Assuming 1) Stepan is re-signed for $4 million/year & 2) Del Zotto is traded away...
Kreider - Richards - Callahan
Pouliot - Brassard - Zuccarello
Boyle -- D. Moore -- Dorsett
Pyatt -- Mashinter - Haley
Buried: (Powe + Asham)
McDonagh - Girardi
Staal ----- Stralman
Falk ------ J. Moore
Syrvet -- A. Johnson
Lundqvist
Biron
Total Cap Hit: $64.263 million
Avbl Cap Space: $0.037 million
* This is enough room for 2 replacement forwards for Cally/Hagelin to start the season with 3 minimum-wage contracts on top of that. Should NY remain under the salary cap & remain healthy, bigger call-up contracts like Miller or Kristo (2x minimum wage) could be called up in lieu of more bodies/less cap hit. In other words, if the team escapes injury come October except for Cally/Hags, you could replace Mashinter+Haley for Miller, or Syrvet+Johnson for Kristo, etc
* Contracts like Boyle or Pyatt, while more expendable pieces than Del Zotto, remain with significantly less trade value. In other words I would rather dump Boyle or Pyatt than Del Zotto, but as far as marketable trade value they are 'less tradable.'
* We've also seen GM Glen Sather historically find unemployed defenseman in late September in hopes of signing them to cheap 23rd-hour 1-year deals (Alex Semenov, Anton Stralman). Should LD Ron Hainsey, for example, remain a free agent come October 1st, what would his 1-yr contract look like? And how much would something like this further induce Sather to trade away Del Zotto?
