No thank you
- Kyle Dubas

Probably throw Benning in and it would be a done deal, But Pool Party said he does not want to play in Canada today

Doesn't solve the Leaf problems. Cap remains the same and Leaf get the two worse players.

well.. 4M + 1M (JP) is less than 6.6M.. you're saving 1.5M plus 1 less year of Zaitsev

woah what??? link me

It doesn't solve the Leafs problem in the slightest, because curing the headache of Zaitsev doesn't offset taking on the repeated body blows that is Lucic, even with the potential of Jesse added in.

As Oilers fan, I think we're stuck with the human boat anchor for another year, maybe two, unless the buyout becomes slightly more palatable.

Well I guess the the Leafs will save more when JP is waived to the Marlies. Zaitsev has been a second pairing Dman on a good team for three years. He has value as NHL Dman despite the rants on CapFriendly.

Yup, Oilers have cap problems too, if you did not notice,

His buyout really does not get lower, it is always ****ty (Lucic)

Yea, I noticed. Actually despite the best efforts of many CapFriendly posts, the Oilers and Leafs don't seem to be a good fit in trades.

The big difference here though, is Zaitsev can actually play. Lucic is not worthy of the 4th line for TO.

Well Zaitsev has a brutal contract, and if he was so good, you wouldnt trade him, but yes Lucic really is useless now. But if I was Oilers I would be playing Benning with Nurse as a 2nd D pair, but if you want to get rid of a **** contract, you got to take one, or its no deal, thats why Zaitsev should be moved to a team with at least some cap space, Oilers have nothing

I'd say that's mostly because every fan on here want every trade to be a little bit in favor of their own team. As "realistic" as it gets, we won't really know until a deal is done officially. So people can speculate and keep armchair GMing but until Holland and Dubas actually do business, every ACGM will want a trade that benefits their team more than the other and that way nobody will ever agree.

That's true. Chiarelli's gift that keeps on giving.

But Zaitsev doesn't have a brutal contract. Other teams pay their second pairing guys about that money. Zaitsev doesn't play the PP, because of Marner has taken his spot at right point. Zaitsev plays heavy minutes against the top lines and big minutes on the PP. Leafs are need to get rid of cap space and Zaitev right or wrong seems to be target (I think a high priced forward makes more sense).
Personally I would give Zaitsev away....just to get cap space. But certainly aren't taking on bad cap and losing a competent NHL Dman too.

Well, come the summer of the expansion draft, if we bought him out then, he'd have two years left which means 4 years of dead cap if we bought him out. However, if we traded him at retained cap hit by then, it'd be 3M for the next two seasons. And don't forget his contract is front loaded. Actual money owed on Lucic last 2 years is basically half or a quarter of his cap hit.

Fact of the matter is, the closer we are to his contract's expiry date, the easier it is to trade it.

Zaitsev has played 20+ minutes for the past 3 seasons on a team that has finished in the top 7 league wide the past 2 seasons. He isn't garbage, he makes about a million too much and has too much term.

So tell me, how does it make sense for a team to move a serviceable NHL player who does make more than he should, for a guy who wouldn't make the team only to shave 1 year of the contract. Keep in mind, if they move Zaitsev, they will need to replace him with something.

That is why my first sentence of this thread, that i did not make said to throw in Benning, there is your replacement, Bennings stats are better than Zaitsev and will help the leafs, for me there is no way these two teams make a trade except Brown for Benning, which makes sense, but we have a different GM now and not sure if Holland is interested!, Also retaining 2 or 3 million bucks on Lucic like the guy that mad this thread said is still a problem for the Oilers

The problem isn't the money owing, it's the fact that so much of it is paid in signing bonuses, which do not provide cap relief savings in terms of the buyout. It really is, for the duration of the contract, nearly buyout proof.

I mean, we all knew that this contract would be an albatross at some time. I don't think any of us thought it would be this much of a cinder block this soon. I can honestly say I've never seen a player's skill set completely erode of a Christmas break the way Lucic's did in Christmas 2017.

Benning hasn't really been an answer for Edmonton who hasn't made the playoffs in 2 seasons. How would he be an upgrade over Zaitsev, who plays more minutes and against top end talent? The only trade that I see with Edmonton is Brown for a pic. The Leafs need space and Brown is completely replaceable.

Agree with that. Either Brown for a 3rd/4th rounder or a prospect perculating in the minors like Hebig

agree with the second part. and I guess my whole point is that when people say we're stuck with Lucic's contract, its a bit of an exaggeration. First of all, if you're not dressing him, he's not a problem on the ice. So the Oilers could dress 12 forwards ahead of Milan. Secondly, if push came to shove at the expansion draft, yes buying him out gives us no cap flexibility, but it does mean we get to protect someone else who has more value, so still worth it. And lastly, like I said, his actual money owed is less than his cap hit. Budget teams love to eat these kinds of contracts because it helps them reach the floor. Imagine eating 50% percent of that and we're practically paying his salary to play somewhere else. I'm saying the contract is easier to move than you make it seem to be.

Well considering Braun got a 2nd and a 3rd when SJ traded him to Philly, I'd say the return for Brown is a 2nd or a 3rd.

right, Brian Boyle and Ryan Hartman both got 1st rounders back. Does that mean we're all gonna offer that? Is Sam Gagner worth a 1st rounder? Come on man. 3rd rounder + Brodziak is most I'm willing to do for Brown, anything else I'll look for third liners in FA worth 2M.