Russell is the most likely to be traded. Of course it comes down to who’s on his NTC. If the Oilers eat a bit of salary they could get a 3rd.

Manning, just buy out

Lucic is tough, I believe his contract is essentially buyout proof though I’m not totally sure. Just gotta hope he can be a decent player for the next few years

Lucic
2019 first round pick

2019 third round pick

Maybe you don’t want to trade your first round pick but you have too if you want to trade Lucic

He may need to be added to a bigger trade to upset the difference in value.

Honestly I don't see anyone taking Lucic's contract. You have only one realistic option, and that's buyout. Pretty much same goes for Russell - his M-NTC makes things harder. The only teams that could afford taking his contract might very well be the teams that he doesn't accept a trade to.

For Manning, trading his contract is also pretty tough, but he's clearly the easiest one. I'd suggest swapping him to another a tad overpaid contract that has one year left, or then giving a draft pick as a compensation for any team that wants to take him.

He’s have to waive his ntc. But trade him to habs (1.5m retained) for Alzner... then buyout Alzner. Buyout penalty should be a fraction of lucic contract even w then retained salary.

Try to move Russell to a team that needs a solid shot blocking dman maybe like him for Niskanen.

Russell and Puljujärvi for Niskanen. Gives the capitals a checking dman and cap relief and oilers get a bet top 4 dman. Idk if capitals do that but just an idea.

Biggest issue is Lucic's NMC. I don't believe he accepts to be traded from a dumpster fire to another one.

When you're talking about Russell, I guess it depends on what you're looking for. He's supposedly a great locker room guy/leader, which is always nice to have around, but when you look at his analytics, he's horrible.

Would Dallas trade Honka for Russell? They've got cap, he's played there, Honka barely plays and he's RHD. Of course he's younger but I feel like that trade just makes sense. We'd clear some cap that way.

Would Montreal trade for Russell or Sekera? or would they trade Weise for Manning? They have a need for LHD and have loads of cap. Weise and Manning are both in the AHL making about the same cap hit. Manning is gritty which is something I thought would fit their team with Shaw and Domi and Gallagher.

and like I said about Lucic, either we buy him out this year and get some cap relief (3M) or the year after next season (2021). But if we're planning to contend now, we might as well do it this offseason. Or we package him with JP and get a lesser return like a Pageau or Shaw type player. A 3rd liner. I wouldn't mind that at all, but if we're trading JP, he better take Lucic and Manning with him.

I think he would waive to go to Ottawa if there was a promise that he'd be dealt somewhere else immediately. If he goes there and Ottawa eats 3M, I think some team would jump on Lucic for 3M for a 3rd rounder. He's still a great leader and his skating has gotten way better.

How does JP, Lucic, Manning, 2019 1st (top 10 pick) for CBJ's 2019 1st (22overall) and Pageau or Ottawa's 2nd rounder sound (32 overall) and Pageau

Yeah I could see Manning for Weise. Both in the AHL. Even see Manning + 4th rounder for a 6th.

NO. As a Stars fan, I say keep Russell far from Dallas. Aside from blocking shots, he's literally of no use. WE have much better use for that $4M, thanks.

Manning for Weise is quite iffy. I mean, Habs literally just traded Schlemko, pretty much similar player than Manning, for Weise. Why would they take a same role player back?

Man I like that idea, would be nice if we added some to get Burakovsky in that deal too but he's playing better of late. But yea that's a good trade too

Forgot you guys already had Methot for that :'D

Yep. And now he's LTIR for the rest of his contract. Besides, Stars's defense has been pretty good. 4th in goals against and all.

Trade with the Leafs, Dubas has proven he can be a dumass, maybe Edmonton can pretend that they're 'saving' the Leafs cap space but dumping their garbage (Lucic and a Dmen) plus maybe JP (picks) for the Leafs overpaid garbage (Zaitsev) and a RFA that can't fit under the Cap.

Straight up. I think it would cost JP and either a 2019 2nd or 2020 1st to take Lucic outright.
That contract is a massive boat anchor around their neck.

Vancouver is in the same sorts with Eriksson, but one less year on the deal. I think those 2 contract signings have scared off every GM in the NHL from signing one of those stupid Signing bonus-loaded contracts with UFAs or anyone ever again. too much risk and no outs.


One option I could see as the best way of giving up little and even getting something back is if Edmonton bought out Lucic and traded his "buyout against the cap" to another team... if that is even possible? A team Like the Yotes or Canes might be interesting in absorbing that buyout hit on the cap if Edmonton foots the monetary value of the deal. Such a thing would probably return an asset or 2 vs costing an asset or 2. The actual cost to buy him out is only like $5mil, it's the caphit that is terrible.

If Edmonton doesn't figure something out, I'd really like to see Vancouver offersheet JP @ $4mil*2yrs and something similar to Kapanen on TO. No way either team can match and make the moves they need to stay relevant. Only costs the Canucks a 2nd round in compensation for either, and both are much less risky moves than giving Beagle or Roussel 3x4

Manning could be traded to a team with cap space if we throw in a late pick. He's only got 1 year left at 2.25. Maybe Ottawa would take him if we gave them a 4th rounder?

Russell I actually think is a somewhat valuable defensive dman. I think if we were to retain 350K teams would be interested. Maybe we could get a 3rd rounder back for him, similar value to what Dallas got for Methot.

Lucic is almost untradeable in my opinion. What make the contract so bad is that it was designed to be buyout proof. The amount of salary that is signing bonuses means theres barely any cap relief, so buying him out is worthless. I think we've got Lucic for the duration of his contract

Manning isn't a problem. He can be buried at the cap hit is less than 100,000
Russel might be overpaid somewhat but then you have got replace him, so it's not like you're going to get much cap relief or even much better on ice performance if he was too leave.
Teams don't take long term bloated contracts like Lucic. And his NMC really limits to where could go anyway. He's a life time Oiler.

I've stated that before, the Nucks have a few overpaid contracts, so if they package Eriksson and either Beagle or Roussel to Edmonton for Lucic, it's pretty much equal cap but at least 'Nucks rid themselves of an extra vet and maybe they convince the Oil to give up something for their rebuild. Lucic goes home and the Oil get a couple of NHL vets rather than playing AHL players on forward.

People forget that Lucic has a No Movement Clause, meaning he has the final say on what happens to him. Good luck buying him out as you can't on a NMC. Even if you could, the buyout is worse than his actual contract.

The only way I see getting out of Lucic,'s contract is with Seattle. Just like Vegas did with many teams, Edmonton has to make a deal with Seattle where Edmonton trades theirn1st round pick and Seattle selects Lucic.

Why trade Russell? He is a good 3/4 defenseman. Yes, he is overpaid but it could be worse. Is trading Russell so that the Oilers rush Bear, Jones or Bouchard? If that is the case, why rush players, look what happened to Yakupov and now Puljujarvi, total busts due to rushing them to the NHL.

Lucic - Edmonton needs to find a team that is willing to be an intermediary for a 3 way trade. Edmonton retains 1.5M and trades Lucic and say Bear to team X. Team X then turns around and retains 1.5M (making Lucic's caphit 3.0M) to Team Y for a mid to late round pick. Lucic @ half price is worth a small something and with two teams retaining on his contract, it wouldn't be too bad. He'd have to ok the trades but if it got him a fresh start he might be game

Russell - you could pair him up with another player and try to get someone on a shorter contract. Even then his buyout doesn't look bad so if he can't be moved buy him out and that saves you the asset you'd need to add to trade him.

Sekera - With Russell gone, might want to consider keeping Sekera. He hasn't looked bad since returning. He'd be a good mentor and if he stays healthy his contract isn't terrible. It would give you another veteran presence to help out when Klefbom inevitably gets hurt during the next season.

Manning - Just bury him. It'll have less caphit then retaining on him.

duplicate (my bad)

How about this for Lucic? https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/1073986

No thanks for the Habs. Even if he would waive, he'd be the same square peg in a round hole as in Edmonton, among other reasons.

Vancouver might have worked, but I think he burned his hometown bridge in a number of ways. Buffalo is the next best thing if you can get them to bite for Okposo.
Anything else and you're probably giving up hefty assets.