Yes, but a different kind of flexibility.
It's not just about moving bad contracts. It's flexibility to retain on an expiring contract(s) at the TDL as well as retain on an actual hockey trade with players going both ways.
It could. But I would think that with PV having a budget he has to stick to (and a seemingly pretty hands off owner) it would be his choice how he spends it. Given that sometimes you acquire guys with other teams retaining, doesn't it all come down to just having a budget you can't exceed regardless of how you spend it?
Hell that could be part of it too, I don’t know exactly how they do things. I can easily see them not just giving the FO a number and letting them go ham, they might care how it’s spent as well. Mostly I just can’t fathom why something as trivial as burning a retention spot would be a red line in this instance. With this roster as it is I can’t possibly imagine a scenario where you’d have regret.
I agree. Retaining on Gibson would increase the return and also make him more tradeable. The one slot for 3 years doesn't seem like too high a price to pay at this point given the roster composition.
PV has a price for Gibson both retained and not retained. If a team meets his retained price then he pulls the trigger. What is PV's price? I've no idea.
Ultimately it shouldn't really affect the rebuild one way or the other. Assuming it's PV's call he doesn't seen to be in a big hurry to move him. But I can see both sides of should we or shouldn't we.
It could also be wanting to do right by him. He’s clearly at least been open to moving on, if not outright wanting a move, for a while and now there’s both a good market of teams looking and a capable replacement who might be the starter regardless of what happens. Not to say they should just trade him for scraps but now seems as good of a time as any.
No idea. husso for sure one would think. I would treat this as speculation more than rumor for the time being.
I don't think CBJ would be interested, unless they move Merzlikins. If they make a goalie move, feels like they will target someone with a proven track record the past few years
That makes sense. But there's no way anybody is taking Laine in a pure hockey trade at less than bargain basement prices. Getting a goalie they need could be tempting if they can find a way to move Elvis elsewhere. Obviously we would not move Gibby for Elvis.
A hot start wouldn't hurt but after 5 years of decline nobody's going to be fooled into thinking his value is significantly higher. But a hot start and some retention might get somebody to bite. I think it really comes down to how much does PV want to move him or not?
