Let's assume he wants more than we want to spend, and no UFA years, and basically wants to go elsewhere. Who do you trade him for? I know we love him, he's amazing, and all that. But I'm curious who you would try to get, and what his value would be.
Here's what I would do, and why:
Johnny Hockey to Philly for
Simmonds and Couturier
We will need to add a bit, maybe fringe player with no salary...a conditional pick...
Simmonds has 3 more years, just shy of $4Mil per season and Couturier has 6 seasons at $4.3Mil per season.
This makes Calgary harder to play against now and in the future. Combined the 2 players salary are a price we don't want to pay, but we add 2 strong pieces, allowing us to expose/trade a solid player for picks after we win the cup before draft.
Bennet/Mony/Simmonds
Ferland/Couturier/Troy
Hunter/Backs/Frolik
Why does philly do this? Bring the kid to his favorite team, might make it better contract. And because it's Johnny ****ing hockey, playing Giroux and Vorecek, wowsers! Philly has some depth to make up for the loss, but it's a steep price to pay, which is why I think Calgary would add something. And that something would depend on there depth needs, which I am unsure of.
What do you do?