I don’t consider $2.5m in cap space little not to mention to the actual money paid out. This is a 40 game trial for next year for a native Montrealer who has a potential to play the 4 to 8 defence slots
I mean, it's not
nothing...but out of this whole swap, Buffalo end up adding just as much cap with Frolik...who i'd say is the less useful player for most teams. Just so happens Buffalo have a logjam of Bottom-4 LHD and most of them are younger and more likely to be kept beyond this summer.
Getting a 40-game trial out of Scandella just makes it even more useful...even if it adds a little bit to the accrued cap hit. Getting a longer look and more time to adjust is beneficial. Montreal have plenty cap space, and a bunch of retroactive LTIR options if it somehow comes to that. It's not like the NFL where you can roll cap space over to next year or anything - it's a "use it or lose it" situation, and their ownership have lots of money to spend to the limit and beyond. What better to spend it on, than auditioning a LHD who
might help plug a hole the Habs have had for years now?
They have absolutely zero commitment to Scandella beyond this year. But he's a guy who
has been a reliable Top-4 LHD before, and isn't
that old. Taking a shot on auditioning a hometown guy who might get a little rejuvenating spark out of that and would fill a major need...is probably about the best realistic use of $2.5M or whatever in cap space that isn't being used. That's a tiny price to pay for an upgrade at a glaring position of need.