You guys are totally right about it being July 3rd and we have 3 + months until the season starts, so plenty of time to improve the team, but we have to talk about something, so discussing the team as it stands right now is the topic I think. And if we do that we are not good enough IMO. I keep going back and forth on the Boyle signing. I think he will help the PP, although I think McDonagh getting better on O would have done that anyway. I also think giving Stralman 5 years was way too much and I never would have wanted that (guy went from average at best to a 4.5 per for 5 years player with 20 good...not great...playoff games...wow). But Boyle is 38 and his point production has dropped almost every season for the last 4 or 5 seasons. Now I am hopeful he can score 12 or 13 goals and 35-40 points, but it is a risk. I also think he will see very little PK time, which means Klein with Staal (if he is here) will be the 2nd PK pair. And at even strength it wouldn't shock me to see Klein play with Staal in big spots there as well. So in comparison to Stralman I think Boyle is pretty much a wash, worst case a small downgrade overall because Stralman is better in his own zone, while Boyle is better on O and the PP. So on D I don't see a huge upgrade or downgrade, even if Boyle is just average and adds some PP O. Plus I also like that Boyle wanted to be here and took less money and years to do it. Might not mean much (see Richards), but it is good to hear as we sit here right now. Upfront is where we have taken steps backwards and towards the unknown at the moment. We lost Richards, Pouliot, Boyle, and Dorsett upfront. That is a lot of our good quality depth that was our biggest advantage this past season. Thus far all we have added is Glass, so clearly we have work left to do. Now I like the kids who project to get some time now, Lindberg, Miller, and Fast. I think we can get some good stuff out of them, Miller and Lindberg especially, but they are very unproven. No one can act as if we are good as we have these mid-level prospect kids to step in (Miller may be a little more than mid-level...maybe I would call him a solid prospect). I think we have to add a forward. I would feel much better if we played Miller and only one of Lindberg or Fast, and the other open spot on the 3rd line was filled by a proven solid 20 or so goal guy. That is what I would like to see. Miller on the 3rd line. Forward we add (hopefully a C) in the top 9 as well. Then have Lindberg or Fast on the 4th line with Moore and Glass. If we can add that guy I would feel much better. This is going to be a tough season. Some of the East teams are getting better. It won't be easy to win the East again or advance far in the playoffs, it is rare the SC loser does that, so we really need to be sharp and at our best to repeat this season. Meanwhile the West has even gotten better. Stastny added to the Blues. Kesler added to the Ducks. Spezza added to the Stars. Avs got Iginla to replace Stastny and their youth will get even better. Kings are great still. Hawks added Richards as a # 2 C. And the Sharks are still a very solid team as well. The West is so good and now even better...scary stuff. So the point is we need to get better to play with these teams. We had no 1st for two straight years, and at some point that will catch up to us, so now and next season and the season after needs to be the total focus IMO. And we clearly have work to do still to get back to where we were, let alone be a better team. I am excited for the Rangers, and I do think we will add a big C still, and I am very curious to see who that player is. Again...a TON of time until they drop the puck, so no need to say that, but unless we will shut the board down until October, we might as well discuss where we are right now.
What's interesting to me is do we add a winger or a C? If we add another winger that would mean Miller or Lindberg would have to C the 3rd line (I doubt Moore does that for 82 games). While I like Miller for the top 9, I think he should start on the wing. And it seems like a lot to have Lindberg come in and C the 3rd line right away. So we kind of need a C IMO. Not much left out there via free agency though. Maybe Legwand? I see him as a little lesser version than Richards at this point. Both had 51 points this past season. Legwand will be 34 next month. I think he can score 45/50 points next season. He's 6'2" and 205 lbs, so not a small guy. Not ideal, but given our situation and need for a C we could do worse I guess. If we added Legwand, or a Legwand type, truthfully we almost have a mirror team as this past season. Legwand = Richards. Glass = Boyle. Lindberg = Dorsett. Miller = Pouliot. Boyle = Stralman. I know Lindberg and Dorsett are different players, more O for Lindberg more grit and toughness for Dorsett, and the same can be said for Miller and Pouliot, but overall pretty similar. I think if it went down like that the way we'd be a better team, we hope, is McDonagh and Kreider and Stepan all taking nice steps forward. Brassard getting a little better. MSL for a full season. And maybe the kids, Miller Lindberg Fast, giving us a jump as well. Looking at our team I do think a top 9 C is what we need more than a winger at this point.
hadnt realized til now that Vrbata went to VAN for 2yrs @ $5M/ea....not that we could fit him based on the contracts we have now, but that's not a bad contract and we could have used his right handedness and scoring.
Yeah, 5 mill cap hit...no way for us. Means a deal has to be coming with cap space out to make room for what is coming in. That is how we add O, via a deal at this point. Staal or Klein the most likely guys going I'd think, and I lean Staal unless they have had good extension talks.
The Rangers have signed center Chris Mueller (Rangers) Mueller, 28, was with the Dallas organization last season and he is 5-11, 210 and from West Seneca, New York. He played 9 games for the Starts in the regular season this year and has previously played 37 games for Nashville from 2010 to 2013. His career average is 9:36 per game. He has two goals and 6 assists in his career. He played four games for Dallas in the playoffs last year and averaged 6:28 per game. In the minors last season, Mueller had 25 goals and 32 assists for Texas. He had 6 goals and 5 assists for Texas in the Calder Cup Playoffs in 19 games. In 11-12, he had 32 goals and 28 assists for Milwaukee of the AHL. Mueller’s cap hit last season was $600,000 on a two-way contract that had an AHL salary of $300,000 Mueller’s deal is a ONE-WAY deal for ONE-YEAR and has a cap hit of $600,000. (Cap Geek) One-way deal...interesting.
I wouldn't look into the one way deal that much. It's either a plan B, using him as a 4th line center and Moore as a 3rd line center or they'll just waive him
Good deal for OTT. And agree, it will have to be a trade, which is not a bad thing since that's where Sather does best.
Yeah, once I saw the Legwand deal that pretty much sealed the fate that it would be a trade not a signing for O. And it makes sense since Sather is better at trades as 31 said AND we have excess D that will need to be dealt anyway, so we will deal from that excess to add O I believe.
Eklund posted today that the "Sharks are mulling over a big trade." He guessed their partner was OTT, but that was before the Legwand signing broke. This can only mean one thing...the Sharks are not mulling over a big trade.
A trade will happen sometime soon. I bet it happens within a week or two. This stuff usually doesn't drag on past midish-July. While I think Thornton wants to stay in SJ, I still think that team will make a splash to mix it up, especially their leadership group. So who knows what will happen with them. Even the Nash deal from two years ago, which dragged on and on, was done in July. So it will happen sooner rather than later.
