I've entertained a couple proposals, and it has been suggested here that I may suffer from anal-cranial inversion if I consider any of them. So, i'll put out all the details I can, and see if anyone thinks there is anything to be done at all.

So, first the somewhat confusing format. It is a contract pool (not a $ cap pool). When a player is drafted he can be signed for a term of 1-4 years with a max of 40 years of contract at a time. And we can re-sign ONE player a year who's contract has run out. But a player can only be re-signed ONCE. For the most part when a player's contract is about to expire, and you can't re-sign them, you look for a team who doesn't have anyone to re-sign and trade them for a draft pick. A player can also be dropped into a 3 player minor system for up to 3 years, after that they must be given a contract or dropped. The cats and my team are in the sig. I'll mark years of contract in (#) and designate if they have been re-signed with (R) and Minor eligable with (M). Youll notice a lot of players with no numbers, because we still drafted back in September, but contracts are never due till the day before the first game. As I said, my team is in the sig, and here are the 2 teams in play for Malkin.

Team 1
C-Backstrom(4),Crosby(1)(untouchable),Cammy(dual)(1)
W-Heatly(1),neal(1),Ryan(3),Vanek(1)Downie,Perron,St ewart(3),JVR,
D-Erhoff,Ellis(4),Giordano(1),Green(1)Markov
G-Howard(3)Halak(3)Lindback
M-Galchenyuk,Kuznetsov,Enroth
What I'm looking for: A replacement #1C,a top line W, a top D, a backup G
What has been thrown around:Backstrom,Neal,Green,Lindback for Malkin, Zidlicky,Nabby,Palmieri. Vanek has come up in place of Neal, and Havlat has come up from my end in place of Palmieri.
My main target: Backstrom. He has 4 years left, and then is still eligable to be re-signed for another 4. Malkin has 3 years left, then has to be moved. There so far havn't been any sticking points, as I havn't asked for Crosby, we just havn't found the right mix.

Team 2
C-kesler(3)Tavares(3)Couture(dual)(2)Zetterberg(dual )(3)(R)
W-Franzen(2)nash(1)Ovie(4)Perry(2)Clarkson,Rattie
D-Harmonic(2)keith(1)Weber(1)Burns,Erixon,Gonchar,Mc uaid
G-Lundqvist(3)Hiller
M-Strome,Landeskog,Holtby
His best offer so far:Zetterberg,Keith,Franzen,Hiller for Malkin,Barberio,Nabby
My Target: Tavares
Sticking point:Tavares. He thinks he is ready to be lumped in with Malkin, I think that's totally plantntains! I was looking for Tavares,Zett,Keith,Hiller or Tavares,Franzen,Weber,Hiller and throwing back a player like Havlat to make it worth it. I've also been offered Couture in place of some players, and Ovie with much less extra coming back.

So, there you go. I would really like to use Malkin to improve my team while he still has some contract left to sell. If I wait until it runs out I may get a first and a decent player, but nothing spectacular. I actually aquired him from team B for Zetterberg when they both had expiring contracts and neither of us could re-sign the one we had, so we switched them.

Have a little fun, gain a little rep, and see what you would do if it were you.

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H2H CONTRACT POOL
C-, Grabovski(1), Thorton (3),Colin Wilson (1) (dual), Lokitonov(3) (dual)
W- Lucic(3), Brunner(3), Semin(1), Conacher (4)
D-Kieth, Voyanov(3), Zidlicky(1),) Faulk(3), Diaz (3), Tyutin (1)
G-Quick(4), Fasth (2)
MINORS- Redmond), Krieder(m), Morrow (m)
IR Malkin(3), Filppula (dual)(2)

CATS:SKATER +-/G/A/SOG/PM
CATS:GOALIE GAA/W/SO/S

ANY WEEK WE PLAY 2C,4W,4D,1G