Not exactly the lines I see being run, but the most likely way to open up cap room.

Im assuming youre referring to me having Boone as our #1 Center. I think this is the closest we get to recreating last season's "best line in hockey" (Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk). Obviously Gaudreau is gaudreau in that scenario, Boone fills in Tkachuks role as a physical, gritty forward with the ability to crash the net and not to mention win faceoffs, and Laine plays the sniper role

Trades are a maybe...not sure NSH's F needs since they just signed Nino.

Bean could have some value; but, we likely aren't getting a 2nd, particularly if there is substance to the Team Canada allegations.

Unfortunately, we likely aren't going to re-coup value for Gus, if anything. A lot of teams are in a cap-crunch, and it's a buyer's market right now when it comes to teams flush with cap space who can take dumps (even if Gus is still a legitimately good player). Portzline tweeted that Jarmo has been moving like crazy to move cap, but the few teams with space are getting a lot of calls, and are basically waiting for teams to sweeten the pot.

Actually no, I can see that. I was more referring to having Marchenko and chinakov on the 4th line. I’d also switch Sillinger and Roslovic or Voracek and Johnson.

JG-Boone-Laine
Voracek - Sillinger - Bjorkstrand
Roslovic centering Marchenko, Chinakov or Johnson
Robinson - Karuly - Texier (was one of Columbus’s best lines last season) with Oliver being the extra forward.

Yeah i struggled on deciding what the return would be in this scenario. The saving grace for the Nyquist trade is the the predators arent far from being a contender but like you said the current market is crazy. Also I completely forgot about the Nino signing when making this. The bean trade is tough too but assuming he wasnt involved i think we could definitely get a 2024 2nd. Obviously picks in the 2023 draft have a ton of trade value right now which is why i pushed it back a year

Sorry i jumped the gun. Ive been seeing a lot of people undervalue Boone this offseason so I just assumed he was the issue. I could see that for sure but I think it largely depends on Chinakhov and Marchenko's camp. I see them both surpassing Robinson at some point its just a matter of when. I also love the thought of having the russian wingers on the same line. From what I saw last season Chinakhuv as tons of potential to be a top 6 winger once he has a few seasons to adjust