Quoting: jwills2001
And I totally agree that they would all be probably better options but I just don't think any of them are gonna happen. Gustavsson is a great choice but I think at the end of the day the wild would rather keep their easy to swallow contract Gustavsson than move him and with fleury being ancient its and he is 26 (hard to move that as a GM with one bad season that improved toward the back end tremendously). I really stand by the fact that Saros won't go anywhere unless things get really bad in Nashville, he is so valuable and will cost again a tremendous amount of money for the foreseeable future with an extension. Hill is 5 mil with no chance of retention unless we go through another party (which could happen), And I like Daccord but Id rather stick with someone thats done the dance before (played 60+ games and more than one season of success). Goalies can play the game for a long time as long as they avoid certain injuries (which JM has). And the knights proved you don't need a Saros or Ullmark to win a cup and idk about you but after being a devils fan for my whole life (22 long years and obviously wasn't really sentient for 03) I'm here for a run, which JM can handle as we have seen it before.
I am with you on Markstrom…it’s especially intriguing since he actually wants to play here.
Here is my case on a couple of the others
Saros -- Trotz has a big decision to make. It’s likely 7-9 years of Saros or it will be Askorov. Long-term, it doesn’t make sense to keep both. Saros has zero trade protection today, so Trotz can hold an open auction for highest bidder and bring down a haul for him. The minute Saros signs an extension, he is likely getting full NMC (that would apply immediately to current contract as well as extension). So after extension, Saros holds all the cards. Trotz has to make a big long-term call pretty soon.
Daccord -- I do not believe he will be a one-hit wonder. Few goalies enjoy playing the net as much as him. Has a very high work ethic. And grew up around the nuts and bolts of goaltending (his dad is one of the best goalie coaches on the planet). An extension probably comes in tandem range too ($3-4m).
Hill -- may be cheapest in trade price to acquire. Vegas needs to move cap to sign their UFAs. And they have shown history of selling guys cheaply to Eastern conference teams (Pacioretty to Carolina in 2022, Smith to Pittsburgh in 2023) in order to move cap. At $5m for one year, I don’t think we would need retention.
Gustavsson -- they have Wallstedt nearing the jump, and MAF for another year. And very specific wants out of the draft. It may also be the last chance to buy a good goalie after a dip in value.