There's cap space left for Markov with a buyout, but not only does it put us up against the cap with no wiggle room, it is a buyout that will last for about 6 years. For 6 years, we will have $1.58 million dollars invested in something that we cannot use. Or for 3 years, we can have $5 million invested in something we may occasionally use. It's a tricky decision. I think we should try to fight through as many years of MacDonald as we are able to to reduce that buyout time. Thankfully, because of the amount of young talent that we have on ELC's, we are capable of waiting it out a bit longer. Could also bury him in the minors to save about $1 mil on cap space (no one will claim him off waivers, and if they do, good riddance). I think we should maybe stay away from Markov, strictly because of the need to buyout MacDonald, but also a bit of it is staying away from a 38 year-old defenseman looking for $6 mil a season. However, I will concede that he played well in recent years, and the idea of Provorov getting to play with one of the most admirable fellow Russian d-man would be cool.