Hockey Trade Rumors

So trade deadline is done, and this is the roster we’ll be seeing the rest of the way. But what is the roster of next year? Well, currently those under contract are:

Koivu 4.75 (in million $, against the cap)
Kovalev 4.5
Samsonov 3.525
Begin 1.057
Latendresse 0.850
Murray 0.625
Bouillon 1.875
Streit 0.600
Huet 2.875
Halak 0.475* (Halak signed a 2yr AHL contract, so I’m not sure how that translates to the NHL)

For a total of 10 players at just below 23million

RFAs:
Ryder 2.2
Higgins 0.673
Perezhogin 0.627
Plekanec 0.450
Komisarek 0.947
Gorges 0.450 (only 0.110 is hitting the cap this year)
Lapierre 0.450

For a total of 5.347mil. Of those, Higgins, Plekanec, and Komisarek are most likely to get relatively substantial increases. However, none of them should will be over, or even that close, to Ryder’s 2.2 mil.
Ryder, Perezhogin, Lapierre and Gorges will most likely get relatively minor increases.
I would be surprised if the group as a collective got more the 3mil in raises. I would see a total of around 2 million quite feasible

Of the UFAs on the team, Aebisher and Niinimaa will not be signed.
I personally believe the Gainey should make an attempt to re-sign both Bonk and Johnson, although not for anything that is well over 2 million, with 2 mil in my mind being a fair number.

That leaves Souray and Markov, both of which will be getting substantial raises. Making a leap of faith here, I am going to hasard a guess and say that I hope they are both signed, for around 4.5 mil each.

So (with my predictions) that would make the Habs at around 42 mil. Not all that much to work with…

So, what do you do? First, Samsonov (if his play remains the same) should be either traded or sent to the AHL. Both those options would clear is 3.525 mil, according to the CBA. A buyout would leave 2/3 of his salary, over 2 yrs, still against the cap.

That moves the cap to about 39mil, with 7 mil assuming a 46 mil cap.

With that 7mil, 2 thing should be sought:
First, an offensive forward (center preferably) by either trade or UFA
(Drury, Briere, Lang, Zubrus, Handzus, Forsberg, Datsyuk & Gomez are among the better centers potentially avaliable this summer)

A defenseman would also be nice, but I would perfer to go with the current corp and see players like Streit, Gorges and Komisarek develop further

So, basically, we need another offensive center and should have around 7mil to work with…maybe more around 5mil, as I doubt Gainey will want the team right against the cap.

That’s my 2 cents!
Any other ideas? Disagree about Bonk, Johnson, Markov, Souray? Should we trade an RFA? Should we trade someone still under contract?

Since there is no more trades to be had, might as well play the armchair GM between the games