_s_t_u_r_t_ wrote:graymule wrote::D
I've always liked Skal ever since he became a Hawk. One reason we got him was his injury. Seems to have finally healed.
In my opinion, Skal will look like a steal by Travis this season. And, he has told us that he wants to be here.
Perhaps part of the genius is not just in acquiring Skal for nothing, but in acquiring an RFA, which inherently then allows Schlenk to go just above the cap threshold so that the team can also use the MLE and possibly the Bi-Annual exception as well... which then... allows for another ~$12.5m that can be used to fill-out the roster beyond the ~$49m of cap space at-hand.
Gray, while it's true that Skal's cap hold is $7m (as mrhonline indicated on another board where I do not currently participate), for the reason stated above, I disagree that his situation will be resolved earlier than later in the free agency period.
To the contrary, it seems more likely that Schlenk will have most of his FA negotiations completed, if not all, and shortly after Skal is signed, the last couple of roster slots will be filled using the MLE. I'm less certain that we can use the Bi-Annual, though, because unless I've misunderstood, I believe that is reserved for teams that were not already over the cap and have never dipped under it.
(And. The proverbial monkey wrench, of course, may be that someone makes an offer that we have to match before we really want to put him on our books.)
