alright, if you want to read my rationales, here they are, so let's start:
-move on from Reilly, he never really gelled, and eat some of his salary to move on from him
-move on from Rakell, and there will need to be retention. try to involve a 3rd team to get his cap his to 3 mil. I picked CBJ bc i dont think they will be worried about the 1 mil loss in cap until his cap is gone. if STL clearly wins this trade, so be it, that contract needs to go ASAP, value be darned. (his value is hard to judge as it is)
-so brannstrom is interesting because of the logjam of defensemen in OTT. i also have a hard time judging his trade value, so if that's a no from OTT, i get it, but i would explore that 100%
-cookie acciari just doesnt fit in PIT and he's been neutered by being asked to play center. i think a reunion with boston could make sense.
-take kuznetsov to help CAR free up cap, they have a big free agent class coming up with plenty of good players seeking raises. i think he also could fit as a mentor to ponomarev.
-sign foegele as a fast forchecking b6 forward with a nose for the net
-sign laffs back, he would add an element of speed that is desperately lacking. (fast player go brrrrrrrrr)
-roll with poulin and ponomarev in the b6, and theres some youth and speed with a good blend of vets in the b6
-I have a hunch that arvidsson will be looking for a 1 year prove it deal given that hes on the wrong side of 30, and is coming off an injury riddled season. low risk, high reward i think.
-pick a backup goalie, pick a depth RD, those a dime a dozen.
-you absolutely cannot double down with ryan graves next year. he didnt fit when he signed, he doesnt fit now, and he wont fit. square peg, round hole, and separating is best for both parties.
-4 mil left over to add if this works or to sell and take on cap dumps in exchange for futures at the deadline.
-IRL thoughts, manage expectations of GMKD, PIT will not be in play for any big name free agents and will be bargain hunting.
-Jake isn't coming back, it's over (farewell sweet prince).
-bring in a coach like jay woodcroft, and send a message to HCMS: your replacement is standing next to you, step up or step aside.
- TL;DR, if you think one of these moves stinks, thats because it probably does, thankfully FSG doesnt pay me to make decisions. its an exercise in fun, and this is the best i thought I could somewhat reasonably do.
3 team deal with Columbus as a broker for retention. CBJ retains 1,000,000 of Rakell's contract, and receives PIT 2025 5th round pick. STL receives Rakell at 3,000,000 cap.
You're still somewhat new here so I'm going to try and be nice.
Kuznetsov looks like Kuznetsov of old in Carolina right now, there's less than a 0% chance he's a cap dump, especially because Washington are paying half his salary. 5 points in 7 games for Carolina, is a good return for him so far.
You can probably get more for both Rakell and Smith, especially if retaining.
Branny is hard to gauge really. Analytically he’s been great the past 2 seasons, especially this season. Not a guy who is much of a net front presence but he’s got a good stick and gets in shooting lanes. Doesn’t get much PP time either and is kind of stuck in a crappy situation behind a bunch of higher paid LD. He’s probably worth a 2nd or so but might take a player they can insert in the middle 6 who’s defensively responsible.