require a top-4 RHD. Any GM accepting a 5th for Ceci simply isn't very good at their job. Kulak (a lefty) went for a 2nd, he's not as valuable as Ceci and plays a thoroughly diluted position.

Ristolainen got a 1st + 2nd + Hagg with 1 year left at $5.4M. Sure it was an overpay, but that's top-4 RHD for you. Accepting a 5th for Ceci is just stupid asset management.

I couldn’t find a way to keep Ceci and stay under the cap. I’d rather Ceci than VD, but the numbers didnt work.