The whole hard against the cap thing is negated by 4-6 teams being interested in Killorn especially if you think you're a contender

The level to which Tampa is against the cap will seriously effect their return. I mean, any of us would gladly be in that situation with a 2020 cup, possibly a 2021 cup, and a core to contend for years.

Tampa is currently $5mil over the cap with 19 contracts. They have to move 2 if not all 3 of Johnson, Palat, and Killorn to be cap compliant next year barring a Gourde or McDonaugh move. It doesn't help their leverage that all the contracts they need to move have trade protection. Cirelli, Point, and Sergachev are their only $4mil plus contracts with no trade protection and obviously they are untouchable.

Johnson- 3 years left on an overpaying contract and a 12 Team NTC, will require assets to move contract
Palat- 1 year left on a market value contract, 12 Team NTC
Killorn- 2 years left on a market value contract, 16 Team NTC
Gourde- 4 years left on a bit of an overpay contract, other teams will be wary of term, Full NTC
McDonaugh- 5 years left, good value now but other teams will be wary of term as it goes until he's 37, Full NTC

and how many of those free agents have a ring maybe 2 and been to 5 conference finals in 7 years and play like Killorn does in the Playoffs?

I'm not debating Tampa has had a ton of team success and Killorn has been a contributor. What I'm saying is that Tampa has no choice but to dump 3 pricy contracts WITH trade protection in a flat cap environment. Pre-covid you're walking away with probably a 1st plus, current market a 2nd plus is the ceiling of what you'll get offered in a bidding war but more likely to settle for a bit less than that.

The comparison to Nate Schmidt is valid... he only got a 3rd in return because Vegas had to dump cap to get Pietrangelo... that was a top 4 puck moving defenseman in his prime (which half the league always seems to be after) and resulted in a pretty underwhelming return.

Id be pissed if i were an Edmonton Fan if your telling me you didn't spend a little more to get the guy you think puts you over because it's perceived as helping an eastern conference teams cap situation That's just bad management.

We recently had a GM that overspent on every deal he ever made, that made me pissed and was also bad management.

We recently had a GM that overspent on every deal he ever made, that made me pissed and was also bad management.

The level to which Tampa is against the cap will seriously effect their return. I mean, any of us would gladly be in that situation with a 2020 cup, possibly a 2021 cup, and a core to contend for years.

Tampa is currently $5mil over the cap with 19 contracts. They have to move 2 if not all 3 of Johnson, Palat, and Killorn to be cap compliant next year barring a Gourde or McDonaugh move. It doesn't help their leverage that all the contracts they need to move have trade protection. Cirelli, Point, and Sergachev are their only $4mil plus contracts with no trade protection and obviously they are untouchable.

Johnson- 3 years left on an overpaying contract and a 12 Team NTC, will require assets to move contract
Palat- 1 year left on a market value contract, 12 Team NTC
Killorn- 2 years left on a market value contract, 16 Team NTC
Gourde- 4 years left on a bit of an overpay contract, other teams will be wary of term, Full NTC
McDonaugh- 5 years left, good value now but other teams will be wary of term as it goes until he's 37, Full NTC