@coga16 This one features an EJ buyout, which allows a 21 man roster. Progress...

yup and thats why the buyout isn't the worst idea, 2m is easy to manage going forward

I doubt they do a buyout, I can see him retiring an Av and just continuing on dirt cheap deals for a couple seasons, but its business and if they need to do it, cant fault them for it

That's a very strong team, but do you really need a $5.75 million #3C with MacKinnon and Kadri plus Newhook coming up? You could get two pretty darn good players for that price.

I was thinking about a suggestion that @coga16 made. Use the capspace that's allocated to Danault here, on Saad instead, and have Newhook as 3C.

he'd only be the 3c until kadri's contract is up the following year. then he's 2c. avs dont have any solid winger prospects other than kaut so newhook to wing is a possibility.

id expect danault to be the better player going forward and i'd rather have center depth than winger depth.

Agree. Much easier to fill out the roster with ELC's and cheap guys on the wings, than it is to do the reverse with cheap (and good) centers.

to me it all depends on where newhook is at that time. it will likely be his sophomore season maybe even rookie season and 2c on a cup contender is a big role to fill. i'd feel a lot more comfortable with someone established like danault.

with the right deal someone would take him. Some salary would need to be retained but hes still a capable Dman

I do like what you've done here overall but that dead space leaves them with no flexibility whatsoever for two years - not sure that's a good idea. I suppose it could be manageable, especially if the cap goes up by the end of Mac's current deal. That's how it works when you're a contender, though, right? You have to keep a lot of balls in the air while walking the tightrope.

I'd say Newhook at wing to start his career is highly likely and that is a much better role for him to step into.

Not gonna sugarcoat it, I hate the buyout. If they want EJ gone then retain $2M and trade him. Don't end up with dead money for extra years though. Can't stress this enough.

I agree. Carrying $2m in dead space for 2 years beyond 2023 would be awful.

Which team do you think would agree to acquire him at $4m AAV ($2m retained)?

NJ maybe? The BJs? They could both use RD and NJ may also want a veteran presence. More may open up after the xdraft.

Really I think the team holds onto Johnson though. There is a place for loyalty, and EJ has earned that from the organization. I think they'd rather lose Graves, bridge Makar, etc. if it came down to it.

Good ideas. Keep in mind though that Johnson has a 12 team no-trade list (or rather, he submits a 19 team trade list), and if I were to guess he'd have the 7 Canadian teams listed, plus the likes of Columbus, New Jersey, Buffalo, and a couple other undesirable destinations (or teams that have capspace). With that many teams blocked it would be pretty difficult to trade him, but not impossible.

I do think that Sakic will persist with Johnson on the team though, as long as he can play at a reasonably high level. The way he dispatched Cole for cap reasons though makes me think Sakic can be ruthless when he needs to be, so I'm hopeful that he'll find a good solution to that EJ contract.

I actually think the Cole trade was the opposite of ruthless. If he wanted to, he would have kept Cole and made him 7D for the rest of the year. Not a bad plan from a depth and winning perspective. It would have screwed Cole in a contract year though and cost him millions on his next deal.

Since Cole already has his name on the Cup, my guess is he'd rather play every night and have a chance at a nice contract. He gets that in Minnesota.

Just my speculation, but I really think the trade was a favor to Cole. The circumstances in Denver just weren't good for him any longer.

Good post, I agree.

"Ruthless" was probably a bit strong of a word to use. Maybe "pragmatic" is a better word.

Maybe if EJ finds himself in the same situation as Cole in a couple years (i.e. with his name on the Cup and on the outside of the roster looking in) then they do something similar. It's certainly possible he'll be displaced with Timmins, Helleson, and Barron all looking pretty good. He's safe for at least another year though (imo).

The Johnson situation is one which you need to take year-by-year.

If he bombs and becomes useless then it's unfathomable that Sakic would persist with him on the roster.

But for now he's still a useful Dman, and our younger guys are still a time away from taking his place outright.

The writing is on the wall for him though, with 3 really good RHD prospects on the cusp.