Dumba shouldn't be on that list as he is still in his prime and will sign for multiple millions. If we offer him 1 million or whatever, and he takes it, sure that would be nice, but I soooo doubt that's on the table.
Anyway, I'd MUCH rather have McLeod than any of those names. I know there is risk with McLeod, but our team has too many older forwards who will be on the decline within a couple seasons. We need young, exciting players like McLeod who will grow to replace guys like RNH, Hyman, Kane. Taking out McLeod for some very short term options is uninspiring to me. As much risk as McLeod has, with his tools there is also great opportunity that he could be much better than we expect. We can't just say "we have Holloway and Bourgault for that", as then we NEED those two to hit on their potential. Trading off McLeod over a couple 100k would be a strong statement that we are giving up on a healthy youth movement on this team. Great teams out there try to foster youth, not just for the future but because you NEED to have high quality young players to win in this league.
I'm not totally tied to keeping McLeod at all costs, because I know that the cap has that consequence. Bouchard is closer to a sure thing than McLeod is, and so we need to make sure we get that player right. Also, I do see the appeal of being able to ice a full lineup, and I have said that I want our team to be #1 in the division this year. Putting all these handicaps on the team makes that hard.