While there were a few candidates I considered for my final defenseman spot, this guy was my #2 target behind Brodin. In looking for a partner with Hronek, I wanted a defensive defenseman who played a heavy game, controlled and created space, and was used to playing heavy D-zone minutes including lots of PK time. Brayden McNabb, D, is a perfect fit. Perhaps the best hip checker in the NHL today, McNabb is a tough, physical defenseman who has consistently been asked to play against opposing team's #1 line, and has consistently helped shut them down. He's good on his stick and disrupts passing lanes, and uses his 6'4 212 lb frame to physically control his half of the ice. While McNabb doesn't have the skating and puck moving skills of the rest of the Penny Pincher defense core, he provides a lockdown element better than anyone but Schmidt, with whom he'll probably be paired situationally (i.e. close and late draws in the D-zone against the opponent's top line). Just as he has done with Schmidt in Vegas, McNabb will give Hronek room to operate, and he'll allow Hronek to simplify some of his defensive responsibilities in his own end, without getting in the way of Hronek's development as a primary muck mover and transition iniator from the back end. Plus, his contract is a peach at $2.5 million for the next two seasons.
Evgenii Dadonov (31) - Nate MacKinnon (24) - Victor Olofsson (24)
Jakub Vrana (24) - Sean Couturier (27) - Bryan Rust (27)
Zach Hyman (27) - Elias Lindholm (25) - Nick Suzuki (20)
Open - Nick Bonino (31) - Open
Rasmus Dahlin (20) - Nate Schmidt (28)
Marcus Pettersson (24) - John Marino (22)
Brayden McNabb (29) - Filip Hronek (22)
Connor Hellebuyck (26)
Open
PK1:
Couturier-Bonino
McNabb-Marino
PK2:
Lindholm-Hyman
Pettersson-Hronek
PP1:
Dadonov-MacKinnon-Olofsson
Dahlin-Schmidt
PP2
Vrana-Couturier-Rust
Lindholm-Hronek
Cap Situation:
Nate MacKinnon $6.3 million (2022-23)
Connor Hellebuyck $6.167 million (2023-24)
Nate Schmidt $5.95 million (2024-25)
Elias Lindholm $4.85 million (2023-24)
Sean Couturier $4.33 million (2021-22)
Nick Bonino $4.1 million (2020-21)
Marcus Pettersson $4.02 million (2024-25)
Evgenii Dadonov $4.00 million (2019-20)
Bryan Rust $3.5 million (2021-22)
Jakub Vrana $3.35 million (2020-21)
Brayden McNabb $2.5 million (2021-22)
Zach Hyman $2.25 million (2020-21)
Rasmus Dahlin $0.925 million (2020-21)
John Marino $0.925 million (2020-21)
Nick Suzuki $0.863 (2021-22)
Victor Olofsson $0.768 (2019-20)
Filip Hronek $0.714 million (2020-21)
Total: $56.512 million
Limit: $81.5 million
Space: $25.808 million