Ottawa will try to protect Paul

Barring any trades, it's wild to think that Seattle won't even come close to getting the caliber of players that Vegas got. I've always thought that Vegas needed to be competitive asap though, to gain a serious following. I think Seattle fans will be patient and let their GM build the team through the draft, which is better long term anyway.

Like the young team but you could have taken somebody better than Subban for 9 mil. Also, Tyler Johnson doesn't deserve 5 mil. But since you have so much cap space, its fine. Good job.

I like the Evans, Tanev, Graves and L'espérance picks.

Thats about it.

Here's mine:

https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/2135432

i doubt they'll protect Paul

I don't know man...I honestly think Seattle is in a better position to take advantage of teams than Vegas was. Flat cap combined with teams that are going to be struggling financially due to Covid? Very good chance that it's a bloodbath between teams trying to get Seattle to take their cap hits, which will result in a similar or better situation than VGK had.

I also can't argue with VGK's strategy...They've continued to amass talent, while always having at least one 1st round pick. Their system has been pretty solid.

You're right, I hadn't thought of that... the flat cap definitely will start a bidding war. I guess Seattle's actually in pretty good shape.

As for Vegas, I agree it was the right move for them in their situation. But I think a team like Seattle should be looking to the future rather than the immediate short term. There was no guarantee Vegas would be contending right away either, so I think it's probably not worth the gamble for Seattle. They should hold onto their picks and prospects, whereas Vegas used theirs to acquire star players (Pacioretty, Stone).

I think it's good to look at it on a case by case basis...If all I have to give up for 8.5 years of Mark Stone is Brannstrom+2nd+Oscar Lindberg, I'm doing it all day long...If I'm going for Patches, and it essentially costs me a 1st+2nd+3rd (Tatar at trade deadline)+2nd+Suzuki, Efffff that...Although, they should have buyers/sellers remorse on Tatar, who just didn't fit into Turk's system.

Yeah I hated the Pacioretty trade for Vegas, but I agree the Stone trade makes sense for them (and anyone). I guess I'm just more inclined to watch a team buikd through the draft - winning with homegrown talent is more satisfying plus you get anywhere from one to three years of ELCs when you draft and develop.

The Rangers made the mistake of trying to build through trades/free agency in the 2010s... they made it to an ECF and a SCF, but they didn't stand a chance of winning either time. It was really a combination of luck and easy opponents. I've been much happier with the Rangers since 2018 when they started their rebuild. I have more faith in this young, struggling team than I ever did a team led by an aging Gaborik, Richards, and Nash.

I think people love the idea of building a team from scratch, because it's more video-game-ish.

I mean, it's certainly fun to think about the idea of Vegas having Suzuki, Glass, Brannstrom and Hague (plus fringy prospect Jake Leschyshyn) just from the first two rounds of their original draft, plus the fact that if they hadn't moved 22OA in 2018 for Brassard (Pending UFA), and Reaves (I guess he's terrifying...) they'd also potentially have K'Andre Miller.

Just a quick glance at the trades that they've made, in addition to those 6, Veleno was also available when Detroit used Vegas's pick from the Tatar trade.

I do think that Vegas is a team that's built to contend for a while though, which is also pretty cool (But bad for my Ducks, who have to share a division with them...)

Good points. I agree it was the right move for Vegas.

I'm genuinely curious about Seattle though...because even though I've got myself convinced that they're going to end up with a bajillion picks/prospects for taking contracts, a small, little, itty bit part of my brain is screaming "NHL GM's ARE GOING TO HOLD ONTO THEIR BAD CONTRACTS OUT OF SPITE FOR HOW BADLY VEGAS R*PED THEM".

One part of me says that they could definitely end up with up with anywhere between 5-7 1st round picks over the next two years, and the other part thinks they'll end up content with a $60 mil payroll.

I loved watching Vegas with their wealth of resources at the entry draft. I hope Seattle is in the same position. I also hope they get some great franchise cornerstones through the draft (thinking one of Power, Beniers, Clarke, or Johnson in 2021 and Wright, Savoie or Lambert in 2022.

Agreed. As a Ducks fan, getting Kariya with our first ever draft pick was pretty friggin' cool. Then, moving our next two picks (Tverdovsky+Chad Kilger) for Selanne...genius!

I was about to say how poorly they drafted in their first handful of years, but my lanta...what a bunch of mediocre draft classes!