Even retained Johnson doesn't have that value. Nun at he gets a 7th at that retention but I doubt it. Teams are not lining up to help Tampa. You are about 2 Mil low on Cirelli and 1-1.5 mil low on Sergachev. The other deals aren't bad though.

"best way out". Sorry having a roster of 20 and no cap is not a way out at all. No reason for for Palat to waive his NTC.

Guessing the contracts for those RFAs are impossible, as nobody knows what they will be willing to take and how much of a cut they will be willing to take to stay with the team. Yeah, it’s lower value than what they’re worth, but if they want to stay with Tampa, which they both do, they will be willing to sign a short term deal worth less money. I think Johnson is a good player and can benefit other teams. At some point, it’s not about not helping Tampa but helping your own team, and I believe adding Johnson with retained salary could help some teams.

This would really put pressure on Barré-Boulet and Stephens. I don’t know if they could be good 3rd and 4th line centers

1. For sure they could be willing to take a bit less but I doubt they consider more than 1 Mil less. Otherwise they would likely be signed already.

2. Johnson was on waivers and could have been had for free and there were no takers but somehow you have a team giving up a mid pick for him cause he is half retained. That doesn't make sense, a late pick maybe but not a mid pick.

Well that’s what a prospect does, performs in the minors and then is expected to perform in the NHL. I know Stephens will be fine and Barre-Boulet was a top 5 player in the AHL last season so I think they’ll be just fine

I think it just comes down to team preference at that point and what they are willing to give up. Johnson at 2.7 million could be worth between a 4th-7th in my opinion.

Like you said about Cirelli and Sergachev no one but them knows if how much less they will take but remember the NHL wants players to cut as much as 45% of their contract value as well. So in order for them to get your numbers they are going to have to sign higher AAV contracts. So if Sergachev was to sign for 4.5 Mil his actual take him could be as little as 2.475 Mil if the NHL wins. That is significantly less than his value and whether he wants to stay in Tampa or not at that point doesn't even come into play if a team offers him 6 Mil.

As for Johnson I think even at 2.7 Mil you are going to be lucky to get a 6th. Teams who are contenders or close to contention don't have that much cap space for that kind of risk. The other bottom teams don't want him in case he rebounds and they finish higher in the standings and gett a later pick. Teams like Nashvill and Florida who are middle of the pack have better options in FA like Duclair, Hoffman and Kovalchuk.

I don't see Detroit giving up a 2nd for a player that will be in the 3rd pair, behind Hronek and Seider.

Sharks will take Coburn for a nice package! Not this one though

If Tampa trades Palat I can't see them retaining but if they do it definitely won't be that much.

Also can't see them retaining that much on Johnson, four years of that much dead cap space would make contending difficult especially with the cap not going up for two to three years.

Could maybe get a bit better for Cernak and Paquette.

Why not. One year of coburn won’t hurt them and they get a better draft pick along with a good prospect.

We dont have the room or the need. Why would any team help you out for very little? Also Coburn has a full NTC and would just refuse to leave.

SJ doesnt have any need for Coburn in the first place so that package would have to be exponentially better than this. If anything he takes a roster spot away from a young player and steals a year of experience. SJ could do better than a 4th and a nobody prospect.