I understand the financial commitment involved with both players but if I'm Chicago I accept. They both have 2 years left so it doesn't hurt post Bedard ELC and ownership/management has already shown their willingness to overpay for the right guys. Lee definitely falls into that category.

You nailed it! Totally unrealistic.

At least two of those 1st round picks you are proposing to use as part the RFA package for Pettersson will be needed to move Lee and Pageau and their combined $12m cap hit for the next two seasons, not to mention the almost $18m in actual $$ the acquiring team will be spending.

The 3rd round pick for Palmeiri retained MAY work but you have the pick going the wrong way, if you look back to last summer the Islanders paid a 2nd round pick to get rid of Bailey’s very similar contract situation.

And given Mayfield’s age, I don’t see any team jumping at the chance to acquire six more season at $3.5m… maybe since he is a RHD but I highly doubt it.

Face it Lou screwed your team for the foreseeable future.

We wouldn’t have to send a pick back for Palmeiri. He has played at a very high level under Roy and he is a far better player then what Bailey was when we traded him. Mayfield I doubt we could move. Lee could be a buyout option. We could retain on jgp with a 2nd to another team.

Also bedard playing with lee could be good leadership since lee has the c on with the islanders. A line of him hall and bedard wouldn’t be bad

I tend to agree w/ @JK74. I could see the Hawks having interest in both of those players. JK's assessment is spot on. I'm just not convinced that two 2nd's is quite enough. It very well might be. But I could definitely see the Hawks holding out for another 3rd or maybe a prospect they like. It's still a LOT of cap hit.

I respect both of your positions, but I don't necessarily agree with either. I'm probably somewhere in between, where, if KD pulled the trigger on this proposal I would understand, but I still believe that much cap and salary relief should cost more.

I don't think it should cost quite as much as Snowhawk implies, given the fact that both players are fairly serviceable, both have salaries significantly lower than their cap hits, and Lee has those leadership qualities. Also, Bedsy being the exception, I don't like the idea of starting kids at Center immediately. So, adding another seasoned vet like JGP could be great for slowly transitioning guys like Reichel Nazar and Moore, or anyone else we draft in the next couple years, into an NHL center role. Gets us to the cap floor. Brings experience. Also, with a rebound in production and some retention, both players could be great rental or short term trade candidates over the remainder of their contracts.

I think one of those 2nds should probably be a 1st, not both, though.

That is a fair point

Avs decline. They have no need to add another wing.

Who is Lee’s regular centre this season?

From what I've been able to find mostly Horvat and sometimes Pageau.

I don’t necessarily disagree with that, especially if the 1st round pick falls in the 12 - 17 range.

If you go to Puckpedia and use their salary cap relief calculator, it estimates that two years of cap relief for a $7m contract ($14m in total) is the #15 pick in the 1st round. The estimate for two years of cap relief for a $5m contract ($10m in total) is the #20 pick in the 1st round.

As for the leadership Lee provides, I have a couple of thoughts, First how much veteran leadership does Bedard need to be surrounded by going into next season? They currently will have Foligno, Hall, Dickinson, Jones, Murphy, Mrazek and Athanasiou provided none of those guys are traded. Second, if Lee is this great veteran leader to aid in the development of Bedard and other young players… why is an Islanders team with Barzal, Horvat, Lee, Nelson, Palmeiri, Pageau, Pulock, Pelech, Dobson, Sorokin etc. struggled to make it to the playoffs?

Don’t get me wrong, I think Lee is an ok add but the Hawks really only have one bullet remaining to fire at this point in their effort to move the rebuild forward and that is their cap space. Davidson needs to get maximum return.

It has been horvat 90% of games jgp other 10%

This raises another concern for me. if Lee can only put up 15 goals and 23 points in close to 60 games this season do we really think it will be much better playing with a 19 year old centre? I mean Bo Horvat is pretty damn good and Pageau isn’t what he use to be but still not bad.

Lee will still put up 20 goals a year it just he can’t keep up with the speed of horvat and barzal

I feel ya. I guess it really comes down to how badly the Isles want to move their contracts and what KD thinks/how he values those players. I think CHI really only has one or two bullets in that chamber, too. They have to find the best possible cap dump deal and take it. They really don't have as much roster space as everyone seems to think, and loading up with cap dump veterans could artificially hold guys back and then we end up like DET with Berggren refusing their extension and wanting a trade.

I will check out that calculator, though. Is that new? I've never seen it before.

I just learned about this calculator a few days ago, it’s a pretty interesting tool. They also have a tool which places a value on draft picks in case you want flip picks for picks.

Very interesting!

Wow! Look at that! Says dumping Lee should take the equivalent of a 15th overall pick.