You are literally going out of your way to create a controversy that doesn't exist in order to support a flawed argument that you are peddling to stir up controversy.
Their cap situation for the foreseeable future is actually quite good.
Look. After 2 years the team only has 42 million committed cap. After 3 it is only 28. And after 4 years, they have less than 16 million, and Schwartz and Oleksiak will be off the books at the end of that year(5 years, not 6). Cap should start to rise again by then giving the team a ton of flexibility. Their first prospects should just be coming off of their ELCs at that point.
I'm not trying to create any controversy. All I am saying is the team stated they wanted cap space then proceeded to throw away that space on Wennberg, Grubs, and Schwartz. Good players, but none of them IMO are worth the commitments given and I think there is a reason you saw teams that are all pretty smart in St. Louis, Colorado, and Florida walk away from them.
Yes, Schwartz and Oleksiak are overpaid and their deals are too long, but it isn't like they are getting 8x9 or 8x11. Their contracts are not that large, they are only overpaid by 1.5 million, they are insured, and if either player is injured, the team should have LTIR slots. Francis targeted them and overpaid because he wants to create a culture, and those guys are good locker room guys, good community guys, and will lead by example with their strong work ethic.
Okay.
In the league today, no teams have free cap. If they do, they are on internal budgets because all of the franchises are hemorrhaging cash. Half the players in the league that have signed UFA contracts would pass through waivers right now. Some guys that are exactly worth their contract value would pass through, so your scenario is completely misleading and out of context.
But, the Kraken didn't have to make these signings. They could've kept their cap space, taken less term, easily traceable assets and come out on top. As I said Ghost is a similar player to Oleksiak and Zucker is a similar player to Schwartz both making less or similar coin on less term deals.
As far as your plan, you are living in 2017. You believe Francis could have picked up players and easily flipped them in today's cap which is false. Francis asked for 1st round picks to take on cap. Other GM's scoffed. Not taking on the bad contracts for 2nds in this weak draft was the best move Seattle could have made to position themselves to build a competitor. Had he taken some of those contracts, Seattle would be at the cap this year and next, if not longer, have no flexibility for free agents, and would have declining players that are underperforming and probably would not want to be in Seattle, creating a toxic locker-room.
Seems like a lot of projection. Dillon was moved for 2 picks. He was available for Seattle to take. Is Winnipeg not worried about his locker-room fit? Ghost was traded to Arizona with a 2nd attached. He was available for Seattle to take. Do you think Philly just decided to pay a 2nd after the ED to get rid of him because they weren't offering the same to Seattle? Do you think Ghost would prefer to play in Arizona over Seattle?
How has Seattle positioned themselves to build a competitor exactly?
Vanecek WAS the smart move. Had Colorado not failed to sign Grubauer, Vanecek would be the back up and insurance for Driedger who has never handled a starters workload. Dillon is not worth 2 2nds. Chevy overpaid. But that is totally irrelevant, because Seattle wanted Vanecek until Grubauer became an option. All of your arguments are unrealistic because they assume Francis could know the future and ignore the reality of the situations as they transpired.
Francis and team had a year to plan for these situations. You don't think Francis talked to other GMs about the value of Dillon? You don't think he entertained the thought of what Ghost would come to him for?
What has been reported is Francis asked for too much. He then said "cap space is important" and proceeded to give out five UFA contracts that while not the worst thing in the world are nowhere near shrewd moves. What is important about cap space if you just give it away?
I guess the concept is that a trade could open up and Seattle is an easy solution for that. But what trade is going to open up? Is the player going to better than what was available in the ED if cap space is the issue?
I get it, you're angry. Pittsburgh didn't lose just one, but two of their top bottom six players and in return got a prospect that has a better than average chance of never being a regular NHLer in return. They are the present day version of the Panthers/Ducks/Wild of 2017. They gave up a really good player with the hopes Seattle would relieve them of a bad contract they are desperately trying to shed, and instead, lost another solid asset and didn't even get much cap relief in the process. It sucks, but don't blame Francis.
I love McCann. I hope he works out for you guys. I don't really see where he fits in the roster though with the signing of Wennberg.
Tanev's contract was hideous and I was absolutely stoked we got out of it. The fact we got Hallander for McCann and McGinn for 2.75 x 4 versus Tanev at 3.5 x 4 is amazing.
I'm based on the West Coast. I root for all the teams out here because I'm a fan of the game. I was planning on rooting for the Kraken. I still will. I just really have no clue what their plan is and that is the only point I'm trying to make.
# 1. They didn't take advantage of the ED.
# 2. They didn't leverage their cap space as of yet.
# 3. They used a good portion of said cap space on a bunch of 29 year old players that they over paid.
This isn't the path I saw them taking especially with the reports that they were such a forward thinking club. To be honest, it looks exactly like something a disciple of Jimmy Rutherford would do. Hope shit sticks and maybe it'll work out. I do think the Kraken have a decent enough team in the Pacific to make the playoffs. As we know anything can happen there.
