Laine is a pipe dream. Hoffman is a more realistic acquisition, but not sure we're in on him either. If we could trade Dunn for a later 1st round pick and add Hoffman with the savings, I would feel a lot better about this team in the short and long-term.
There is no "cap savings" by trading Dunn.
Right now, Dunn has no contract and as such isn't counting towards the Cap at all.
If/when he signs, we will technically be over the Cap until Vladdy/Steen can officially go on LTIR.
Army is going to have to do some crafty paperwork to get compliant for the start of the season as it is(probably start with less than a 23 man roster and anyone who doesn't have to clear waivers will be "sent down" and then recalled the next day). Adding Hoffman before we can officially put those 2 on IR would make it nearly impossible to shuffle the paperwork around to squeeze guys in. Regardless of what we do with Dunn, IMO the upper limit of what we can "add" is in the 2-2.5 mil range(meaning any combination of moves that include Dunn or another addition). Short of an outright Cap dump, we don't have enough waiver-exempt players to finagle too much more space than that.
This is just speculation; but I have a strong suspicion that Army will bring in a high profile PTO to training camp with the intention of signing them after the LTIR situation is handled. I can't see any of the top-end targets being willing to play that game(maybe Granlund but I think he gets a decent offer once Hoffman is off the board). At best, I think you're looking at a guy like Huala or Melker Karlsson who just aren't going to get a good UFA offer with the current market(competition for Kyrou but not a legit top 6 option).
