It's hard to see Johnsson get moved without attaching something enticing to other teams. Too many good players got moved for nothing or close to nothing this offseason. I'm not sure how it would go over, but presumably NJ could waive Johnsson and assign him to Utica if he is outplayed in camp to open up about $1.1 mil in cap space. That would probably be enough for Zetterlund's NHL salary. If Nemec is assigned to Utica that opens up a spot for Okhotiyuk or Bahl or Walsh.
Agreed that Johnsson would likely take a sweetener to move - just a matter of whether or not we'd be willing to pay it. If it's a 3rd rounder or more, count me out.
Waiving him is an interesting choice. Agreed that it may not go over well, but it would allow us to get under the cap with a 22 man roster. I don't think Fitz wants to cut things that close though.
There's also the matter of trying to maximize cap space in regards to Bernier's contract. As I understand it now, LTIR'ing him as the team is currently constructed (accounting for a Zetterlund signing and swapping out Nemec with another young defenseman) does little for us. Much better to be near the cap
without his contract so that we're able to exceed the cap by a higher amount. I know other teams such as Tampa and Vegas have played cap shenanigans in the past, but I don't think there's an easy route out there for us to take advantage of (i.e. getting ~4M on the books, LTIR'ing Bernier & then somehow dumping that salary). Of course, this all hinges on Bernier's career being over, which may or may not be the case. If he's expected to return at some point this season, that needs to be accounted for.
Would seem like there's more moves coming, though I supposed you could still just LTIR Bernier even if it provides very little cap relief (would still be enough for us to ice a 23 man roster).
