Modifié 12 nov. 2022 à 12 h 29
This trade helps all 3 teams accomplish their goals through trading negative value contracts to each other.
Arizona:
-Nemeth vs Zaitsev makes no difference to Arizona. In fact, Zaitsev might even be an upgrade for them because he can eat up big minutes, and not do a good enough job to disrupt their tank.
-More importantly, they get a 3rd round pick for increasing their salary next season by 1M.
-Even more importantly, they actually save money next season by swapping Zaitsev for Nemeth. Even know Zaitsev has a higher salary, his salary is at parity with his cap hit (4.5/4.5). Nemeth's salary is 1M more than his cap hit (3.5M salary vs 2.5M cap hit). This means that they have to pay more to hit the floor with Nemeth in their organization than with Zaitsev. That is major attraction of this deal for them. They shed a contract where the salary exceeds the cap hit.
Ottawa:
-Ottawa is gridlocked due to its budget. The league as a whole is gridlocked because of the salary cap. They need to improve their defence, and they don't have a lot of options. Reilly is not a saviour, but he was a solid #5 D in DJ Smith's system.
-This is a close to salary-neutral move for Ottawa (+250k this season, -500k next season).
-This is close to an asset-neutral move for Ottawa. They downgrade a future 3rd for a current 5th. That is not a huge cost.
Boston:
-This is purely a cap move for Boston. Nobody wants Reilly without Boston taking back cap.
-Boston pays a 5th round pick to gain 500k in cap space.
-Additionally, Nemeth's buyout in the off season is slightly cheaper than Reilly's.
Even if the assets (3rd to ARZ, 5th to OTT) are slightly off value wise. The premise of the trade is what matters.