John 3 16
Rejoint: avr. 2020
Messages: 9,581
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The 8 skater route is an interesting idea, but I don't think we'll go that route as it would mean exposing Burakovsky instead of a lesser Dman. We certainly will not be exposing Kadri either, he's a 30+30 C who has way too much value to be losing for free like that.
We'll go with 7+3+1:
- Mackinnon, Rantanen, Landeskog, Kadri, Burakovsky, Top 6 forward (acquired in 2020 offseason), Nichuskin
- Makar, Girard, Graves
- Francouz
Exposed: Compher, Donskoi, Johnson (waives NMC), Grubauer (resigned by Colorado as an UFA)
Jost and Zadorov will be off the team by then so won't be factors.
It'll be a decision between Compher and Nichuskin as to who to protect with the 7th forward slot, but I think Nichuskin might get the edge simply for cap reasons as he should be easier to fit into the roster at a lower caphit than Compher/Donskoi (assuming that he signs at a reasonable AAV/term this offseason).
Sakic may well decide that he can expose Graves, but I think he'll take more of a calculated approach with asking Johnson to waive so that we can keep Graves. Maybe send a pick to Seattle to avoid Johnson, but they probably won't pick him anyways.
The most interesting part though is the goalie situation. Francouz at $2m is insane value and would be extremely difficult to replace at that cap hit. Grubauer is an UFA. To keep both goalies Sakic could use the UFA-loophole with Grubauer, though that would certainly be a bit of a risk. Worth keeping an eye on Annunen as he might be a factor in deciding who to keep.