Why would Ottawa do that?
I believe most of Gaborik's salary is covered by insurance- yet his salary counts toward the CAP
Since they might be one of a few teams that struggle to meet the CAP floor- why trade a player with a higher cap hit (yet lower out of pocket salary)?

Smith still does make sense going to them- because his salary is less than his cap hit...just not with Gaborik involved. If you have any other info regarding insurance coverage of Gaborik's salary- please share that.

I don't really care where. Any team that's willing to eat his money for a 4th. Also, his base salary Is $2.3M. Melnyk should be okay paying a little more for the asset. Guy Is already going to pocket almost $20M from not wanting to spend.

I think the Blues would require a Kratsov or K'Andre Miller level prospect involved to make that trade. I can definitely understand why you'd put those 3 players in the trade proposal. Those 3 players the Blues would give up definitely make the Rangers a strong team.

Agreed. Rangers are still technically rebuilding so Miller and Kravtsov esque prospects are off limits. Believe this package is very good though.

You think a package that takes three Blues regulars, including two young guys, and gives them back absolutely nothing of contend now value is "very good"? Surely you know better.

Well it's hard to value at the same time. I've seen several Blues ACGM's do it for just a 1st. Any deal that sees 3 roster players go is subject for 1 of 3 things. Cap space, log jam, upgrade. Maybe now I think maybe it won't work at all. We don't have the NHL talent to dilute those losses for you guys so it's fair to assume this is fairly unrealistic.