Head in sand: activated

I guess it's better than getting your hopes up and having his big signing be Dalton Prout.... Or Micheal Haley

Only one of those top-4 defenders can skate backwards.

Between Simek and Ferraro, which one are you going to protect?

IMO you protect EK, Vlasic (NMC), Simek and Ferraro... not a lot of forwards to protect sooooo

Actually, I think it might be wise to ask Vlasic and maybe even Karlsson to waive their NMCs, because Seattle almost certainly wouldn't take them.

Ferraro definitely gets protected over Simek. Hoping Seattle takes Burns. But they might need a sweetner side deal to accept to take him.

Isn't Ferraro still gonna be on his ELC so he would be excluded from contention

Ferraro is exempt, Karlsson and Vlasic both have to be protected because of NMCs. If Simek has a decent year and is shows he's worth his cap hit, probably him over Burns.

Ferraro is exempt. It comes down to protecting Simek or Burns (unless you get Vlasic to waive which is likely no because he's a grumpy hag).

I think you protect Simek, even though he is the lesser player, simply because Burns is more likely to be selected (rather than losing a younger forward prospect who has been a pro for 3 years) and it gives you some cap flexibility going into next offseason to do a lot of different things (lock up Hertl, acquire another top 6 forward, etc). Burns likely becomes the captain in Seattle and gives them a name and personality to build around. SJ replaces his offense with Merkley on the 2nd pairing and then makes some upgrades around other parts of the roster while hoping one or two of the group of Chmelevski, Blichfeld, Leonard, Dahlen, and Gregor are ready to play legitimate 3rd line minutes and chip in some offense on the cheap.

I think there is a path forward, it is probably just one more year away from being realized. What I don't get is how DW signing someone like Haula to be the 3C (which we don't have any usable plan for internally this year) precludes that from coming to fruition. You can sign Haula and be a competitive team that battles for a playoff spot in a weak Pacific division without stunting the growth of the young guys mentioned above. That is where I don't understand the path for this season. Young guys are going to grow more playing with NHL caliber players than they will playing with guys like them who are trying to find their footing in the league in the bottom 6. Assuming Sorensen is gone or buried to start the season, only Marleau and Nieto in the bottom 6 have played a full NHL season. Where is the leadership/mentorship going to come from in that group?