I like all of your moves, only variations i believe are Sturm will get a little more like $1.75mil for 3yrs, Goligoski will get $2mil flat like he agreed with BG when he signed here. The big move i believe he will trade Talbot to free up about 2.5mil and get about $6mil in cap space flexibility to sign a couple more entry level contracts like Wallstedt & McBain. Thatll leave him about 2.5-3mil for free agent signings and leave about 1-1.5mil in cap space going into next year. Dumba could get a 1st for sure from Seattle i believe....or could be packaged to Vancouver for Horvat or MIller too. But i believe all will be done in the offseason and he will ride this group barring any devastating injuries for a playoff run and see where we are at.

That was only a rumor and it was a long time ago. Given the season he’s having and the fact that it’s almost February, I think we can stop assuming that the $2M is a set it stone figure.

I think Billy G may ride with Talbot for 1 more year, and I think if I’m correct about JW’s ELC sliding next year then I think we go that route 10/10 with him

What do you think goose gets next year?

I think if he comes back it will be 2.3-2.5. He could get more elsewhere, but may just prefer to stick in MN for family/personal reasons. Im just not entirely convinced we’ll even bring him back at this point. The dollars are tight. With Merrill’s extension and now Greeners, some ppl are gonna have to walk.

He leads the team in points by defenseman this year. As long as it's less than $2.5M, he's coming back. Unless it's an ELC, there's nothing out there in terms of a top 4 defenseman that you can get that's less than $6M.

And Addison plays the wrong side. Furthermore, none of our LD prospects will be ready for the NHL for at least another two years.

I’m aware of all of that. Nothing you said guarantees that he’s coming back though. They could just as well over promote an existing guy in Kuli or Merrill.

Not everyone can stay. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess as to who stays and who goes. All I’m suggesting is that there is an argument for Goose being one of those that doesn’t come back.

I highly doubt it. If anything it's likely going to be the Sturm, Bjugstad, Rask types that'll be moved on from. We already have internal options and replacements in line within our own system that'll be cheaper than what they'll cost. Combine those with our ELC's and things start to balance themselves out.

That said... one of Fiala, Dumba or Zuccarello likely gets moved.

You can doubt it all you want, but if you’re not at least considering the possibility of letting Goose walk, you’re being unnecessarily limiting. I’m not saying that’s what will or should happen but it’s 100% an option.

They’re also not moving Zucc. Goose walks long before they trade him, not that those are all that interconnected.

I'm saying the organization won't let him walk when they can reasonably have a top 4 defenseman sign for under $4M when the going rate for one is currently $6M+ out on the open market for a top 4 D-mans services.

If anything, it would allow Guerin to be even more flexible from a franchise point of view. Not less. The team loses depth up front, that's it.

Wallstedt's contract would not slide. Because he turns 20 in November of this year, he would not qualify for a slide this year despite signing as a 19 year old. Had he signed his ELC in 2021, he would slide because turning 20 would not have happened in the same calendar year.

Rookie replaces old vet, happens all the time in the league. Addison replacing Goli in the lineup will just be the next chapter in that book.

If the intent is to have Addison playing in the NHL next year Goli is the gone. Re-signing Merrill is a big nail in the coffin for Goli.

The kids for the d-corps come up 1 per season. Addison next year to replace Goli. ROR to replace Kulikov. Lambos to replace push Merrill into the pressbox. Merrill is there to cover if one of them needs more AHL time.

Ah didn’t read the last sentence from the ELC slide FAQ page on here. Thank you

Addison plays Right side, so if we were to do this who moves to the Left? Or are you proposing merril be our 2nd pair LD?

Brodin, Kulikov, Merrill as the LD (all LHS, natural LD)

I just can’t see GMBG slotting Addison into the 3d pair and have him play with Kulikov or Merril. His game is to similar to Dumba to keep both, and with the cap crunch Dumba will probably be the casualty unless he signs a 3 year 5M AAV deal with the promise to get paid after.

Even though I’m not completely sold on Addison yet, I love the idea of having him as the 3rd paring RHD! With the depth and balance of the forward lines, having a dman who can push the offense on each pairing makes perfect sense and is outside-the-box thinking! Mismatches are two-way streets and if the Wild can apply offensive pressure from all 4 lines and all 3 D pairings…let the other teams figure out how to defend us!

Addison plays the same game as Spurgeon: small, puck moving, PP specialist. The only way Addison is similar to Dumba is how lost he looks in the d-zone when Dumba was a rookie.

Addisons Height and Weight and also his point production and PIMs in the WHL are all closer to Dumba so I’d say he’s more Dumba than spurgeon, biggest difference is probably the big shot, but Dumba can’t even hit the net with it so who cares