I think as Jersey for 50% merzlikins I’d go vitek+1st. Similar offer but they might prefer it

vitek+1st would probably work for the devils. I tried structuring it around giving the Jackets enough assets while not giving up a first

I’d make it next years 1st with conditions to upgrade instead of this years tho. 1st this year is just too high to move rn imo

Yah it's probably going to be a top-15 pick this year. I'm just not a huge fan of paying firsts for goalies

Yeah jackets for sure take that trade

I’d like to indicate there’s a pretty long list of goalies I’d go after 1st, but if the prices aren’t reasonable there that’s what I’d offer for merzlikins

Would we? That's ~$9.5M in total retention for the rest of this season and the next three, and that's before we take on Vanecek at $3.4M this season and next. I could see $1M retention for Vanecek and a 1st, but $2.7M is a huge ask. Hell, even the Sharks wouldn't retain more than $1.5M on Karlsson for 4 years, they're farther behind in the rebuild than Columbus. $2.7M just isn't even realistic.

IMO, the trade here isn't even close because of the retained salary. He's a little overpaid, he's not a negative asset.

I'd rather take on close to equivalent salary over the next two seasons than retain, and then it's on the acquiring team to figure out the cap structure 2 years from now. Drop the pick significantly, or don't ask for one at all.

So for Carolina: Andersen, Deangelo, and a 5th for Elvis ($5.075M out, $5.4M in)
Or for Jersey: Vanecek, Bastian, and a 4th for Elvis ($4.75M out, $5.4M in)

I wouldn't ask you to take Andersen... we can just stick him on LTIR. 2nd+3rd+DeAngelo is a much fairer offer than Andersen, Deangelo, and a 5th for Elvis... It gives you much more flexibility than the trade you propose. The second + DeAngelo for the 50% retention and the 3rd just for Elvis

So would I... I would go after Mrazek, Reimer, Nedeljkovic, and Lindgreen before Elvis but beggers can't be chosers

My list

Gustafsson
Swayman (very unrealistic but I’d offer a HAUL, or Mercer)
Knight
Jarry
Ullmark
Gibson with retention
Markstrom with retention
And then down to Elvis in terms of the guys with term.

And then yeah the guys you’ve listed for the more 1 year options and then like Allen, Stolarz, Lyon, etc etc

Gustafsson would be a great option... I just don't know that the Wild decides to sell him. He'd be great behind that Canes D. It's gonna take one move and then a whole bunch of goalie moves are gonna get made

Term, reasonable cap hit, reasonable age. I like him a lot

Honestly I’d go for a blockbuster to get him, Middleton, and Duhaime all at once

I would love to see the hurricanes pick up multiple pieces in a trade if we're trading for Gustafsson... maybe a 2C (maybe a certain Sweedish center) and a depth defensemen (so I can fire TDA into the sun) as well

I thought vitek was expiring at the end of the year. Yeah I probably wouldn’t do it in that case

Not sure deangelo would have positive value for the jackets. Can’t see them retaining half on Elvis and not even getting a first. I don’t think the jackets would retain more than 500k-1 million to be honest. If no one will trade for him at that price then they probably just hold onto him

Devils pass on taking the full Elvis contract imo.

2 contracts at 4.75≠ 1 contract at 5.4. Because then we have to find a 4th line Bastian replacement.

I view Elvis as about a 3.5 million dollar goalie (at 2.7 that’s 3.2 million in surplus value)
And vitek as about a 2 million dollar goalie. (That’s -2.8 mill in surplus value)

Overall 6 million, which I would pay a 1st for.

An Elvis unretained? That’s a significant negative value asset in my view

Deangelo is still a top-4 defensemen that is great on the PP. I just don't get the insistence on the retention being that small when you can get a much better return for swallowing half of the contract during a period in which you're not going to be able to compete

Jackets already have boqvist who is like Deangelo. Deangelo is also a UFA. A 2nd and 3rd is not worth retaining that much money which they will need in the next few years.

This is very fair, but it is much easier to find a 4th-line wing replacement making league minimum than a starting goalie. I don't know that the Devils are a fit either, they just seem to be one of those team that keep popping up that supposedly "have interest".



The biggest thing from CBJ's point of view is clearing as much of the contract out as possible, and the return matters much less. He's already viewed as not the long-term answer (The FO thinks it's Tarasov, I think it's Greaves). We're already stocked on prospects and picks. We'll probably load up on more with other pieces at the TDL and offseason.

We just can't hamstring ourselves with more dead cap, especially when literally 1/3 of the roster is on ELC's right now (Fantilli, Johnson, Marchenko, Sillinger, Chinakhov, Voronkov, and Jiricek), all of whom are due raises before Elvis' contract is up. If Elvis' deal was up in 2026 when Fantilli and Jiricek are due, great, we could realistically retain more, but the objective has to be taking back shorter-term money now over retaining.

There's got to be something in the middle, like Elvis at $1.2M retained. If Vitek goes the other way, that's +2.8M total out and -2.8M total back in on surplus value over the life of both deals, if I recreated your math correctly. It's not ideal, but that's a lot more manageable.

I’d absolutely be fine with something like that yeah. Again I don’t think Elvis would be my preference but if it comes down to him that’s a kind of deal I’d accept.

A 2nd+3rd+Top-4/Top-6 player should be enough to get you him+ 50% Retention

Deangelo isn’t a top 4 player on the jackets plus he’s a UFA. I just don’t see the value in retaining that much for a second and third. Especially when the flames want a blue chip prospect for markstom and the Habs have high asking prices. They probably just hang on for that little of a return

Not for that long, and that's where we're balking. I'm going to need you to point to one example where a team retained 50% of a contract over 5 million for more than three full seasons.

San Jose ate $2.7m a year for three years on the Brent Burns contract which is close to what I'm asking the Jackets to do and the Canes gave the sharks a bunch of table scraps for Burns

"Deangelo isn’t a top 4 player on the jackets plus he’s a UFA"- He absolutely would be... He's better than Peeke or Gudbranson and and an extension could be worked out as part of the deal.

"Especially when the flames want a blue chip prospect for markstom and the Habs have high asking prices"- Those are delusional asking prices and the Flames and the Habs both know that. Everybody knows that you don't pay a lot for goalies because of how voodoo the position is