Take out Nelson and Dal Colle, put in Bellows and Aho and you have a deal

need to send Nelson to make the cap work, or Ottawa could retain 3m on Ryan

Good return for Ottawa. One of two issues, next year is going to be tight on the cap for NYI if there were to extend Karlsson at 8 years 11 aav. Issue two, Lou doesn't like high numbers. 65 is too damn high!

for 7.5 million of ryan on top of 11.5 to resign karlsson I just dont think its worth it

It isn't. And it's crazy how sens fans think they can get every prospect in a bad situation.

A trade with Karlsson and Ryan is worth LESS to a team than a trade with Karlsson alone. (It's basically a cap dump plus a fourth-liner.) I wish Ottawa guys would realize and accept this.

He's not a 4th liner. He's got skill and vision. He's just often injured (fingers + hands) and has lost a step (31 years of age). Ryan isn't a bad player, he's just got a bad contract (one of the worst). He proved himself in the playoffs when the Sens went to ECF. Last year, everyone was bad, including him. He gets most of the blame because of that contract and the fact his hands are made of glass.

In my opinion, Ryan can fit nicely with another skill player who can receive the puck and skate (Barzal). He's a top 9 with top 6 skill. Any deal that Ottawa will make will involve salary retention (2.250 000 for the next 4 years).

Well, I agree that Ryan's game has pluses. I watched him here at the beginning of his career. But he's played only 75% of the past two seasons (each) and his numbers are trending down, which you can't all put to the team's weaknesses. To any team receiving him, it's hard to see how he plays on the third line, let alone higher. For example, the Isles have two guys who would play above him.

Oh absolutely, I'm not saying he'd be well received with the Islanders. I don't see how, barring injures, he plays above Eberle and Bailey. He can log some minutes on the PP where I think he can put up some decent number offensively in a decent system (aka better than Ottawa's). Other than that, he can play up and down the lineup. Comes down to money though. Is a team willing to take on 4 years at 5 mil plus for a fringe 2nd liner / 3rd line RW? Probably not. The cost is Erik Karlsson though.

Of course, this is why we have ACGM's. We ain't no GM's that's for sure.

I think Ottawa will have to take more salary back in the trade