If that’s the best offer out there for Names...a distant 4th and a more distant 6th- all to get 2M In cap relief....I would rather waive him...if nobody picks him up he gets buried (temporarily) for about 1M cap savings....if he gets plucked off waivers- NYR get the entire 4M cap relief

That is definitely too much retention on Vlad, I'd be thrilled with a 4th rounder in to the 2020 draft with us retaining 1 million.

Also Brendan Smith will be buried in Hartford, no way he is on the opening night roster especially as the 7th or 8th d-man. That frees up 1.075 million in cap space.

We retain half for the remainder on the year in order to be able to trade him at all since most other teams are at the cap ceiling. This doesn't hurt us at all because its off the books next season and we need to do it to sign Lemieux and Deangelo and pay our bonuses.

If he is waived and buried- NYR will have enough cap to pay ADA 2.5M X2 and Lemieux around 1M X1...with Smith as 13F/7D on a short roster...with around 450K left over...this is not optimal- but the trade market will open up after the season starts, injuries kick in, RFA cap issues resolved, etc...And if he is p/u off waivers- we get the entire 4M cap relief...If need be, Strome can also be waived (if no market for him w/o retainage)- of course that cap savings would be partially offset by his replacement's cap hit- around 700K