I don't see VGK getting out from under the Fleury or Statsny contracts without eating some salary. A lot of teams are trying to cut salary right now, so I don't see teams willingly spending so much $$ for aging, declining players.

Pens are in process of trading for Matheson. There's no more room to spend on the defense . We have to move one out if this trade goes through.

Agreed. It'd be pretty hilarious if they somehow manage to sign AP tho

Penguins accept

Neither have really declined excessively.

Stastny has 1 year, so the risk is minimal, I'd assume Minnesota would take it, but then again, they aren't bringing back Koivu, so, age may be a factor, who knows.

Fleury has been solid, and continues to be, the major advantage to him is he's a great locker room guy, the stories of him in Pittsburgh as Murray was taking over was that he was extremely supportive and working with him to keep him going, which could be an advantage if Calgary sees Rittich as their #1 one day.

Either way, whichever teams are interested, I'd see the picks maybe dropping below a 3rd to ensure no salary retention.

latest rumours were that it fell apart.

we'll see.

Martinez can play the right side though. All we'd have to do is get rid of Johnson and we have a damn good defense

I don't see Vegas dealing Stastny and Fleury without some salary retained or some picks attached to them. Maybe the Martinez stuff could be fine but not with the Penguins

Good looking team.

Martinez is an RD and I'd be fine with it, but it's still too much money being spent on the defense. There will be nothing left over to fill out the bottom six if that happened. Give up JJ dream, bud lol

If we could move Hunwick's contract we can move Johnson

I don’t see a scenario where Vegas isn’t retaking to move Flower. The Leafs has to pay a 1st to move 1 yr of a 6M contract. Flower is going to cost to move. Expect to have to give up a first and a couple of prospects if your expecting to not retain. And at 7 million, not a lot of teams can afford that hit. I could see Calgary doing it if Lucic is going the other way.

Vegas will need to fork out some assets / retain to move these.

Teams don't help out other teams for free

Teams can be replaced... Calgary, Ottawa, New Jersey, Toronto, Chicago, Minnesota, Colorado, Buffalo and Detroit all need to upgrade their goaltending.
and as said above, pick can be modified, some could be added, it's not a be all end all as was mentioned above (assuming you read it that is)

That's not the issue. The GM needs to WANT to move a player in order for them to get traded and from many many reports from pretty much every single legit Pens hockey writers, Rutherford loves JJ.

it's not free when the teams mentioned above are looking for exactly what they are selling.
it's almost as if you're ignoring Pittsburghs defense problems on the left side, Minny's lack of center depth, and Calgary's goaltending issues.

Again, the trades are not definitive, as was mentioned above, assuming you read it.

Yes, I agree that 1 year deals hold less risk. But Stastny carries a $6.5m cap hit and makes $5.5m in real salary next season. For teams looking to cut salary, and so many teams already tight on cap space with the flat-cap, who is going to eat a contract like that without any retention while still giving up valuable asset? Not to mention he turns 35 in December.

Fleury had a bad season and turns 36 in November - he's also signed for 2 more seasons. No team will take on a $7m goalie for two flat-cap seasons when he clearly cannot play at a level that a $7m goalie should. Also, the goalie market is flooded this off-season. Greiss, Khudobin/Bishop, Holtby, Georgiev/Lundqvist, Keumper/Raanta, Mrazek/Reimer, Anderson, Andersen, Talbot, Elliot, Crawford, Smith, Dell, Kinkaid, Markstrom, Murray/Jarry, Howard, Lehner... the list goes on. It is so oversaturated this off-season that no team would choose to take on a $7m, 36 year old declining goalie over going after any number of the other goalies that will be available. It's either a buyout, retaining salary in a trade, or not signing Lehner. Those are the options with Fleury.

No team will take on these contracts and give assets back unless you retain significant salary and/or add additional assets.

You're selling low on Martinez. The Knights just paid an extra second for the extra year on his contract.

"giving up a valuable asset" once again, as mentioned above, the exchange is not definitive... it could be future considerations, it doesn't matter what they get back so long as the exchange is no salary retention.

the argument then becomes "would Minnesota want 1 year of Stastny with full cap hit, in exchange for nothing" - I would argue yes, you do need competent veterans, Guerin obviously knows that considering he went out and paid more for Johanssen to replace Staal who was cheaper... Sometimes changing the atmosphere in a room is worth more in the long run.

As for Fleury, once again, future considerations, so half those goalies will require a market value exchange of pieces. Fleury has a M-NTC meaning he doesn't need to be protected in Expansion again.
he had his worse season, which was still better than 3/4 of the goalies you mentioned as available.

so once again, Fleury for free, vs. Giving up a piece for Reimer, or Georgiev..... the easy answer if you want to win consistently is Fleury.
Pittsburgh was apparently interested in re-acquiring Fleury, so no, I don't think your three options are the only options.

I'm starting to realize nobody here reads descriptions.

if you lose on the Martinez trade, but acquire Pietr, I think it's an acceptable loss.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

My point was regardless of what you add, I have a hard time seeing anyone taking on a 35yr old 7M goalie with years remaining on his contract without Vegas either taking salary back or retaining.