Good trade for Keith and the Hawks. Stan took advantage of Holland who just loves veterans that can't play at a high level anymore. Stan clears cap and gets a young defender that is suited for the 3rd pair. Keith gets to be closer to his son as his career winds down, and he gets to play on a better team on paper at least. Edmonton is desperate to even get out of the 1st round so Holland must think a veteran presence with 3 Cups on his resume is worth the risk.
The question is what does Stan do now with all this cap space (Keith, Shaw, and Seabrook all gone now). Hawks can possible shed even more cap depending on how the expansion draft unfolds (CDH perhaps?). My gut feeling is that Toews plans to play, but I could see his condition flaring up again so really he is a big question mark.
I'm firmly in the camp that the best move is to take on expiring contracts from contenders and bleed them for picks and prospects. Vegas needs to clear cap and MAF is an expiring deal. If you can get a 1st or one of their better prospects, why not? Tyler Johnson in Tampa is another option, but the Lightning would need to pay through the nose since he is signed for 3 more years at 5.5 per. Essentially it would be 1 more year of Keith but perhaps you can get a 1st and one of their better prospects in the process. If you acquire Johnson, I would deal Strome so really you are only adding 2 million in cap. The Hawks are in a full rebuild no matter what Stan says (GM speak) so they need to keep stacking assets and plan for 3-4 years down the road.
