Stan bowman would be all over that hawks trade. Thankfully he's not the gm anymore. Hawks pass.

Benching the captain

How much you think Magiapane is worth with all that coming to Flames, VOO retention and Lucic with negative value

Why buyout Lucic?

Hawks definitely decline, Calgary simply isn't going to trade Mangiapane, even if that is an overpay. Buying put Lucic is stupid, doesn't even give you half a league min deal is cap space

Lucic's NMC means he can't be buried in Rochester and I wouldn't put him on the roster over anyone here.
Buying him out before July 1 saves 3.33M in actual dollars and only pushes a 300K$ cap hit onto next season.

More of a depth chart than an actual lineup.
I don't think Okposo gets the captaincy though, specifically because I think he'll spend some time in the press box this year.
Barring injuries I could see a steady rotation of players where he's a healthy scratch for 15 games or so.
Keeping everyone fresh through the dog days of the season.

He did just score 38 goals and is a dynamic player in both ends of the ice.
He's also only 26.
Idk what CGY will do with their current cap situation but I could see a bidding war if he's the sacrificial lamb.

VO, is 26, scored 20 goals, on not very good Sabres team. Do upgrade in 18 goals is really worth:
- 16th pick
- 2023 2nd
- Lucic cap dump and buyout (5 mil)
- VO retention (2,5mil)
- 1,5 mil for Magiapane cap hit over VO cap hit.
?

Would it be possible, that VO scores 30 on improved Sabres team, while staying healthy ? Where is the value for Sabres ?

Lucic's buyout only costs 667K$...
Fully possible that he might but Victor will never have the 200ft game that Mangiapane does in my opinion. That's where Mangiapane is immensely more valuable than Victor to a young team wanting to compete.

Don't get me wrong, I think Magiapanne is good player, best one in whole trade, but I doubt he is worth that much to upgrade from Olofsson to him.