Husso probably doesn’t cost much, and at full salary will probably be seen as negative value to many teams. He has one-year remaining and we would be betting on change of scenery helps him bounce back. His buyout is $1.5m for two years, so am asking for modest retention. He also has 10-team no trade protection, but playing as #3 in DET last year should make that easy to overcome. Maatta would be inexpensive depth option for one-year. Rasmussen would be a great fit for the type of forward Fitzy seeks and can play multiple positions which NJD values. Overall, it clears about $10 million in salary for Detroit, which gives them cap flexibility to be active in free agency (they have RFAs Seider and Raymond to pay and eight other roster spots to fill).

Upgrade option - Adding Walman instead of Maatta

The price here is mostly paying for Rasmussen. Detroit could be losing four RWs to UFA (Kane, Perron, Sprong and Fischer) and Clarke is NHL-ready. Plays RW, but has probably spent about one-third of his time at center. He was top 5v5 scorer in AHL over last two seasons, skates well, backchecks well (although his open ice defending is still a little leaky), and has a small touch of nasty in his game at times. Won’t be a line-driver, but good puck skills in tight and relies on shot-volume. Projects as 3RW on a good team. Hurtig is young, raw RHD with size, who played at Michigan State last year and will be transferring to Wisconsin next year.

Upgrade option - If they were to add Walman in place of Maatta, then we would probably upgrade Clarke or Hurtig or add additional pick.