I like where you are going with the aggressiveness - I’ve long been upset at the number of times Jarmo did his “weaponize the cap,” schpiel, only to, well, not.

My hold up is the Kampf trade and the retention - I get the balance of cap with trading for him and retaining on Elvis, but doing that and then trading for Campbell feels redundant, and that’s before getting to also retaining on Grubauer (I.e. we just turned one $5.4M cap hit into three for a total of $10.6M). I’ve danced on this before, but I think an Elvis for Campbell 1-for-1 could work. The alternative is Elvis just gets bought out, which is a cap hit CBJ can take right now.

Laine does need to be moved, and as much as I feel he would kick ass in VGK, I don’t see CBJ being on Bill’s OK list for his NTC.

I actually think CBJ’s C depth is at the best it’s been in a long time. Fantilli-Sillinger-Voronkov-Kuraly is looking like it could be real, and that’s before CBJ likely end up with a Lindstrom or Cattan (or Celebrini?) after this draft.

As for Dillon? CBJ already have Guds as their obligatory “big-bodied D” signing. Voronkov is also built like semi-truck, and will learn to throw the body more as he gets experience. Mateychuk almost made the team out of camp this year, and he’ll likely slot in next season.

This is great insight from someone I can assume is a real and knowledgable Columbus fan! So, thank you for engaging sincerely.

As an Islanders fan, and real believer in Lou, I think you take a center over a winger by any means necessary. (We're playing our best hockey of the season right now with 6 centers! Our best line—Cizikas-Horvat-Barzal—is all centers!) I think being able to move Voronkov and Johnson (and maybe even Sillinger, too) to the wing would help their development. Plus, you can still get some shifts in at center. Then you've got Jenner as another fill-in center who plays wing, and Kuraly as center depth.
(Not a disagreement with your assessment here. I just think it helps a club to have as many centers as possible, and then figure out where to put ’em.)

First of all, I think Dillon is a fantastic target for Columbus. It is likely they move Provorov either this summer or next TDL, and their top prospect outside the NHL right now is an LHD who will probably spend a year in Cleveland so that's perfect.

Now for the rest.

I don't think Kapmf is an upgrade on Kuraly, and the difference between them in cap hit is negligible. No reason so make that move, as it's more expensive to retain that much on Elvis than to simply buy him out. Columbus's cap management will be critical as the kids earn paydays, and that's 2.7 that could be put to better use. I'm also still of the opinion that it won't cost them anything to move him, even if that means getting nothing but Future Considerations in return.

I do not like the Laine trade. Unless he specifically requests a trade for a change of scenery, moving him now makes no sense from a human perspective or a business one. He's at the nadir of his value, and this trade costs Columbus significantly to move him, rather than either receiving nothing (if he retires or LTIRetires and insurance takes care of it) or actual assets if they hold him and he returns even partway to form. There's no pressure to move him. Also, no way Karlsson and his NTC agree to that-- Columbus is "been there, done that" for him and there's no reason to leave a comfortable spot with a perennial Cup contender for a bottom feeder with no hope of contending for at least three years.

I am not opposed at all to the Edmonton/Seattle business. In fact, I think that's a clever bit of maneuvering.

Wouldn't mind taking a flyer on one of the Islanders' fourth-liners, to be honest. Columbus could use some maturity and grit. The problem is having too many bodies as it is for roster spots, and the crunch only gets worse next year.

Of course, and much appreciate your dive into this. Silly and Voronkov have gotten some play at the wing, and yes - Boone is a Swiss-army knife who can play anywhere.

FWIW, KJ is likely a career winger. He’s got the playmaking chops to cut it at C, but his somewhat lanky-frame has made it difficult to keep at C. He’s had face off trouble, and the two-way responsibility down the middle has shown to be a lot for him.

Edmonton likely just buys out Campbell and re-signs Pickard. It's cheaper, saves spending the 1st, and gives them better goaltending.

Honestly, the only trade I like in this is the Laine trade, and I know others have flinched. Although that involves living in a world in which Wild Bill would happily come back here; I think he'd be a great returning guy, but I'm not sure it's actually doable, and am inclined to believe the Vegas center we should be going after is Stephenson. (Karlsson is, at least, more plausible than Marchessault, who's probably still pissed at us.) All the goalie shuffling, on the other hand, just adds a ton of noise, eats most of our retention slots (the last, of course, going for Karlsson), ends up costing us more cap, and doesn't gain us enough to be worth all that.

I also like the Dillon pickup, so there's that.

Good Job! Dillon is on my short list too this summer as the "aging dman to hold the fort down" for 2-3 years while the kids cook in Cleveland! Alos Boqvist going to seattle is a PERFECT SPOT for him and it seems like our franchises really like to play nice with each other from an outsider's pov. I really think if Boqvist gets moved its to Seattle as its a perfect landing spot for him and what they need. I think someone is gonna take an Elvis contract as I look around the league how the Flyers, Jersey, ect failed to make the playoffs due to goalie issues and while their are many UFAs this summer Elvis is a potential "fast pass" goalie to beat the market because he has shown he can play well. Personally I would like to see him go to the Flyers because he did well under Torts and maybe a strong personality needs a stronger one to keep them in check!