Trading Petersen for a rental goalie is unnecessary, and would be a mistake, but trading Gabe Vilardi with him just to dump his cap hit would be a crime.

We don't have to pay anything to get rid of Petersen's cap hit because we don't have to get rid of Petersen's cap hit. Why do some people find that simple concept beyond them? Do the same people think that Chicago is considering whether to trade Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews because of their $10.5 million cap hits?

The math is irrefutable, and no more challenging than seventh-grade level. Our roster for next season is already set WITH Petersen's cap hit absorbed. He's buried in Ontario at $3.875 million and he can stay there for the entire 2023-2024 season if he doesn't regain his form, and if not, he can be bought out cheaply in July 2024. And have you missed the fact that Vilardi is finally starting to justify his high draft position, is sixth in scoring among forwards on the team despite getting less ice time than the other five, and has a higher plus-minus (I know, a coarse statistic, but still helpful) than them?

Sens definitely accept that. Not a fan of Peterson but getting Vilardi in that deal is a no brainer. Doubt LA does it though for only a rental goalie. I sure wouldn’t.

Easy move BECAUSE :

- Take a chance on Petersen and see if he can somewhat rebound. Worse case scenario : bury him for the rest of the season and then buy him out

- Trade DeBrincat for a Top-4 RHD since I acquired Vilardi

- The RHD would most likely have a lower AAV, which allows for the Petersen overpayment

My line-up :

Tkachuk - Norris - Batherson
Greig - Stutzle - Giroux
Joseph - Pinto - Vilardi

That Top-9 has tremendous talent and potential

We’re up against the cap this year. That doesn’t factor in TM extension. We are going to badly need to clear cap in order to improve. That’s where we can’t afford to be paying for a 5M goalie who can’t play. If you think he can rebound and be a starter next year sure but if he’s lost than you have to dump him.

Regarding Vilardi, how many a people are you playing him over in your top 9 next year? Fiala? Kaliyev? Byfield? TM? Arvidsson? Realistically we need to clear roster space to create opportunities for JAD, Turc, ****emo etc to take the next step. He’s an ideal candidate to trade while he still has value for his ridiculous start to the year.

Sure a rental goalie may not be enough return for him but I think you underestimate how bad the Petersen contract is right now

Wrong.

We have a little less than $13 million in cap space on next year's roster WITH the Trevor Moore contract and Cal Petersen's $3.875 million buried hit on the books. Open slots are 3 forwards, including Vilardi, 3 defensemen including Anderson, and a goalie. The two extra forward slots (Kupari/Anderson-Dolan/Turcotte) and one defenseman slot (Bjornfot) are minimum-level amounts. So that's $10 million left to spread among Vilardi, Anderson, a defenseman and a back-up goalie (unless some other move creates room for a bigger name). I don't think that's "up against the cap."

The fact that we look like we're close to the ceiling right now due to your construction is irrelevant in light of the fact that Quick's cap hit comes off the books and Lemieux's cap hit will be replaced by a cheaper Rasmus Kupari, and in your construction you've added UFA Cam Talbot and Jakob Chychrun. Yes, IF we add Chychrun, then we will need to make another major adjustment. But that's a bridge to cross once it's built. Assuming that we have to dispose of Petersen is putting the cart before the horse.

The whole point is we’re up against the cap IF we want to improve. Sure we could run it back with the same squad but again we need to open slots for rookies and bring more top level talent not retain 12 middle six forwards