Yes, his extension cap hit will start in October 2015 if we re-sign Staal.
So you are in favor of re-signing Staal long term, that is cool. Honestly I am not sure where I stand on that. We would have Klein, Staal, Girardi, and McDonagh all locked up for 4 years or more. And Boyle and Moore (I assume he will get a two year bridge deal soon) for two years each. That's a lot of D locked up. Now sure we can flip Klein, but a lot of D locked up long term, and Girardi and Staal with NTC's (I assume Staal will get one in his extension).
As for trading core players for 35 year old guys, I do think Brassard and Staal for Thornton is too much considering Thornton is 35, but again I really think it all comes down to what we plan to do with Staal.
Most people would do Brassard for Thornton straight up, I know we have a love affair in here with Brass, but the guy is 27 and never had more than 47 points. Brass also will be getting a contract in the 4's somewhere real soon, maybe 4.5 +. So I would deal Brass for Thornton, the question is what else would be included. I do think Staal would be too much like I said, but it isn't crazy if we aren't going to re-sign Staal anyway, but I would want something else back with Thornton if we dealt those two guys for him.
The other thing we need to remember is we have a lot of good young players. Let's not forget that. Stepan, Kreider, Zucc, Brass, Hags, Miller, Fast, Lindberg all under the age of 27. That is good youth. So we are not an old team. And if we did deal Brass for Thornton we would still have some good young players.
I really could go either way on Thornton. I do think we could use a C upgrade, but I also think Brass and Staal is too much for him. I guess we'll see how this plays out.