For the MTL trade, it’s either way a 5th for Armia no salary retained or SEA 2nd RD pick vs Armia half retained

If Kassian is a cap dump, so is Armia. Crazy that you'd trade a 2nd for the guy.

If Keith retires, Edmonton will have a $86M cap limit.

That’s a stupid rule get rid of it

Habs take that

It only applies to contracts signed before the 2013 CBA, so it'll get rid of itself. And it's not a stupid rule, it was designed to prevent cap-cheating contracts like Keith's 13-year deal.

We happy going into year 8 of McDavid with that goaltending duo? Really? Like we are ok with that?

I am praying Keith retires. He has been bad more often than good and tying up nearly $6M is crippling to this team. Not that Holland would be smart with all the money we'd get from Keith retiring, but still.

Really hoping Smith is done too. At least he doesn't have a NMC. He can either ride the season on the LTIR or enjoy being away from his family in Bakersfield. I am concerned that Holland has too much respect for Smith.

Fine with the Kassian deal. Needs to be off this team.

From what I have heard, Armia isn't great, so don't think taking on 3 years of his deal is worth it. Not worth it.

Like all the RFA contracts you gave. All team friendly while still being relatively generous to the players.

The more and more I see Kane play, the more and more I want them to keep him. Ideally a $4M x 3 years contract is what he gets, but if he goes off in playoffs, I'd be inclined to give a little more.

Feel like I'd want to keep Barrie still. I think he is a punching bag for absolutely no reason. He is paid as a #4 dman, looks good on the pp, and is a good puck move. We do not have enough of that to make him expendable imo.

No thanks from NSH. A 3rd isn't much compensation to take on that contract.

First and foremost, this is a great comment with actual dialogue.

1. No, that goaltending Duo is no where near good enough. The issue I have is who can the Oilers get this offseason realistically? Keumper likely resigns in COL, Campbell no thanks, Fluery won't come, Husso maybe but he scares me
2. Keith & Smith both should retire and I hope they do, if they do the bigger question is how does KH spend that money
3. Kassian is either dumped or bought out imo, that being said Myers could play in a 3rd pair role
4. Armia is having a very down season, but in the past he has played as a responsible 2 way fwd. Perhaps you could get MTL to retain more salary but in a 3rd line role I think he could succeed in EDM
5. Tuch is the contract comp for JP & Kapanen is the contract comp for Yam
6. Kane has been a great add for EDM, I would prefer a 2 yr deal with guys like Holloway & Broberg needing deals in 2024/2025
7. Barrie is a valuable player, possibly worth a 1st round pick to some teams. My issue with him is I see him as a redundancy due to Bouchard, who moves the puck well on the PP and 5v5 (yes there are still some growing pains happening).

Hahah you realize Myers went through waivers this year

Armia is a better player than Kassian. He is having a down season, perhaps the return is a touch high but EDM could use a 3rd line RW that PKs and is good in all 3 zones

You realize Kassian is a bigger cap dump that NSH would be stuck with for longer?

I actually kind of like Kassian and think having him would free up Jeannot or Trenin to move up to the second line. I’d love to see

Forsberg Joey Duchene
Jeannot Granlund tomasino
Tolvanen glass Kunin
Trenin sissons Kassian

Buying out Myers gives us about 600,000 in capspace season 1 and cost about 600,000 in season 2. I like Kassian so I think the trade is fair ish but if you hate Kassian and his contract this would be a big negative for Nashville as Kassians contract is harder to deal with

Instead of taking on an older player like Kassian, I'd rather try to sign someone like Mason Marchment. He's a big, physical, player like Kassian, but younger and more skilled. He'd be more able to replace Jeannot's offensive spark on the Herd line than Kassian, and would probably cost about what Kassian makes (maybe less). Marchment would be much better able to slide up the roster too, when there are injuries.

I'm really adverse to taking on overpaid 3rd or 4th liners with term, like Kassian. Just because NSH has the cap space right now, there's no reason to fritter it away on mediocre depth players. Just look at the Canucks - they gave out a bunch of Kassian-esque contracts and now they're out of the playoffs again. They've got no space to re-sign Boeser or make upgrades, because they're stuck with Myers, Pearson, Dickinson, etc.

1) I do agree the goalie free agency market is very dry this offseason, so unless a big trade is possible, we won't be blown away by improvements made. Having said that, if you can keep it to 3 years at a reasonable AAV, Husso might be the play. He looks like a steady goalie. With the small sample size, obviously there is risk (ex. Dreidger)
2) My guess is any free money goes to more washed up vets or guys he liked in Detroit. Seems to be a pattern here.
3) Yep
4) I know he has had good years in the past and everyone on MTL is playing pretty poor aside from a few people, but even with retention, thats just not a good player to target. At $2.5M, if everything goes to plan and he bounces back, he is worth his contract. Anything less than his best makes it a bad contract. Oilers can't afford anymore bad contracts. With all the dead cap space, and now Nurses albatross of a contract, this team does not have many bargain contracts (McD, Drai, Nuge, Kane are pretty much it (not including ELCs)). Not to mention you want Holloway in the top 9, so no need for a player like Armia.
5) Agree
6) Agree
7) I never really understood that argument. "Bouchards emergence" makes Barrie expendable??? This team has been dying for puck movers on the back. That is not a strength of Nurse, Kulak, Keith, Ceci, or Russell. With the speed of todays game, its a super valuable skill. Bouchard is putting up decent offensive numbers, but he is consistently losing battles and looking flustered all over the ice. He is a long ways away from being a trusted dman. We even saw this season already, the game both Barrie and Bouchard were out of the lineup. They spent the whole game in their dzone and when they had pps, couldn't hold offensive possession for more than 10 seconds. It was one of their worst games of the season. I will certainly agree that if you can find a cheaper player that can be as effective as Barrie, then I have no problem moving him, but I don't know who that is. Like the second Bouchard were to miss and game, you immediately go to Keith running the pp? Because thats where we are at right now. Nurse looks bad on the pp. Idk, I just feel like Barrie brings a valuable skill set and is by no means overpaid for what he bring.

Armia is 7th among Canadiens forwards for 4v5 TOI/GP this season, he's not a PK wizard. His 11:15 average at 5v5 is 13th on that team, indicating that he's not a 3rd liner even on a non-playoff squad. He's a cap dump, pure and simple.

Armia v Ryan, individual rates
Armia v Ryan, on-ice rels

Ryan is on a much cheaper contract, yet I don't see anyone giving up a 2nd for him either. This simply isn't close to FMV.