Im guessing Pesce is going to seek around 7M, so you might have spent a bit too much in FA, perhaps resigning Domi instead of Bertuzzi would give them enough room to sign Lundkvist next year if he breaks out.

I suggest unsubscribing from the Athletic.

Why? Because an idea was reported that you didn’t like about your favourite teams player? That doesn’t seem fair.

Not saying Pesce is available or not, but if he is it makes sense. He’s a pending UFA that knows he can get paid well on the open market being one of the top right handed defenceman available. He just changed agents which usually suggests he’s looking for a substantial payday or a change in teams - that’s usually what happens when players change agents/agencies. If Carolina felt like his asking price was too much, why wouldn’t they trade him now while his value is high, especially with a full season for a team to have him and with this years draft being deep? - sure starts to make a little bit of sense that he might be available. The game is a business first, all players can be made available at any time.

Pesce wont take 7 mil imo but yeah he isn't on the market

If Severson got 6.25, Pesce gets 8. 31 teams are after someone like Brett Pesce

Of course. He probably wants 8m+, there go half of the teams. Remove either Stank or March

Waddell is very good at getting players to sign at lower than their market value... Aho and Slavin as examples... I wouldn't be shocked if he gets Pesce and Skjei to sign at $6m a piece for 4-5 years

So if guys like McDavid, Matthews, Ekblad, or Makar changed agents tomorrow, we should be expecting them to suddenly be on the market? Players change agents all the time, more often around contract negotiations, yes, but that doesn’t necessarily make them available.

As for why the Canes wouldn’t trade Pesce now, how often do contenders trade away cornerstone pieces of their roster, who they can afford without much of a problem, in the middle of their contention window? The Canes aren’t going to get “fair” value in a return for Pesce, since he is a lot more valuable to the Canes than he would be to other teams, and the majority of the offers are likely to be futures based. The Canes are trying to win now, so futures that won’t be of any help on the active roster for at least 2-3 years really doesn’t do much.

As for the trade value, the Canes weren’t willing to include Pesce in packages for Laine, Eichel, or Nylander, so the player they would be trying to acquire would have to really blow them away, or the package offered would have to be made to be stupid to refuse. This offer doesn’t do that.

Agreed, Pesce's change to Wasserman Hockey is probably indicative of him wanting a substantial payday, one that Carolina historically hasn't been handing out to their top defenders that were around his age. So, perhaps he isn't available yet, since negotiations may have not even started, but him getting traded is a real possibility. I do imagine that it would happen after the draft but who knows maybe all parties already know that there isn't going to be an agreement.

That was all before Pesce was a year away from FA. Plus, considering that they are a defensive team, maybe they didn't want to weaken their D-core just to add upfront, especially since Laine doesn't play defence, Eichel was injured, and who knows what the offer was with Nylander if there was one.

Aho signed an offersheet with Montreal that was negotiated with Marc Bergevin because Waddell wouldn’t give him that much. & you’re giving Waddell credit for that? LOL

He also signs guys before they hit their high points so he’s banking on them progressing - Kotkaniemi is a prime example of that. Waddell isn’t as good at contracts as you say he is.

That isn’t correct. Waddell was willing to dig in on negotiating and get 8 years or a bridge with Aho. Aho wanted to take advantage of the likely, at the time, large jump in cap with the new tv deal. Aho wasn’t interested going into September with contract extensions. So he got his agent to get it over with.

I think it’s more because you don’t know the stars. Marchment just signed with Dallas bc he felt comfortable with the coaching staff after his dad passing. And no way in hell are the stars giving up stankoven. A 40 goals scorer on a rookie deal. Not a chance.

Okay the Aho one was a bad example.
He also signs guys before they hit their high points so he’s banking on them progressing... With them making the contract look like a steal happens more likely than not