Quoting: Wadejos123
You didn't really do anything to "fix Bowmans mess". Strome and Georgiev would get more money which would put you over the cap. NYR probably don't even come close to accepting that as well. Bowman's "mess" is the salary cap which you didn't fix. we can't get back guys like Panarin, Tuevo, or Danault who were traded and probably shouldn't have been, but honestly between good drafting and euro signings Stan has somewhat made up for it. I just don't see how what you did here is better. Team is worse off salary cap wise and worse defensively
Strome after both a down year/playoffs and the fact he can only seem to produce with Kane and DeBrincat is not slated to get the $4-6 million like he was at the start of the season. Also as an RFA w/o any arbitration rights he is going to get squeezed and will likely take a smaller deal to stay in Chicago or traded which he doesn't want after a bad experience in Arizona. Plus if you look at his quotes, and the desire to play with DeBrincat it all points to him staying on a lower value bridge deal.
Georgiev hasn't proven himself as a NHL starter, but has shown flashes of skill which point to him as a possible starter his save % is .914. Also don't forget the number has been trending down over past two years. Also back ups do not get paid alot without a proven track record. Also i said in the description the defense has to take a step back. Bowman created a logjam of "okay defenders" with term when he has a glut of high end prospects and with the Seabrook albatross of a contract its not possible to go out and add a high or even a medium priced defender. So next year has to be a step back in order for the Mitchell and Boqvist to cut their teeth in the NHL. Unless you move Matta and another defenseman its not likely Mitchell even has a spot on the roster. Preferably you'd keep Murphy over Dehaan, but injury history makes him a hard player to move particularly in a flat cap world.
However, the team structured as such would have greater forward depth which was a significant problem for them throughout the year. They also have less cap stuck in longterm deals for okay players. Under ideal situations you'd also move Shaw, but i can't imagine any NHL team risking that cap space on a player whose missed something close to a season's worth of games over past two years form concussions. So the team has roughly in an actual scenario 1.2 million in cap space with alot more being likely as the chances Dehaan or Shaw are both on LTIR for a long period of time is high.
Fixing Bowman's mess in the way traditionally thought is nearly impossible you cannot undue his bad trades or magically get rid of Seabrook's contract, a contract that he is not to blame for as what player would demand less money, so what mistakes can be fixed? Making the forward core deeper and removing bad contracts which prevent the next core from having a roster spot. Additionally, as you can tell most of my contracts are short term so the team actually has an ability to hit reset, depending on how the current core and the next core are playing in two years. Also under this scenario, as unless they draft Askarov who won't be there at 17 they don't have a legit NHL starter in the system and cannot pay for anyone other than Crawford on the market they could trade for a potential starter in Georgiev. New York also will certainly trying getting as much as possible, but unless Lundquist retires they're stuck with three goalies and are not in a place of strength in that trade. Getting a quality depth forward and a NHL back up quality goaltender who can also be sent to the minors is about market value on that trade.