07-20-2021, 01:49 AM
Quote: @SkolVikings44 said:
Understood. Finding a replacement for Soucy will be much easier than finding a replacement for Dumba. With the flat cap there should be some similarly skilled defensemen available who can fill his size and physicality at the same or less money than the $2.75M Soucy is making. I don't want to lose him either, but Billy made his choice. I don't disagree with you that Dumba's trade value is low right now, but I think GMBG is counting on a bounce back year for Dumba who started to show some positive signs at the end of last season. His 10 team no trade clause kicks in for these next two years of his contract. What I'm unclear about is if the Wild can trade him after the expansion draft to any team, or if they will have to work around his Modified NTC. Not sure when the official start date is for the league but I'm guessing July 28th when Free Agency opens. That gives BG a small window to move him if he can find a good deal.I think you misunderstood me. I understand buying out Suter, and I am good with that. I just don’t want to protect Dumba over Soucy. Will he try to trade Dumba, sure. I don’t think any team is lining up to take his $6M+ contract, let alone get a Center for him. Dumba’s play on the ice have hurt his value. I think the it would benefit the Wild if they expose Dumba and Seattle actually takes him. The other side would be that Kahkonen is taken, but while that would be tough to see, it impacts the Wild the least of any player that they could lose. They would get another backup G.@TBro said:
@SkolVikings44 said:
I am going to flip a lid if what Russo says is true about protecting Dumba. This is the best opportunity to either get out of overpaying him and his consistent mistakes, or if he isn’t taken by Seattle, at least they protected Soucy.
The best case for the Wild would be to have Dumba taken or Kahkonen. The worst case is Soucy.Why keep the guy with this 6M+ contract and has regressed over the up and coming Soucy?Whether you agree with GMBG's decision or not, he prioritized Dumba over Suter so he could protect him in the expansion draft and not lose him with zero coming back in return. Just because Dumba is on the roster today, does not mean BG will not try to move him after the expansion draft for the best Center he can find and free up more long term cap space. This move also eliminates the NHL Salary Recapture penalty if either one of them retires before their contract was up which would end up costing the Team more than the buyout did. It's a ballsy move, but we are not winning a Cup with either one of these two on the roster. We also don't know how much of this decision was driven by getting rid of the last remnants of the "Old Core" that Fletcher built and removing their influence in the locker room for a culture reset. Suter is more serviceable than Parise, but he is slow, can't bring the puck up the ice, prioritizes finesse over physicality, takes away quality power play minutes from more capable players, and is not an offensive threat like Dumba and Spurgeon are. Don't forget that Guerin offered D Prospect Brennan Menell a contract this week and is making a hard push for him to join the club for next season. He had a fantastic year in the KHL and would be a great low cost option after losing Suter.
