Welcome back to the pack Devon!  Where'd Sumit go?

The Pacific division will be pretty decent still , but won't be able to keep up with the Central.  Half the division, maybe more, will be back to tanking.  This is going to be a wild offseason here though.  The Sharks said they will be selling their top players.  This is a given as they won't be able to ice a whole team without that move.  Everyone and their mother should at least have a conversation with GM Purbsy, to see what it will take to get one of the 4 studs.  Vegas can go either way this offseason and Oilers are in desparate need for a tender to be a real contender.  Let's see how they fair as it stands right now.

ANAHEIM DUCKS - Needless to say, Devon will have to trade Crosby.  I am not sure why he didn't get him half retained for next season, this was a HUGE oversight.   Now it will cost value and/or picks to have the player retained in a trade.  If he doesn't trade Crosby before FA, he will lose out on a replacement and will have to buyout Crosby outright, as he is handcuffed until something is done.  Without the move, the Ducks are over the cap by $14+mil.  Once the move is made, he will have about $10+mil to work with and I am sure that he will not be able to replace Crosby with anything nearly as close.  I predict that he will trade Crosby to Rich and it will be a family affair to get out of cap jail.  The rest of the team is pretty good, but he could use more depth.  If rumours are correct, GM Devon said he might be shipping out Oettinger, which doens't make any sense.  At this point, he should do a sign and trade to move out Gibson.  I know he is a hometown darling, but that's the only move that makes any sense.  Sad part of Gibson is that he had 1 year where he was used to win, what a waste.  Devon's Ducks will not be as dominant as this year, but the entire division is down, so he will make the playoffs.

Estimated Cap Room - $10+mil (-$14+mil until Crosby move)

WWJD - 1. get rid of Crosby ASAP! 2. get a #2 dman 3. get middle 6 forward 4. Sign and trade Gibson

2022-2023 Cup Chance: Good

2023 Roster Depth Chart

SAN JOSE SHARKS - This is going to be my favorite write up of all time.  I don't even know where to start.  Do I start with the available cap space of $12+mil with 8 spots still needing to be filled?  Or the Ullmark trade shitshow?  OK...I need to take a deep breathe.  Let's start with the goalie situation.  GM Sumit is on the hook for another TWO years of an unusable goalie with a price tag of $19.5mil.  And then he doubles down on the stupidity by trading for a goalie that will need a new contract as he is a 27-1 player.  If he wants Ullmark for the max 5 years, it will cost him $6.3mil for 5 years.  That's not too bad...wait did you say he has a .907sv%?!  Ha!  He does have 4 stud forwards, who need to be moved for depth or he will literally have to sign 8 players in FA that cost no more than $1mil AAV.  Imagine that team!  It's a shame because I usually help new GMs with the math and scenarios, but Mr Big Mouth came in guns blazing.  This is what he deserves.  This team is a total mess and he will be lucky to be able to keep any of the 4 studs.  He will take the Kirk approach and bother the shit out of another GM, until they take a bad trade helping Sumit dig a little bit out of the hole Grand Canyon-sized hole.  It's going to take a lot, but he won't be able to compete next year.  I didn't even mention the defense that needs work too.  Should not be boring for Sumit this offseason.

Estimated Cap Room - $12+mil

WWJD - 1. trade Drai, trade Stone, trade Kane, trade Reinhart 2. suck some major cock for BRHL Bux to buyout Grubauer 3. sign and trade Ullmark for pennies on the dollar

2022-2023 Cup Chance: HAHAHAHAHA!

2023 Roster Depth Chart

CALGARY FLAMES - The Flames seem to be having a disappointing year and don't seem to be poised to make it deep in the playoffs.  I don't know what is the issue with his team every year, as he always has a team that looks like a contender.  This season, he only really needed a goalie and spent $24mil to obtain him.  MAF had the best rates going into the season and is disappointing GM Kevin with a pedestrian .913sv% in the sim.  But let's move on, as this is an article about NEXT season.  GM Kevin was also savvy enough to grab a tender for next year.  He sent Lankinen, 2, 3 to Steph for the final year of Kuemper.  This is also going to help the Flames with their cap, as they will not have to spend $10+mil for a golaie in FA.  They have an incredible $28+mil going into FA, but with very little roster room.  Besides Fox, the Flames don't have much quality defense, so I would think he adds the biggest defensive FA.  Maybe Kevin should go the trade route.  Either way, his forward group is all set, unless he wants to upgrade a position in a deal.  He could use a little more top end talent, but his team isn't bad without it.  Let's see where he goes because he will definately be near the top.

Estimated Cap Room - $28+mil

WWJD - 1. trade for Carlson (you're welcome Kev and Rex) 2. trade for Crosby half retained (you're welcome Kev and Devon) 3. grab the very little qualilty defense in FA

2022-2023 Cup Chance: Very Good

2023 Roster Depth Chart

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS - I never thought I would see the day that GM Joe trades away Bo Horvat.  He also traded away Hyman, who is having a good season and could have kept for several years.  He has slowly been dismantling his team, but keeps winning.  I know that there have been talks around Forsberg being on the block, but a move wasn't in the cards this deadline.  He will have a few assets, like Burns, Forsberg, RNH, Jeff Carter, and EJ, to trade, as they are all getting near the end of their contracts.  It will be interesting who much of the team he trades off.  Vegas could easily add during FA and go for it.  They will have a lot of DF on the backend, so he can focus on getting a top end talent.  This team has a long term goalie solution, so that's not a concern for next year.  Can't believe he was able to unload Ullmark for a 1st...what a steal!  We will have to see which way GM Joe goes once the 2022-23 season starts.

Estimated Cap Room - $16+mil ($24+mil with Khudobin buyout)

WWJD - 1. buyout Khudobin 2. get two top end talents in FA

2022-2023 Cup Chance: Good (if he goes for it)

2023 Roster Depth Chart

EDMONTON OILERS - GM Leon has done a fantastic job manging his team and will be set to compete for the title again next year.  His top 6 are excellent and he has a pretty good dcore.  Just like many other teams, he will have goaltending issues.  The overrated Hellebuyck only has a .908sv% putting him in the second half of the league.  The Oilers will only have about $7+mil available to make any improvements in the offseason, but that won't be enough to get a tender better than what he already has.  GM Leon won't be too active this offseason, so this is pretty much the team he wil go into the season with.  Godspeed.

Estimated Cap Room - $7+mil

WWJD - 1. trade for a tender 2. get a winger and move Balcers down

2022-2023 Cup Chance: Good

2023 Roster Depth Chart

LOS ANGELES KINGS - What is GM Rumpy going to do?  Who knows?  Even Rumpy doesn't know what he will be doing.  This team cannot win as is and they only have $20+mil in cap space.  This isn't going to be enough to get a goalie and get major upgrades everywhere.  The Tyler W experiment didn't work and he didn't do much of a teardown of the team.  It looks like Rumpy has turned over a new leaf and has started to actually trade players for reasonable prices.  Let's see if he keeps going with that and starts from scratch, like he wants.  Since Merzlikins will be terribly rated, he won't have a chance to win, even if he goes to the cap.

Estimated Cap Room - $20+mil

WWJD - 1. trade Ekblad, trade Jones, trade Hanifin, trade Carlo (sellers market for defensemen) 2. buy to sell at deadline

2022-2023 Cup Chance: Zero

2023 Roster Depth Chart

VANCOUVER CANUCKS - GM Rob will have to trade away any and all assets over the age of 25.  He has a few players that could be useful to other teams.  Even with several major acquisitions, he doesn't stand a chance to compete.  He will need to start acquiring some younger dmen to go along with all the young forwards that he has.  He has a bunch of soon-to-be free agents in the next couple years, so he should be a very active seller.  Let's see how well he does and that will determine how fast he can start to become relevant again.

Estimated Cap Room - $35+mil

WWJD - 1. trade Kessel, Pearson, Edler, Subban, Maatta, Oleksiak 2. buy to sell at deadline

2022-2023 Cup Chance: Zero

2023 Roster Depth Chart

ARIZONA COYOTES - GM Joel has always been in purgatory, not being able to climb out with his yearly tank.  He needs to get guys in FA to sell to try and accelerate it.  He has a few good young pieces, but he needs it to go faster.  He doesn't have much to trade at this point.  Not a lot that he can do, except wait.

Estimated Cap Room - $42+mil

WWJD - 1. trade Kassian, Sheary 2. buy to sell at deadline

2022-2023 Cup Chance: Zero

2023 Roster Depth Chart