We don't have the cap to do this

This is not a bad draft. I expect some good players in the late rounds: Bardakov, Helenius, Moser etc. I would try to maximise late rounders for this draft as much as possible.

"Late 1st and 3rd in a crap-shoot draft." then why trade a great center for such a terrible return...? if the best we can do is Stastny at 2c whileonly getting a fraction of the value for Kuzy why do anything at all? Devil will paya late pick forSchultz no need to pay to dump. Dillon isnt a good top pairing option and the biggest issue we have is we are slow. You replace one of our fast players with Stastny.. and sign Chara again... is Driedger really an upgrade?

Caps aren't going anywhere with Stastny as their 2C. If they move Kuz they need a much better option than Stasnty.

And Caps get destroyed in that EDM trade. Sammy will be a top 5 goalie. He's young, cheap, and incredibly talented. Giving him away for a late 2nd is terrible.

So let's break down this Kuznetsov situation outlined here:

- Kuznetsov is not a bad player, nor is he declining. In fact, Kuznetsov has gotten better defensively. This season, (via Evolving-Hockey) Kuznetsov was in the 74th percentile for GAR/xGAR (77th in offense, 70th in defense). Last season, Kuznetsov was in the 2nd percentile defensively, which is awful. To put this in perspective, under Laviolette (and smarter zone deployments), Kuznetsov went up 68 points in net percentile defensively. He's still a solid player, and struggled at times this season due to two bouts with COVID.

- The Caps aren't going to trade Kuznetsov unless they're getting back a top six caliber forward. Trading Kuznetsov for futures doesn't make a ton of sense for a team that's nearing the end of a cup window. Caps are going to be all-in until they're clearly rebuilding, and Ovi/Backstrom retire.

- Stastny is a downgrade at center. Stastny was in the 52nd percentile for GAR/xGAR, and was worse offensively AND defensively than Kuznetsov in Evolving-Hockey's model. Not to mention he's slower and older than Kuznetsov.

I am not of the opinion that Kuznetsov is a great center. He's very talented but not engaged as often as he should be. McMichael will need a spot in the line-up by mid-season and that won't happen with Backstrom, Kuznetsov and Eller all under contract for multiple years. Stastny is just a fill-in and with a reasonable cap-hit he could be moved as well as utilizing the 3+ million remaining at the deadline. Chara played very well on the 3rd pair and while I don't see Driedger as an up-grade over Samsonov I like Vanecek who was the starter going into the playoffs.

You have 22 million

McMichael will be ready by mid-season if not right out of camp. Eller is one of the best 3C in the league and can play 2C in a pinch.

Yeah and we need to use that to sign Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, and Fiala. By the time that happens, we'll have maybe a few million to play with. We can't fit Kuzy's near $8M cap hit and sign those 3.

If I know anything about BMac is he wants guarantees. No guarantee at all McMichael will be a top 6 center ready by then.

Spot on. Even if you think McMichael is ready to be a top 6 center then move Kuzy to wing and the team will be even better.

They still need to clear Cap space in order to sign Ovechkin and Samsonov. I only picked Stastny because he's a versatile veteran who is strong on faceoffs, can center any line and is someone who may take a cheap 1 year deal to have a chance at a championship. Something has to give to work McMichael into the lineup. Backstrom isn't going anywhere, they gave up a ton for Mantha, Oshie and Wilson are heart and soul players, Sheary was just re-signed for 2 years and Sprong is young and cheap. What's the solution?

Don't trade Kuzy. https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/2494065

So the solution is to not bring in anyone? The Top-9 remains the same and Hagelin gets moved even though the 4th line was the most consistent line they had all season and he was #1 in SH TOI/GP among forwards on the 5th ranked PK in the league? That makes zero sense.