Absolutely. I looked at the Canucks salary situation for 2021-2022 on PC vs Mobile, and next year isn't as dire as this year where they have no room and are plugging everything basically through LTIR. I was just sniffing around some of the RFA names (which Treliving loves) and wondering if there was a possible way to try and convince them of a move where they take 3 step back and 4 steps forward. Essentially, a move where they basically shed two bad contracts, downgrade on C and upgrade on top 4, but then take all that cap, re-sign their RFA, retool their roster and aim to contend immediately from this point on (vs we still consider languishing for a season or two).
Perhaps not in the form I proposed, but my question really was whether or not there'd be a way to convince Vancouver to let EP40 shake free to us if we help them solve a ton of other issues.
- Dead cap contracts (multiple) in a flat cap situation
- Tons of RFA negotiations/difficult RFA negotiations with low cap space? (Although I almost feel like my memory is telling me Benning isn't bad at RFA but like Treliving is abysmal at UFA?)
- Aging blue line
- Aqualini cash concerns
- Expansion draft considerations
I'm not trying to be one of those where I'm just targeting a team's top player and offering nothing but scraps and not taking the other team's needs into account. I'm merely wondering if a generally non-available player might shake free to a package the Canucks cannot say no to. I miscalculated a few things though and yeah, I agree I'm back to fully unlikely even if we added Mangiapane and took on both Roussell and Eriksson for instance (and I think the cap is close). But ultimately, I was wondering if there was a non-offensive package that would get Vancouver to even think about it, hence the words, "Listen to".
The answer obviously is seemingly a resounding no, so that's the end of my question.
Honestly? No. I never once thought there'd be a high chance. I was wondering if there's a slightly higher than a slim chance of it happening. That's why I used the words, "Listen to".
I also miscalculated the Vancouver cap situation which puts the concept much more into an entrenched no. I looked at cap friendly and saw $21MM in cap space, but also 14 RFA/UFA players without taking the taxi squad into account and wondered if a small opportunity was available. However, I thought the Demko extension wasn't factored in yet, so I thought it was less than $21MM. That's why I asked. I wondered if a downgrade from their 1C calibre player to a low end 1C/2C, a ED exempt blue chip and taking on 1-2 cap dumps would be enough to have the other GM listen.
Furthermore, I asked here rather than post on the main boards. I was wondering if any of the rest of you thought that maybe there's a possibility maybe he's not totally untouchable with the right package and wondering if there was a package that could get Vancouver to hesitate (not necessarily automatically accept). I'm indeed aiming for that .001% chance that Vancouver weirdly goes, "Hmm..." vs hanging up immediately after hearing EP40's name in the deal.
Besides, I thought you were lamenting on the main boards that no Flames fans have any backbone in trying to figure out how to retool/rebuild. I've been the one standing alone wondering if we'd make big deals with Canadian conference and/or Pacific conference teams and whether that theory has any merit.
History of hockey trades by general manager Brad Treliving - NHL Trade Tracker
I'm looking at this thinking there's weirdly an odd cluster of trades with specific teams, then a swing back and forth between Eastern Conference trades, then Western Conference trades. It seems like Western Conference moves are vogue right now if there's indeed a pattern.
The other concept I was mulling in my head was whether Gaudreau to NYI makes sense. They have lost their top LW for the year and they might want to contend. It's kinda close ish to Gaudreau's home and a top line LW might be what they want (vs people trying to push the Philly thing and they have too many LW). I haven't thought of the assets back yet, just purely a concept I wonder what you guys think.