Nikishin, Bunting, Tolvanen

The cap and roster are legal, and the UFA deals for Bunting at 1x$3.5M and Tolvanen at 1x$3M are very reasonable for their age and production, so those pieces are believable. The Brindley-for-Berggren swap is at least arguable value-wise, but Colorado is a Presidents’ Trophy-level team with a cost-controlled 21-year-old winger who just broke into their lineup; moving him one-for-one for a 26-year-old depth winger with less upside is something they’re unlikely to do mid‑window. The real problem is the Nikishin sequence. You can’t both trade for him and offer sheet him; once you acquire his rights from Carolina, the offer sheet mechanism is off the table. Even ignoring that, Carolina is a top contender and just got an 81‑GP, 33‑point season from a 24‑year‑old RFA defenseman; a package of Neighbours, Lindstein, and a 3rd is light for a cost‑controlled top‑four D, and they’d be more inclined to match a 2‑year, $4.5M offer sheet than take that return. That combination of an internally inconsistent acquisition path and an underpay for a key young defender drags the plan down from being fully believable.