2/25/15 | 8:18PM: Bob McKenzie said on NHL Live on Wednesday afternoon, “The New York Rangers were in on Daniel Winnik and had to pull out. They were in on Andrej Sekera and had to pull out. They are looking to make something happen.” He added, “one name that has been linked to the Rangers is Tyler Bozak. It would not be an easy deal to do because of the financial implications, he has terms and dollars left on his deal so it would not be easy for the Rangers but at least that is one name who is out there as maybe the Rangers having interest if they can find a way to facilitate the dollars. Bozak, 28, has three more years left on his deal, with a cap hit of $4.2 million. He has 16 goals and 21 assists this season for the Leafs and is 51.2% on faceoffs. He averages 0.62 points per game in his career.
Not sure how we afford him. This season and moving forward as well. If this happens MSL and Zucc are both gone for sure IMO. He is a good fit, I just wonder what we would have to deal for him as well. He is not a rental. The Leafs could also hold some cap hit this season, but still don't see a fit from a cap POV.
If I had to guess I'd say Hags would def be involved in this trade. I Would have preferred Winnik. No connection beyond this year and because of that would've been cheaper and easier to attain.
Exactly the point. Hags or Zucc goes, okay we really better? Again I don't get it. Let's see what Sather does. It is funny that with no cap room and limited picks the Pens seem to make good trades every season.
Maybe Sather is trying to drive down the price for Vermette by making AZ THINK that we have an alternative. I don't know.
Toronto helped them immensely.........instead of Pens paying Winnik 100%, Leafs help them out by paying 50% of Winnik's contract. I wonder if Toronto would have been so amenable if dealing with Sather? I doubt it. Screw Pens and Leafs. Note that Pens don't give up a name player off their roster. Something smells and it's all in Pittsburgh.
Vermette makes the most sense now because he can play wing on the Stepan line and take draws for that assclown in the dot. Hayes is rolling now and I don't think AV wants to move him from center. His faceoffs have gotten better. I don't think Sather wants to give up both 2nd's for a rental. I suspect a 2nd, Lindberg, Nieves and McIlrath would pretty easily get that done.
I doubt Vermette would play wing on the Stepan line. Last game Hayes played wing with Nash out, so I don't think it is written in stone Hayes must play C. At this point in his career playing wing actually wouldn't be awful. He could use his size on the boards, that would be bonus. If he played wing for the last 20 or so games and the playoffs, no harm. Next season back at C (BTW...another reason I doubt Bozak is here since that would lock up all 3 center spots). And you have NO CLUE cage if the Leafs would pay 50% for Sather. I would guess they would, why do they care if it is Pitt or NY, but who knows. That is always the wildcard here as I have been saying, teams can hold some cap hit to make these deals work, and since we are so late in the season and the numbers are prorated, the actual money isn't that much now. The Pens improved big time AGAIN with Perron and Winnik, and good for them. Sather let the Winnik deal pass, and I am fine with that IF he has another deal cooking. I have thought for over a week now that Zona and Vermette was our move, and I feel that even more now. Think it happens. Zona and Maloney are here, and I think we get something done today or tomorrow. Pretty simple to me, Pens improve, rumors Caps will improve, Isles are real deep, we simply cannot do nothing and think we will win the Met and make it to the ECF at least...cannot.
Would love Bozak. Oh, but we'd lose Hagelin. Boo hoo. Bozak can be a 45-50pt player for us, give us 3 solid centers and provide us with someone to win the critical faceoffs.
We don't just lose Hags. We lose Zucc to FA as well because of Bozak's contract thru the next 3 seasons unless Zucc backs down from his high contract demands.
Hags will make 3m next year as a RFA, it's not that much more than Bozak at 4.2m. Not saying I do the deal but please stop with the "cap hell" the Rangers are in if they lost Hags for Bozak
They need to start watching the cap and go after Eric Staal in 2016. He will probably move down into the 5-6m range but is a better player than Stepan and would give them a 3 headed monster with Stepan and Brassard. The only issue would be if Hayes is a solid 3C and even Lindberg is better than a 4th liner there would be a logjam of sorts.
