Quoting: JordanCGrant
Hamilton is looking for and will get Pietranglo money. His analytics support it as well. On MAF you're getting him for one year to determine if Lankinen can be a #1 to either Commasseo or one of the two goalies in this draft are ready to play. Plus Suter scored most of his goals/points against weaker teams and only scored once on the road.
In terms of next year you have almost $27 million to pay those players with Dach likely getting a bridge deal and Boquist getting a modest pay bump to no more than $3. Kalynukk and Kurashev haven't proven anything yet to make themselves expenses resigning. Murphy and Kubliak could take more, but you have plenty of money and other options like buying out Connelly.
Exactly why we should not acquire Hamilton and I don't believe he exceed $9M a year cap hit. He is a defensive liability but really good offensively. The Hawks are fine offensively, they are terrible defensively. He's the wrong fit for that reason and committing a huge amount of cap in a flat cap world when considering how difficult next offseason in order to be cap compliant will be, he's just not the right fit.
On that same note, Suter would be another mistake. Why trade a 37 year old to acquire a 36 year old in Suter (going on 37 midway into the season)? This is not a cup chasing team, Suter is not a good fit in the same light MAF is not a good fit. You also forgot about Zadarov.
No goalie drafted this draft will be ready in one season. Commesso also won't be ready next season either. Goalies take a long time to develop. Drafted goalies typically take 2 years at a minimum to be ready (Commesso will need more) to 5 or 6 years. It is extremely rare for a goalie to enter the league prior to being before 21 years old and more common around 24 years old. Giving up Suter for a 1 year rental is a big mistake, as Suter is a huge pickup by the Hawks. He's versatile, plays a 2 way game, and is the perfect fit for our 3C position. Looking at who he played with is important very independent of that. Vegas needs to shed cap space, and the Hawks aren't in the market to be acquiring 1 year rentals if it costs assets.
Lastly, Strome is definitely not a winger and has proven that over and over...failed experiment when it's been tried. Borgstrom also is a huge gamble that cost the Hawks barely anything...there's a reason he didn't cost much.
That $27M calculation is not correct.
Dach - $5M bridge (maybe more depending on play)
BoQ - $3M bridge (maybe more depending on play)
Kubalik - $6M'ish
Kurashev - $2M
Murphy - $5M
Strome - $4M'ish (likely he will be traded)
Kalynuk - $1.5M
Laniken or Delia - $2M
$28.5M, conservatively, to sign those guys collectively. With your AGM you have $54M existing on the books so together that is $82.5M against a $81.5M cap. Even if you figure out a way to save $1M to $2M with the signings, it leaves zero flexibility for a rebuilding team.