The Blues aren't taking back Howden.

They would. They can live with him for like 20 games and then just not qualify him in the summer. No big deal.

Sorry, that should say taking back Howden for nothing. This asks for max retention and two dumps. That's really pushing it. The Blues are not going to subsidize the Cup run of a team they don;t like.

They will maximize the futures they can get. They are already getting as much as they can realistically expect for ROR. With $7M left in cap space, no big deal to take some expiring cap.

Again, money and cap are not free. Whoever told you that they were was lying to you.

Again, if Armstrong is savvy and wants the best return for ROR, he doesn't let his hatred for Vegas nix a deal of 3 expiring contracts.

What does that have to do with anything I said in the post you quoted? And for the record, the Blues do not currently have space to take three contract dumps.

ROR shouldn't get more than Senko.

I also don't think he should get much less.

Blais is equivalent to howden in his role in the trade imo.
The third is to take Broissoit.

ROR for a first.
If you'd like a lower end spec thrown in to play the role Skinner has, that's no problem.

If a team literally cannot make a deal because of cap, nobody plays hardball over the market value of 1.5m at the risk of losing out on the trade.