If he's "more than just a rental" then how do you plan on re-signing him? And Carlson, and Wilson, and Beagle, and Bowey..

Think that's fari value. Grubauer is a young, good starter. Johansen will be a top pairing player too.

That Dcore is naaaaasty good.

If it were me, I'd trade negotiating rights to Eller, Chorney, and Beagle for a 5th, future considerations, and a 6th, in the summer. That opens up about 6M in space. The cap is expected to go up almost another five. There's another 2M to be found between starting with 21 people and the 700k of space Weagle has above. That's 13M. Give Carlson a raise of 2.5M, max term.. Give OEL a raise of 3M, max term. Give Wilson a raise of 2M, long term. Give Bowey a 500k raise on a one year contract. That leaves about 5M to chase a free agent forward, to elevate the third line. Or just keep Eller?

Does this mean I've placing a really high value on OEL? Yes. He's a 26 year old defenseman with back to back 20 goal seasons. He plays 24 minutes a night and has decent possession numbers. https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/e/ekmanol01.html

But it wasn’t you.

Stephenson would replace beagle. Eller shouldn’t get much of a raise if any all. Wilson could get one more bridge deal before GMBM gives him a 4 million plus raise. Carlson’s deal will probably be around 6.5 million. This should be enough to give OEL the 7 million pluse deal that he’ll be asking for, even before the salary cap increases.

I haven't had the opportunity to watch a lot of Lucas Johansen in Hershey, but him being a top pairing guy sounds like a stretch. I think he'll be an excellent second pairing option, or a #2 at the very best. Also, I don't think they'll be giving up on Raanta quite yet. I do think that Grubauer is the better option for them though.

While the defense is then stacked, I'm not sure that this is something I'd want the Caps to do right now. Our prospect pool is weak as it is, so moving our top skater prospect and a first round pick in a loaded draft isn't the best idea. I know, getting OEL is going to cost that, but it's just not something I'd be entirely comfortable with at the moment.

Overall, it's a refreshing, creative idea. It's a terrific concept, and I'd love to see OEL with us. Just not sure our organization can afford to take that hit in terms of prospects.

This would be sick. I’d rather trade Siegenthaler or Bowey instead of LuJo. I think he’s gonna be good