If this is an offer sheet compensation model, I think you owe an extra 1st rounder to make it 2 1sts, a 2nd and a 3rd. You have to take the total contract amount and divide it by the lesser value of (1) 5 yrs or (2) the contract length. So 6.5M x 6 / 5 = 7.8M.

beat me to it...he's right you owe another 1st round pick

Nice catch.

Adjusted Kucherov's contract to $6.258 per year to keep it within the proper compensation band.

At that point TB matches

They only have $5.5m in space right now. How do they get enough to match?

Another thing to consider is the future. $6M in additional raises are already in the books for Hedman and Vasilevskiy plus as many as 5-6 other key contributors who will be due. Choice might have to be to lose Kucherov now and take the compensation without sacrificing even more next summer while remaining a top team in the EC. One needs to look no further than the Blackhawks when it comes to really tough cap decisions. It can be very easy to handicap the long term when "loyalty" is the priority over depth/continuity.