Tampa has a favourable tax structure, Calgary does not.

21 man roster won't work

If Monahan's LTIR is dealt, it could work, barely. You could also reduce the Gudbranson AAV some in exchange for an extra year to get more space to accumulate.

moving Lucic will cost a 1st because any team who has cap knows your desperate and Monahan won’t be ok being buried on the LTIR considering he will be looking to rebound in an attempt to get another contract.

Tampa was just as "desperate" to dump and it only costed them a 2nd to deal Johnson's contract. This is from a neutral fan's perspective, too. I made this roster as a Carolina fan lol

Tax climate is bad everywhere these days. No matter what NHL city you live in, you are keeping less than half of what you make (and that is not counting escrow or agency fees).

not a bad comp. but Chicago was hoping to get something out of Johnson as he was younger and not far removed from good numbers and play and Lucic is much more of a cap dump at this point. but you might be right here.

I do think having some playoff success increases the likelihood of Gaudreau staying.

He is gone. He has been noted to wanting to play closer to home. I think the Devils, Buffalo, and Philly are the likely landing spots. Each one of them have easier travel schedules too. I also think a team like NJ can easily offer him at least 10 mil per.

The other problem is Tkachuk is going to want to get paid. His brother is making more than him and producing less. Tkachuk will command at least 10.5 mil per. Calgary will have to choose which one they want to keep and it is clear it should be Tkachuk.

Tkachuk is going to get paid. I don't disagree. I simply modeled my above roster as a sort of "Tampa West". I just wonder if Calgary, in the event that they go on a deep run, agree to terms with both Gaudreau and Tkachuk, and in the process find some sort of arrangement not dissimilar to how Tampa Bay manages their top end of the roster, around the $9.5M/year threshold.

The problem with that model is Tampa has no state income tax. Calgary has high tax rates. Meaning the team would have to shell out more money. The Tkachuk boys are known to want top dollar, no discount. Brady did that to Ottawa there is no reason to think Matthew won’t do the same.

I think winning is more important than tax rates. When the neighboring Florida Panthers stank up the joint, nobody ever gave them discounts in UFA (see Bobrovsky!). Boston, despite one of the highest state tax rates in the US, gets guys locked in at reasonable cap hits, including Taylor Hall, mainly because they're a perennial winner. There's a far stronger correlation of players choosing to play for top contenders than players choosing to play for tax havens.

It's funny because the only "rumour" that Gaudreau wants to leave is from a reporter that has tried to run him out of town.

The Gaudreau family is tight-knit. The organization by all accounts has treated his family great. His dad and Sutter have formed a relationship, his dad also knows hockey. He said that Sutter is the best possible coach for Johnny. All of this is on the record, as is Gaudreau saying that he loves playing in Calgary. All of that is on the record, "he wants to play in the East" has never been substantiated. If the Flames went 10.5x8, in UFA that equals 12x7 if he wants to chase money.

Anyways, I can't believe you listed Buffalo as a landing spot lol.

Yeah but your talking about a chance to go somewhere HE wants. The Calgary drawback is being in the West. If he goes to the east coast there is better travel scheduling. For a guy like Gaudreau that could be very appealing. Even if he did come back to Calgary it would make it difficult to afford the core long term considering they gave up so much futures for this run. I just can’t see Calgary hand cuffing themselves cap wise knowing that Tkachuk’s contract is going to be expensive.

As far as Buffalo goes, they could be a dark horse.

Nonsense. Even with Mony on LTIR, you've only got $-25,000 to sign two more players.