I don't like what Ottawa has for the most part. They aren't going to part with Ceci. So unless they offer up Lazar with one of the crap defenseman they are trying to trade Sather, forget it.
If they can get a prospect like Lazar or Puempel with Wiercioch for DZ and a 2nd id take it. Get another solid forward prospect who can make the team in another year or so.
It actually makes more sense to trade Girardi now. It seems MDZ's value is so low because AV had him playing on the right side so long. I could see Girardi going to many teams. He would be a perfect fit for the Oilers if he would do a sign and trade. They have young defenseman that are about NHL ready. However, they have no vet presence on that team. Detroit needs him badly. That to me is the easiest trade to make. As usual, the Yotes make a good partner. Possible something like 1st Rundblad Szwarz
Here is the thing with Girardi, and my own personal opinion is he is a toss-up to be dealt or not, if we deal him it is sort of raising a white flag on the season. You know this dump, for better or for worse a dman that plays as much as he does for us, and fills a big "shutdown" role for us, is very difficult to replace in season. Even if we feel like he has struggled this season, that is a huge hole to replace for this season and next season. It would be like a punt of the season if we deal him, unless we get a very good dman right now back. So if we deal Girardi I think it happens just before the trade DL if we are struggling to stay in playoff contention or look like a team that doesn't have a real shot to win anything major. I also think the talks on a new deal factor into the decision. If he would take around 5 or so per on a new deal, I think we'd keep him. If he is looking for 5.5 + or 6 + I think we deal him most likely. Girardi is an interesting situation because of the role he plays for us, and the fact that he is a UFA. Like him or not this season, he has a big role for us, and that is not easy to replace. I would be okay dealing Girardi, but we better get a very good return that will help us next season for sure.
Rangers management has all but settled on the idea that they will trade Michael Del Zotto and they continue to seek a top-four defenseman, preferably one that is right handed. (NY Post) It is unlikely, due to Del Zotto’s struggles that they will get a player of that caliber and that Rangers management will have to decide whether to take the best offer they have or hold out for a better deal. (NY Post) Ottawa, Colorado and Toronto all have varying degrees of interest and Toronto may be willing to move defenseman Jake Gardiner. (NY Post)
Rangers are not going to invest a lot of money in Girardi unless they are able to move Staal. My guess is the Carolina thing might finally happen. If they could dump Staal and his salary, then they might decide to keep Girardi. However, since his name keeps coming up, I assume Sather doesn't want to go in that direction.
What is a lot of money? 5 years 25 mill or so a lot of money? If we could re-sign him for around 5 mill +/- over 4 or 5 years or so, that is not terrible. Will be an interesting 8 or 9 weeks for the Rangers I think considering where we are in the standings, and the free agents we have coming up this summer.
I said this offseason that Sather needs to get a read on Staal before he decides what to do with Girardi. If Staal is going to bolt after next year, it would be real tough to replace both Staal and Girardi's minutes. We could handle losing one, but losing both in consecutive years would make things difficult. I also cannot for the life of me understand why we are looking to move MDZ for a defenseman. With Staal close and Stralman still playing consistent hockey aside from a few games, is a top 4 dman really our biggest need? I thought a DZ package for a scoring winger was a no brainer
I agree in every single way Prod. The MDZ thing shows how much Sather is lost. Why deal MDZ and insist on a dman back? How does that conversation go with the other GM. Sather -I hear you are looking to add some D. Other GM - Yeah, what do you have in mind. Sather - I will deal you my dman MDZ, but I want a solid dman back. Other GM - How does that help me Glen if I need dmen and am giving you a solid one back? Sather - just dial tone. Makes no sense. If we insist on a dman back, what you are then saying is give us your troubled dman you have soured on and we'll give you our troubled dman we have soured on in return. With that as the backdrop, of course we aren't getting "fair value" for MDZ. VERY stupid, and shows yet again why Sather needs to retire. Game has passed him by.
As for Staal/Girardi, we agree again. The issue is how do we handle Staal? There is just no way at all we can get high full value for him with all his injuries/concussions, so how do you deal him? Best hope is he comes back soon, and I think he will, plays well, and then we deal him before the trade DL. But even if he puts in 6 or 7 solid weeks before the trade DL, I still think his value will be lowered, especially if the deal isn't with Carolina since the team dealing for him will fear him going there after next season. So the Staal thing is real tough. He wasn't playing well at all this season. He left concussed again. He is hurt almost every season now. He is a UFA after next season. He has ties that may pull him to Carolina. How do you get good solid value for him off of 6 or 7 weeks of play, which you hope is very good. Only real hope would be Carolina wants him (but if you are them do you really give up a lot when you can maybe sign him next summer anyway), or some team who thinks they have a great shot to win a cup says F it, we need a dman to put us over the top, we'll give up very good value to take that shot on Staal. It is a tough spot we are in with Staal IMO. Again, the next 8 or 9 weeks will be very interesting for us until the trade DL. Buyers or sellers? Girardi or Cally or Staal dealt? Girardi or Cally re-signed? Some other role players dealt? Will we even be close to locking down a playoff spot or will we be pretty much out of playoff contention? A lot of questions to be answered. Right now it is hard to predict what we will do. But I will make two predictions for the heck of it anyway: 1. We re-sign Cally for 4 or 5 years with a 4.5 to 5 mill per cap hit. 2. MDZ will be dealt in Jan. Too much smoke that they want to deal him. Especially if Staal is back soon, which I think he will be.
I mean I understand wanting to get some left/right balance on the blue line, which we don't have right now. But should that really be the area of focus when this team is 4th from the bottom in the entire NHL in scoring?
Agreed. We can look to add a dman if we deal MDZ, I agree, but that shouldn't be in an MDZ deal. Deal him for scoring, and then in a separate deal add a dman. That is a lot of work for Sather though, so we need to respect that....
This is not a one fix deal. If he's trying to get a defenseman back for MDZ, he might then deal Girardi for forwards and picks.
What cracks me up about these sorry ass other teams is they think their defenseman are good enough and they are crap. The Rangers usually are in the top 5 for least goals allowed because of Hank and their defenseman. The class of the league has been the Hawks and Bruins the past 4 years. Not these other teams who continue to offer crap for defenseman who can play 20 minutes in this league. Yes, MDZ has had a rough start this year playing on the right side. However, when you look at the crap the Leafs, Red Wings, Islanders, Sens and Av's are using on defense, he would be a star for them. Every year we see this crap. Arrogance for other teams that have losers on defense and then at the last minute trade 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks like a they mean nothing for crappy, old defenseman at the deadline.
You guys are really entertaining the idea of bringing Girardi back for a few more years? I think he's shot, plus he dosent fit AVs system well. I personally think almost the whole corps needs an overhaul except for McD, Moore and maybe Stralman whos good value. They need an offensive stud pp guy under 30 and probably 2 other guys to round it out. Whether McIlrath, Allen and Skjei become solid player we'll see too. Staal to me is gone either way after next year with his mounting problems.
Stralman is not impressive. I would not plan on having him going forward. He would improve other teams but he really does nothing well. His offense is non existent. He doesn't hit. He doesn't fight. He doesn't skate great. He's not a great PK guy. He should be dealt at the deadline.
I think for what Stralman makes he's a solid 4/5, though i expect a little more offensively than he's showing. He does have a good shot and pp ability which we saw at times last year. I wouldnt mind him back for another year or two.
IMO we need a big, physical, crease clearing shutdown dman more then we need an offensive dman now. I think McDonagh has grown in that role, and will continue to grow in that role as we move forward. And I think we badly lack a physical presence on D. Maybe that can be Mcllrath at some point, but to me it is a clear need for us looking forward. You are both right on Stralman I think. He is what he is. As a 3rd pair dman he is okay. But he is also limited physically. Just the way it is. On Girardi, you way undervalue what he does sc. The minutes he plays. The role he plays here. That all cannot be undervalued. Those cannot be made up easily. I am not saying we shouldn't deal him IF we get a big time offer for him, but he will not be easily replaced. He would be a big loss for us, and someone we would need to replace for next season. Guy plays over 20 mpg on the 1st pair. That is huge. The D will be re-made for next season I believe. I think that will actually be the bigger focus this summer. Upfront I think some kids could fill the lower lines. You sign 2 or 3 guys, a C to replace Richards, and another solid scoring winger, and maybe try and add a vet like an Ott to win draws. And you have Stepan, Kreider, Nash, MZA, Cally, Hags as a base. On D we could have bigger holes to fill. McD gets a spot. Moore will get a spot (hopefully he improves and can play on the 2nd pair). After that we have a lot of question marks. Girardi back? Staal back? Stralman back? Any kids ready? MDZ dealt this season? Who is the big physical crease clearer? The D has a lot of questions on it IMO. Upfront I think we see what we need, and can add those guys. Plus we have a few solid players already, and some kids who can fill out 2 or 3 spots on the bottom 6. On D we need a re-make. We will have 2 or 3 open spots at least I believe, and we'll see who fills them.
They need both a crease clearer and a real offensive pp shooter. McDonagh is an allstar caliber player but just dosent have the offensive qualities theyre missing. I thought maybe he could develop into that but he's not that adept offensively. The Keiths Doughty Yandles of the world arent easy to get. With Girardi, he was very good at what he did for awhile but over time he's gotten worn down.
