I agree that the Cap situation next year is going to get tighter, but for Mark Stone i think we could make it work. Say, for example, that we could sign he and Tkachuk long term for 7 mil each, and Bennett goes the other way in the trade (estimating a cap increase of 3 million):
This one is sloppy- I just filled in Mrazek as the goalie, and we're over the cap by a million, but essentially what it shows is that this is achievable if we want it to be. Further, if we acquired someone of Stone's caliber, and Jankowski or Dube really steps up, it might make a contract like Backlund's or Ryan's unnecessary and allow us to move out salary that way. Goalie is still a big question mark, but if Rittich or Gillies performs then we definitely have room.