Preds traded Ellis away bc they intend to extend both Ekholm and Forsberg. I cant see them trading him for any reason

I would probably think Salo or Bolduc takes that 3LD position and Dobson will likely come in at double that. You can fit that under the cap. Ekholm and Pulock contracts look good, but I'd imagine Pulock would get 7 or 8 rather than 6 years.

I think the emergence of Alex Carrier this past season was the biggest factor in NSH deciding to trade Ellis. Yes the Preds very much want to re-sign Ekholm, I could see a trade closer to the deadline though, if negotiations don't go well.

That being said, the offer here isn't close. I know the OP said they're not concerned with the value in this proposal, but a 1st and a busted prospect isn't the best starting point.

Maybe Salo or Bolduc, especially with Mayfield being moved to the 3rd pair here that could work for sure. They still probably sign a cheap guy that can be a #7 though as well so that one of those 2 isn't sitting out 90% of the season.

I don't see Dobson getting more than this at 2 years, maybe at 3 years he gets an extra 1M like Jokiharju but a 2 year bridge should fall around 1.5-2M, similar to Valimaki

Obviously purely speculation, but I think he will have big year this year which would earn him that contract. But if the contract was given today, it would likely come in around what you proposed IMO.

Then lets split the difference and go with 2.5 like Joker. He had an excellent 2nd half of the year to earn that deal