Two years brings carlo right to UFA. Zero chance they give him that term. Also no chance they don’t protect debrusk, or that krejci signs that deal.

If you think about it, they don't really have a choice with DeBrusk. They can only protect 7 forwards, and Bergeron, Marchand, and Pastrnak are obvious locks to be protected. Coyle has a NTC and Hall would probably want a NTC in his new contract, and would still probably be protected even without it. Krejci would probably want a NTC as well, so that makes 6. The last forward protected would then be down to one of Craig Smith, Nick Ritchie, or Jake DeBrusk. Smith has been on fire lately, and has historically been as good if not better than DeBrusk anyways. To me, it's between Ritchie or Smith. I think the Kraken would take DeBrusk over Ritchie because of DeBrusk's scoring potential, but I think they'd take Smith over DeBrusk. If Boston was able to keep both Smith and Ritchie, it would be a huge win for them. Also, leaving DeBrusk unprotected will bait Seattle away from taking Lauzon, Rielly or Zboril, meaning the Bruins won't have to search for a defenseman all over again.

Why wouldn't Krejci sign that deal? It's not always about money. Krejci has made plenty of money in his career, so why would he need more? I think he'd take a pay cut to stay with the Bruins. It would help if Hall signed first, so that Krejci would be ensured Hall on his line for the entirety of his deal.

It isn’t always about money when one team offers 5.25M, and another offers 5. First off, i highly doubt he signs three years. He’s always said he wants to finish his career in europe. 1x5. Simple.

Well the big thing you’re missing here is 1. NTC players don’t have to be protected. 2. They’re not going to protect Krejci or Hall. They’ll sign them after the expansion draft.

0% chance debrusk is unprotected.
0% chance carlo gets 2 years.

Forwards protected will be: Marchand, Bergeron, Pastrnak, Coyle, Smith, Debrusk, and then there’s decisions to be made about the final spot.

Moore's value is pretty tricky, because his salary and cap hit are the same. Ignoring the trade deadline, as teams usually overpay, the Marc Stall trade is a decent starting point. Cap hit was much higher, but paid salary was only about $3.2M. Moore is more of a 7D, whereas Marc Stall was a questionable NHLer. With that in mind, and considering LD is probably going to be a position of need for the Wings again, $2.75M over two seasons is probably worth closer to a 4th/5th round pick.