Eid mubarak

Kovalenko won't be on the top line. Nix the Toffoli signing, put Kovalenko at 3RW, and re-sign Drouin for 1LW and you're in business.

Yeah i agree with above, we might even be able to get drouin for a little under 4 since a lot of his resugence is from mack playing crazy. Also if we're going with annunen for back up this year odds are he will be back up next year as well. and considering woody has 5 more years left we're probily stuck with him, he's been fine for his price tag really, as long as he brings his physicality in playoffs i'd keep him.

Ritchie won’t be ready to be a 3C next year. Toffoli is a bad fit stylistically and Drouin will probably be cheaper. Annunen is the back already. Kinda giving away Wood. I do kinda dig what you did with the defensive combos though.

I could see the Sabres doing something like that

Sabres traded Mitts bc he wanted 7x7
It’s possible he’ll sign for less w you guys,
but idk that he’d agree to it for that long
Might just be a year or 2 deal at that price

Drouin at 900K is nice, but would you be willing to pay him between 4.5M-5M aav?

I would not. But the assumption a lot of us are running with is that other GMs won't either, and he'll have to decide between taking 4M or so elsewhere or 3.5ish in Colorado, where he is a great fit. Obviously that assessment could be wrong, but I tend to think no one will want to throw big money and term his way when there are so many risks that have been made clear by his inconsistent career.

This Sabres fan would take that Colton deal in a heartbeat