Some realism regarding the Fleury situation. Think UFA Ruhwedel might attract bigger offers .

I like the fact that you are realistic with the MAD situation..

Def not exposing Maatta though,
Better to go 4-4 than lose him for nothing

Also should probably move on from Daley anyway, and have Maatta be #4 D

Low on Dumo and probably Schultz, about a million high on Sheary

Thanks for the feedback. You both make good points. I am probably low on Ruhewedel, Dumoulin, and Schultz. Perhaps longer terms might bring their numbers closer to what I guessed, although I don't think I'd go longer on Ruhwedel.

And I forgot to add a goalie under contract to meet the expansion draft exposure requirements, which may cost Pens a pick.

I'm not sure about Sheary though. He had a great regular season, somewhat similar to Marcus Johansson a few years ago (and I think his arbitration number that year was 3.75).

I like the idea of going 4-4 in expansion. I'd probably protect: Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Hornqvist, Letang, Maatta, Schultz, and Dumoulin. We probably lose Hagelin or Rust, but they are easier to replace than a young Maatta who is likely still be below his ceiling.

The only thing I would add that may throw a wrench in your whole plan is LV will more than likely take Rust over Hagelin, which adds about 3 mil back on your cap. Adjust for that and this looks rather realistic.

Buyout Fleury... I think that is messed up and why would penguins go for Eddie Lack. I also don't think Chad Ruhwedel would only get about a $950,000 contract at most.

Good point on Rust over Hags. LV might be more inclined to take the younger player with RFA status. I'm going to look at some adjustments with that happening.

In terms of buying out MAF, I'd hate to see it happen too. Flower has been an important piece of the Pens for a long time. But hockey is a business too and I was simply putting together a less-preferable scenario to see if it could work. In the best case, the Pens trade MAF for value and acquire another goalie to meet expansion draft requirements. Next best case is MAF waives his NMC so Pens can expose him in the expansion draft. Third best case is to buy out MAF. Worst case scenario is to lose Matt Murray for nothing in the expansion draft. As much as I like Fleury, Murray is the future of the team and even if expansion wasn't an issue, the Pens can't commit almost $10M in cap space to goalies next season. They have to choose one or the other and move forward.

Pens don't necessarily need Eddie Lack specifically. But if they buy out Fleury, they will need a goalie who meets exposure requirements for the expansion draft. As of now, Carolina has three goalies and the Pens/Canes can help solve each others problems. Maybe there's another deal out there. That's just the one I saw.

I was lower on Ruhwedel initially. But in looking at the UFA list for right-handed dmen this season and the type of production he's achieved, I think he could see offers between $1 and $2 million.