I think they still need both Bear and Coghlan now that Cole and Smith are gone, and I think Bear can come back from a rough second half of last season. Even if they trade him, hopefully having him signed will bring them better value. I don’t think this practice of trading their RFAs for draft picks instead of re-signing them is sustainable, so it’s a bit of a relief to see them sign one.

If Gardiner stays on LTIR they’ll have more than enough cap space for Necas. He’s coming off his worst season, so I don’t think he’s going to get big money or term.

Gardiner was good to go according to the GM so I dont see LTIR. But for Bear he and the coach didnt seem to get along and he was often a HS. I feel a change of scenery is better for both

I understand not wanting to sell low on a young, talented player. But, Necas was so lost out there last season. Maybe they get him at a big discount and it pays off long term. I just don't see it.

ok give your employer 10% of your pay back then.

Looks like a - Show us what you got- Contract. Hope it works out for him. He has the potential.

Looks a bit slim, however. With being strapped to the 3rd line.

Have him pay me 2 million first and okay

so you side with the billionaires over the players?

Necas will be dealt!?! What for?

If you were making $50k would you not want $5k more. It's the same difference

Good 3rd line defensemen for Carolina. Still don’t understand why Edmonton traded him

I should've said, the should trade him. If Gardiner stays on LTIR, they. don't need to free up any more cap space. But, he's too soft and he's a perimeter player. Based on last season (especially in the playoffs), he's not a player you win with. Maybe he redeems himself next season, but he doesn't look like a great fit for the Canes moving forward.

Yeah, I guess Gardiner is coming back. Apparently he’s fully recovered and playing summer hockey in Minnesota. He never got fully untracked with Carolina, but I think he was carrying nagging injuries that started when he was still in Toronto, so taking a year off to try to get them taken care of once and for all was probably the best thing for him. I hope it works. If not, they can waive him and bury some of his cap hit.

If it came down to a choice between Bear and Necas, I’d keep Necas, but even with Gardiner’s cap hit on the books, I think they could still make signing Necas work without getting rid of Bear. Necas probably thinks he deserves what Kotkaniemi got, and he could make a case for that based on the fact that he put up better numbers in his worst season than Kotkaniemi in his best, but he’s not going to get it. Necas isn’t arbitration eligible and doesn’t have the leverage KK had, plus he’s been trending in the wrong direction. I think he’s shown enough and is young enough that it would be premature to give up on him now, so a year or two at around $3M to see if he can get back to what he showed in the 2021 season or be effective in a different role seems appropriate. That’s more cap space than they have now, but it’s close enough that they should be able to make room for it with a minor roster move or two. Cap Friendly lists him as a RW-C, and they have a bit of a hole at center now, so I might try him there.

Cap Friendly shows Burns as already having been assigned jersey #8, so that could be a sign that they’re definitely keeping Necas, because Burns didn’t need to pick a Jersey number yet. He could have waited to see if 88 would become available.

I didn’t think Bear had a problem with the coach. I think he had covid and injury issues, and then Brendan Smith, who had been the seventh defenseman, played really well toward the end of the season so Bear became the odd man out. I think they’d like to keep seven defensemen on the NHL roster like last season, so that would mean spots for both Bear and Coghlan even if Gardiner makes the team. They could trade Bear and keep the more economical Chatfield as #7, but I’d be inclined to wait until after training camp to make that decision, because I still consider Gardiner uncertain until we see what he looks like against NHL competition.