Tampa's gonna match an offersheet to Cirelli. Sergachev or Cernak would be the likely ones to be taken away via offersheet, but not Cirelli

How can they? They have $5M in cap space with 15 players signed and every one of the players they should trade has full-blown NTC's minus Killorn. Even if they trade Killorn, they have $10M in space with Sergachev, Cirelli, and Cernak to sign plus depth guys... I just don't see how they can match an offer sheet for a contract like this.

trades.

people forget that those are a thing to get under the cap. prioritize who to keep, move the others. Players waive NTC all the time. They're put on their contracts so they can control where they go if they need to be moved. Killorn could be moved. Gourde could easily be convinced to be moved. Coburn could easily waive. McElhinney could easily be moved. It's more likely than you think that they move a good amount of cap out to keep the younger guys

Agree to disagree then. I don't really see why any of their players waive to leave one of the most talented teams in the NHL unless they're going to Boston (who can't take any of them). With a flat cap the next 3 years I don't see many teams lining up to take a Gourde or Johnson and you'd also have to find one that the player would waive for... It just doesn't seems likely to me.

lack of ice time is a major convincer. Gourde's ice time went down this year, a team like Montreal has cap and a need for scoring. Gourde is also a hometown guy to Montreal.. seems like an easy convince. Coburn is a 3rd pairing d-man, tell him he won't see as much ice time. Eventually he'll agree to be moved to play more. Players want more playing time to prove themselves rather than just being a part of a "talented team". It's a pride thing

Avs would and easily can take Palat or Kilorn, they would waive to go to the avs. They have options outside of trying to find someone to take on that gourde contract

Decent second line... but don't think it will happen.

I like. Way too much for Gusev though. 2nd at most.

I definitely agree Wild should try to get Cirelli, but I think the lightning find some means to move someone that's going to kill the Wilds dreams of stealing him.
I've got a ACGM going right now where the lightning trade Johnson and Sergachev to Detroit for Hronek and the WSH 2020 2nd pick. I could see Yzerman being able to convince Johnson to waive his NTC, long shot but we are Minnesota fans and we don't get nice things. I mean yes Kaprizov signed but we don't get to see him until next season.

I'm just glad he's signed so I don't have to listen to 3 hours of Russian in order to see him play

Hopefully he lives up to the hype and from what I've seen he definitely should. He plays a game that's built for the NHL: tough SOB along the boards, tons of skill but knows when to use it, and he can score in bunches. He's not the greatest skater in terms of speed but his Lateral movement and agility is extremely impressive.

I''m always amused at the idiotic arguments the "waive the magic wand" dolts raise -- "ice time is a big factor" like somebody is raring to play 20 minutes for Buffalo instead of 13 minutes for Tampa Bay, and the airily dismissive "so-and-so could easily waive" to be sent somewhere more expensive than Tampa to play on the fourth line. Who needs logic or facts?

It would be different if they were able to make more money elsewhere but if I'm a player on a current contract with a full NTC I'd want to stay in Tampa. I don't care if the team whose logo was on my childhood bedsheets growing up wants me, if they aren't close to a cup then I'd rather stay on a team that is. On the same coin, if I'm a free agent (like Cirelli) and a bubble team like Columbus or MN offer me $2-3M more AAV than Tampa, I'm taking my money knowing they can't match and thinking about the 40-50 years I have after my hockey career while still being on a competitive team.

People mention pride in ice time while ignoring pride in being on a winning team. I agree completely about most players being willing to be a 4th liner on a Cup contender over getting 1st line ice time on a lottery team.

On top of all that, he’s also strong on his skates and hard to knock off the puck!

Depending on where they were traded, they'd also basically be taking a pay cut due to state income taxes. If they got moved to a team in a highly taxed state/province, that could be a huge hit to their bank account on top of moving away from a great team.

Great point, forgot about Florida's insanely low income tax

And consider states/provinces/locales with high taxes -- California, New York, Toronto. Those places also have abnormally high housing costs, too. I live in a home worth conservatively one million dollars. Thinking of "mansion"? One bedroom, two baths, living room, dining room, two offices, dressing room, kitchen the size of a large walk-in closet, less than fifteen hundred square feet, no pool or view of the Hollywood sign. Moving from Tampa to LA might mean as much as a real-life 20% pay cut.

I’ve wondered for years why, to make the cap truly even and fair, the NHL doesn’t prorate aav to make up for the differences in local taxes...

I wonder if the owners have pushed that idea back since they would have to pay more or less money out of pocket depending on the market