On behalf of Jets fans everywhere...what would you need to take on Kulikov's contract? 1 year @ $4 333 333

Callahan absolutely, id rather not have darling unless something great is coming back. Atleast a guy like Callahan has value as a 4th liner as leadership but darling just soaks up money. Now if we can get one of those sweet dmen Carolina seems to have endless supplies of then maybe.

2nd probably, atleast Kulikov can sorta play

My thoughts exactly! Kulikov and a 2nd for a 7th or something like that.

I don't think there is any chance you get a 1st for one year of Callahan. As a Bruins fan I wouldn't give up more than a 2nd to get rid of Backes and his hit is for an extra year. He's a comparable player to Callahan as well; basically a 3rd / 4th liner now. The real money owed to Callahan is 4.7M dollars next season and Backes costs 5M over 2 years if traded after his bonus is paid out which makes them similar values. Most cap floor teams don't worry about the hit a player has, but they do worry about the actual money being paid to the player because it effects how much money the owner makes.

I agree the bruins wouldn't give more than a second but you can argue its now or never for tampa so maximizing every dollar means more for them. the bruins have the money to reup macavoy and carlo but together they probably cost just what point is going to make.

Tampa in a real possible cap bind at the moment with Point putting up epic numbers. They might be willing.

Tampa declines easily. Not worth a 1st to move Callahan. He only has 1 year on his deal left and they can buy him out and save almost $4M instead and save the asset. Best you'll get is a 3rd round pick or a B- prospect.

Carolina deal is interesting, but if its multiple 2nds then Detroit sends something of value to Carolina as well

For those specific second round picks I would be willing to send a 4th or 3rd back. Or maybe a lesser prospect.

Might is the key word here. They'd look everywhere else first if that was the price for Detroit. Maybe they find a taker for less maybe they don't but thats a hell of a lot to pay to shed about 6M for 1 season.

The Bruins (68.696M to 19 players with only the RFA d-men to really worry about) aren't in cap hell like Tampa.

Tampa is in so much salary cap trouble (71.123M committed to 16 players. With a significant raise due to 40 goal scorer RFA Brayden Point. Plus 3 d-men slots to fill. Oh and they have to leave room to re-sign Vasilevskiy, Sergachev, and Cernak the following year so taking on multi-year contracts becomes an issue. ).

And the way the Wings get a first is to include Trevor Daley and retain 50% of his salary. 1.583M cap hit for a 3rd pair d-man and taking Callahan's contract. Assuming Callahan didn't block a trade to Detroit this year on his MNTC list (and Yzerman would know that already). This solves Detroit's need to let its 2 defensive prospects play minutes in the NHL (Cholowski and Hronek).

Tampa Bay can go ahead and trade Yanni Gourde or JT Miller for some high end assets like players on ELC's. They can also resign their older defensemen for less then they paid them this past season. Everyone acts like Tampa needs to keep all their assets and win now, but if they're smart they'll keep their picks and trade some prime age talent for ELC's or 1st round picks. They could probably get a 1st for either Gourde or Miller and thats the way to extend your window. Nobody good on the Lightning is even 30 yet lol. Stamkos 29, McDonagh 29, Johnson 28, Hedman 28, Palat 28, everyone else is younger except the old UFA Dmen that'll be affordable if they want to win.