Being that we have a full complement of forwards on this team and that group will be pretty much the same (maybe Engvall in/Bailey out), I'd be in favor of spending pretty much all UFA dollars on an upgrade from Mayfield and then have Aho and Bolduc fight it out for that last spot - much like we did this year. If Salo wants to elevate his game and get into the competition, great. But I'd rather have Klingberg, Dumba or Severson playing on the right side with one of Aho/Bolduc. I'm guessing the likelihood of getting one of those guys is in reverse order and probably not likely for any of them.
More likely - we re-sign Mayfield for slightly under $4m and run back largely the same team across the board. And hope that Wahlstrom magically turns into a 40 goal scorer.
This is my thinking as well. The Islanders have the chance to improve by simply generating more offense from the backline, if they just move on from Mayfield.
Across all strengths, Mayfield was AWFUL when paired with Pelech (-14 in GF vs. GA), Romanov (-11) and Aho (-5). Interestingly, his best partner was probably Bolduc in limited minutes (+4). But I am not willing to take the chance that Bolduc is the "cure-all" for Mayfield's deficiencies, especially on a more-expensive contract. Mayfield should be elevating younger players, not vice versa.
Just move on from Mayfield and, if there are no other reasonable avenues to improve the team, use the bulk of the available cap space to get more dynamic on defense and, ideally, younger too.
Mayfield seems to drag down every roster defenseman he plays with, which is pretty hard to do when Pelech is healthy and going well, so that should be the end for him. Mayfield is redundant in a lot of ways AND doesn't elevate any of his partners, the PP, etc.
A player like Burns is a must and we saw how important he was to Carolina. He dictated play often and gave the Isles fits.
I still think it is questionable how Carolina acquired Burns, as it seemed like he did not want to go to Carolina initially but (I believe) was thinking Dallas. If I recall correctly, then some people from Carolina called him, pitched him on the idea and he was willing to be traded. Sounds sketchy to me but I assume Carolina had permission to speak with him?
Meanwhile Dallas pivoted to that bum, Nils Lundkvist, giving up a first rounder and a mid-round pick. Of course Lundkvist has been awful, scratched periodically (32 giveaways to 6 takeaways will do that), and he can't get on the ice for Dallas.
It really feels like Grier got fleeced on the Burns trade, retaining 33% and getting scraps in return. But teams always seem happy to do favors for Carolina. I don't get it, but I guess everyone loves Waddell and are willing to help out, like NFL teams constantly helping out Howie Roseman and the Eagles.