This should be interesting. Only thing I don't like is how Hughes is a 7 mill defender. Then again Seth Jones got paid 8x9.5M with a full NMC the whole term. Anything can happen. If Hughes gets better defensively than last year and that Top 6 is as elite as it is on paper, they could make it to the cup final. We shall see.

I think if Schmidt goes to Florida there would need to be money coming back. As of today they have $7.1 million in cap or so and have to sign Reinhart.

Dickenson also needs a bit more than that.

Quinn was a nightmare defensively last season but his ability to transition the puck is really what transformed the basement Canucks of 2016-2019 to the, er, semi relevant group they are now. This whole thing depends on OEL finding his game. I don't actually subscribe to the "play Quinn Hughes with a defensive guy" line of thinking. We need a defense pair that can play against the other teams best guys in our own zone. Savard can be that guy for example. Myers last year had something like a 65% defensive zone start which is absurd and it's no wonder his analytics are trash. We have a problem of miscasting defenders and that needs to change for us to start contending.