Not sure if The habs can grab both Hall and gaudreau... they will be too close with the cap with the signing of kk and suzuki the next year

That's not a bad return for Gaudreau, I'd definitely consider it.

Edmonton accepts

welome 2 capfriendly

That Ottawa trade is just cheating.

Easy to sing UFAs with big bucks when you can just put your capdumps on a raft and light it on fire.

That's not nearly enough incentive for Ottawa to take on Alzner's deal and also Byron's cap in that trade. You can't incentivize a team to take on a bad deal with another bad deal and only expect it to cost a 3rd. Paul being from Ottawa doesn't matter nearly as much as it would need to for that to matter.

The reality of Ottawa's lineup is that they have too many 3rd line players like Byron and they are all paid more appropriately, have more control over their future deals, or have more upside due to their age. He wouldn't particularly interest them as a player, and would therefore be seen as as a cap dump. Two cap dumps? Gonna cost much more than a 3rd.

Blue Jackets will want more than that for Anderson. You'd have to offer sheet him or offer considerably more.