1. Buyout Cody Hodgson and Cody McCormick. Let Patrick Kaleta go to UFA. It's arguable that all three of these players are stopping younger players from grabbing spots in the lineup. Hodgson's buyout is only 1/3 of his contract, because he's under 26, and his year was beyond awful. Kaleta's ability to play at the NHL level is gone and McCormick's injuries have caught up with him, scoring only 15 points since the 2010-11 season.
2. Qualify all RFA's except Kevin Sundher, Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Nathan Lieuwen. This one is pretty straight forward. They don't really have too many quality RFA's, so they should all be accepting the offers they get. The only two real key ones are Johan Larsson and Mikhail Grigorenko, who both have plenty to prove.
2A. Draft Jack Eichel. Sorry, thought this was obvious, didn't count it as one of the five steps.
3. Trade Justin Bailey and 51st overall (2nd round pick) to Ottawa for Robin Lehner, Colin Greening, and the rights to UFA Erik Condra. The Sabres need a new No.1 goalie, and considering they can be patient for another year of their rebuild, they make the most sense as a destination for Lehner, who is looking to rebound after some terrible concussion issues. The Sens get a high pick in a good draft plus a promising prospect, which is the best they'll get as I don't see a team flipping them a top six forward. The Sabres also take on Greening which helps the Sens because his contract is awful. Greening can play on the 4th line and add a veteran presence for Buffalo, allowing them to not give Nicolas Deslauriers an everyday roster spot (he struggled last year).
4. Sign Erik Condra to a 3 year deal worth 2.5M per season. Lots of Senators fans are already unhappy that the team isn't bringing back Condra, who's a solid 3rd/4th line player and penalty killer. The Sabres can afford the slight overpay and he'll add speed and grit to their bottom six.
5. Sign Matt Bartkowski to a 4 year deal worth 1.5M per season. Teams always need D depth, and the Sabres have guys who are injury prone as well as young developing guys on their blueline. They also may lose Mike Weber next season as a UFA. Buffalo can afford the overpay to Bartkowski, who struggled last year in Boston. The veteran depth presence (on a relatively cheap deal) will allow the Sabres to develop their younger D (like Jake McCabe) with more insulation, and eventually, they'll have a decent No.7 they can plug in the lineup.
Kane-Eichel-Ennis
Moulson-Reinhart-Gionta
Foligno-Girgensons-Larsson
Greening-Grigorenko-Condra
Deslauriers/Varone
Gorges-Bogosian
Zadorov-Ristolainen
Weber-Pysyk
Bartkowski
Lehner
Johnson
7 Steps for the Arizona Coyotes - 2015 Offseason
1. Buyout Joe Vitale. If they can trade him, that's nice, but he couldn't even win faceoffs anymore last season. Has zero trade value. They need to have the roster room to allow young players to filter in, and he's replaceable.
2. Qualify the Important RFA's. Arizona has quite a few RFA's that probably won't have a future with the big club, so they can make choices regarding who's important for Springfield. The big important RFA is Mikkel Boedker, who is a year away from being a UFA. Considering the shambles that Arizona carries as a roster, they should be paying him a good amount to stay.
3. Trade 81st overall (3rd rounder) to Carolina for J-M Liles. Liles is a veteran that Carolina doesn't seem to necessarily need due to their own emerging young PP defender in Ryan Murphy. The Coyotes need the payroll money to reach the cap floor and their D is young, so the 34-year-old could provide some nice stability and teach some valuable lessons.
4. Sign Anders Lindback to a 4 year deal at 950K per year. Lindback will likely be trying for any type of deal this summer, and the Coyotes can take the gamble on him by giving him term while keeping him relatively cheap. Their own products in the system all seem iffy at this point (Domingue, Visentin) and Mike Smith might only have one more shot to rebound as the No.1. After a strong stint in Buffalo, this is a value buy for Maloney.
5. Sign Matt Halischuk to a 4 year deal at 625K per year. Similar deal to Lindback, where the Coyotes are saving money by giving term to a player that could easily go overseas. Halischuk is a young-ish bottom sixer that would fit well under Tippett's system for a few years (assuming Tippett stays).
6. Respect Shane Doan. Doan has given his all to the Coyotes and the community of Glendale. Respect his wishes. If he wants to stay, let him stay. Ask him once this summer and once again around the deadline if he wants to move for a Stanley Cup, but don't push it. He loves where he is.
7. Tank, Tank, Tank. Let the youngsters soar, and go hard for Auston Matthews. They won't be able to build a roster good enough to win in one summer, and they aren't going to be making money regardless, so you might as well let the youth develop and grab an American future star. The roster below depends on who they draft, as I can't see Marner or Strome wanting to stay in the OHL for another season. Hanifin, on the other hand, could easily go back to Boston College for another year.
Boedker-Hanzal-Doan
Domi-Gagner-Duclair
Perlini-Arcobello-Rieder
Korpikoski-Chipchura-Halischuk
Cunningham/McGinn
OEL-Stone
Moore-Murphy
Liles-Dahlbeck
Gormley
Smith
Lindback
NEW JERSEY DEVILS - REALISTIC OFFSEASON.
Good luck Ray Shero. You're going to need it in the lottery next year. My only recommendation: Re-sign Scott Gomez. Chances are their pick at No.6 gets inserted into this lineup. How can they trade any of their picks when their prospect pool at forward is more bare than Vancouver's nude beach? How are they going to attract free agents? Hynes is going to have to coach his ass off, and I suspect lots of tryouts at training camp.
You know what, just to be nice, I'll have the Devils also sign Russian winger Sergei Plotnikov. He's the insurance if Clowe is truly done.
Cammalleri-Henrique-Kalinin
Elias-Gomez-Plotnikov
Boucher-Zajac-Clowe (if healthy)
Gionta-Zubrus-Ruutu
Josefson/Matteau
Greene-Larsson
Gelinas-Severson
Merrill-Hrabarenka
Helgeson
Schneider
Kinkaid
2. Qualify all RFA's except Kevin Sundher, Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Nathan Lieuwen. This one is pretty straight forward. They don't really have too many quality RFA's, so they should all be accepting the offers they get. The only two real key ones are Johan Larsson and Mikhail Grigorenko, who both have plenty to prove.
2A. Draft Jack Eichel. Sorry, thought this was obvious, didn't count it as one of the five steps.
3. Trade Justin Bailey and 51st overall (2nd round pick) to Ottawa for Robin Lehner, Colin Greening, and the rights to UFA Erik Condra. The Sabres need a new No.1 goalie, and considering they can be patient for another year of their rebuild, they make the most sense as a destination for Lehner, who is looking to rebound after some terrible concussion issues. The Sens get a high pick in a good draft plus a promising prospect, which is the best they'll get as I don't see a team flipping them a top six forward. The Sabres also take on Greening which helps the Sens because his contract is awful. Greening can play on the 4th line and add a veteran presence for Buffalo, allowing them to not give Nicolas Deslauriers an everyday roster spot (he struggled last year).
4. Sign Erik Condra to a 3 year deal worth 2.5M per season. Lots of Senators fans are already unhappy that the team isn't bringing back Condra, who's a solid 3rd/4th line player and penalty killer. The Sabres can afford the slight overpay and he'll add speed and grit to their bottom six.
5. Sign Matt Bartkowski to a 4 year deal worth 1.5M per season. Teams always need D depth, and the Sabres have guys who are injury prone as well as young developing guys on their blueline. They also may lose Mike Weber next season as a UFA. Buffalo can afford the overpay to Bartkowski, who struggled last year in Boston. The veteran depth presence (on a relatively cheap deal) will allow the Sabres to develop their younger D (like Jake McCabe) with more insulation, and eventually, they'll have a decent No.7 they can plug in the lineup.
Kane-Eichel-Ennis
Moulson-Reinhart-Gionta
Foligno-Girgensons-Larsson
Greening-Grigorenko-Condra
Deslauriers/Varone
Gorges-Bogosian
Zadorov-Ristolainen
Weber-Pysyk
Bartkowski
Lehner
Johnson
7 Steps for the Arizona Coyotes - 2015 Offseason
1. Buyout Joe Vitale. If they can trade him, that's nice, but he couldn't even win faceoffs anymore last season. Has zero trade value. They need to have the roster room to allow young players to filter in, and he's replaceable.
2. Qualify the Important RFA's. Arizona has quite a few RFA's that probably won't have a future with the big club, so they can make choices regarding who's important for Springfield. The big important RFA is Mikkel Boedker, who is a year away from being a UFA. Considering the shambles that Arizona carries as a roster, they should be paying him a good amount to stay.
3. Trade 81st overall (3rd rounder) to Carolina for J-M Liles. Liles is a veteran that Carolina doesn't seem to necessarily need due to their own emerging young PP defender in Ryan Murphy. The Coyotes need the payroll money to reach the cap floor and their D is young, so the 34-year-old could provide some nice stability and teach some valuable lessons.
4. Sign Anders Lindback to a 4 year deal at 950K per year. Lindback will likely be trying for any type of deal this summer, and the Coyotes can take the gamble on him by giving him term while keeping him relatively cheap. Their own products in the system all seem iffy at this point (Domingue, Visentin) and Mike Smith might only have one more shot to rebound as the No.1. After a strong stint in Buffalo, this is a value buy for Maloney.
5. Sign Matt Halischuk to a 4 year deal at 625K per year. Similar deal to Lindback, where the Coyotes are saving money by giving term to a player that could easily go overseas. Halischuk is a young-ish bottom sixer that would fit well under Tippett's system for a few years (assuming Tippett stays).
6. Respect Shane Doan. Doan has given his all to the Coyotes and the community of Glendale. Respect his wishes. If he wants to stay, let him stay. Ask him once this summer and once again around the deadline if he wants to move for a Stanley Cup, but don't push it. He loves where he is.
7. Tank, Tank, Tank. Let the youngsters soar, and go hard for Auston Matthews. They won't be able to build a roster good enough to win in one summer, and they aren't going to be making money regardless, so you might as well let the youth develop and grab an American future star. The roster below depends on who they draft, as I can't see Marner or Strome wanting to stay in the OHL for another season. Hanifin, on the other hand, could easily go back to Boston College for another year.
Boedker-Hanzal-Doan
Domi-Gagner-Duclair
Perlini-Arcobello-Rieder
Korpikoski-Chipchura-Halischuk
Cunningham/McGinn
OEL-Stone
Moore-Murphy
Liles-Dahlbeck
Gormley
Smith
Lindback
NEW JERSEY DEVILS - REALISTIC OFFSEASON.
Good luck Ray Shero. You're going to need it in the lottery next year. My only recommendation: Re-sign Scott Gomez. Chances are their pick at No.6 gets inserted into this lineup. How can they trade any of their picks when their prospect pool at forward is more bare than Vancouver's nude beach? How are they going to attract free agents? Hynes is going to have to coach his ass off, and I suspect lots of tryouts at training camp.
You know what, just to be nice, I'll have the Devils also sign Russian winger Sergei Plotnikov. He's the insurance if Clowe is truly done.
Cammalleri-Henrique-Kalinin
Elias-Gomez-Plotnikov
Boucher-Zajac-Clowe (if healthy)
Gionta-Zubrus-Ruutu
Josefson/Matteau
Greene-Larsson
Gelinas-Severson
Merrill-Hrabarenka
Helgeson
Schneider
Kinkaid