Sounds like big islander-oiler trade imminent with nugent-hopkins and harmonic being the centerpieces of multi-player deal. Also rumored Kings are hot and heavy for yandle but haven't heard any kings names we'd be interested in.
It'd be a good trade for the Oil to get a D and save $2M off the cap. Not so good for the Isles as RNH is good but not $6M good and is signed long term at that amount. F that.
GM of the Kings have always loved Yandle. How many times do I have to f'n say it. Team desperately needs a player like Dwight King. However, I'd want more. Either picks or a prospect like Kempe. Or perhaps to the Wings for Sheahan and picks to be our new, 4th line center. Then trade Moore. Either way a trade of Yandle is going to setup further deals. Both LA and Detroit like the Rangers have little cap room. What the Rangers really need to do is get Nash to accept a trade and dump his f'n salary to a team that thinks they can fix his game this season. I don't understand what the Islanders are doing. They have no clue how to manage the cap. They have so many centers it's absurd. It's obvious that they have soured on Strome. It's also obvious that if the Islanders obtain RNH that Okposo is gone before the deadline. They have no chance to resign him with their cap situation.
Dump, I think the Isles are gonna try and go all in this year and hope for a deep playoff run so I doubt they trade Okposo. They've drawn miserably in Brooklyn but know they can recoup some of that loss revenue with a long playoff run and with all hype leading to sellouts. I don't think they'd get past the second round when they'd have to play Washington. If it's us in the first round, right now, I'd pick them in 6 as we've had no puck luck against them.
Remember Hamonic asked to be dealt to Western Canada...so I am sure that plays a role here. If it happens, great move for the Oilers. I also think it is a good move for the Isles to gamble on that upside with JT at C as well.
I still think our ultimate goal is to move Yandle and end up with a proven scoring forward. Whether that is direct OR by dealing Yandle and then flipping that return for a forward. We are in 2nd place right now. I know this board makes you think we are the last place CBJ's, but we are actually in 2nd place, and we'll act as if we still have a real chance to go far, and rightfully so. As for Nash, for the first time I think he could get dealt, but no shot that is a trade DL deal IMO...I think that would be a summer deal if we get knocked out early this season.
Rangers are soft. They don't have anybody that scores dirty goals. King would be a perfect fit here. Said it 100 times. He's also affordable. Nobody is giving up a proven, scorer up front for a rental. They might give up King and a really good prospect. That's it. Rangers can't take back any salary either. They desperately need a salary dump of Nash or Girardi.
That is why I believe you could see Hayes go in a package with Yandle to get that scorer we need. I am not going to speculate about specific players, because who knows, but I do think Yandle will be moved and I do think it will bring us back a forward somehow someway. I do agree with you that we need some gritty dirty scoring...we agree there dump. Funny because we have needed that for years now I think...LOL. Shame is every year we are talking about not having enough O...EVERY SINGLE SEASON. It is frustrating. The year we made the SCF what carried us through the East, where we still got grinded down, was depth. We had Pouliot/Brass/Zucc on the 3rd line (or MSL/Richards on the 3rd line if you prefer). We still struggled to score, and it bit us against the Kings, but we had great depth that season. The past two seasons we have had huge forward depth issues, and not close to enough scoring. I had hope for this season depth wise, BUT when Hayes and Kreider and Etem all have laid eggs the hope went out the window. Now we are left needing scoring again. Hopefully Gorton can get it done. The Met is tough though. Most likely if we make it we'll get the Isles in round 1 and the Caps in round 2 if we beat the Isles...not easy.
If we fall early I think Nash could get dealt, but I just see no way it happens in season this year. Doing that raises a white flag. ONLY way that happens is come Feb 29th we are done or close to done, and I don't see it. This summer I could see dealing Nash though to get us some cap relief (I am working under the belief that Staal/Girardi will not be dealt because they won't agree to it).
Tell Girardi he's going to the minors like Redden, he'll agree to it. Sometimes, you have to play dirty pool as a GM. Trading Nash no me doesn't raise the white flag. He makes over 7 million and he has 12 goals. It signifies that the team is tired of his incompetence. That's it.
Doesn't work like that anymore. With Redden we saved ALL of his cap hit. With Girardi we won't. And Redden was a hired gun, G is a long time Ranger guy. ZERO chance we do that. And for sure it does IN SEASON dump...100%. In the summer, no it does not when you can shape your full team. In season at the trade DL 100% it does if you deal Nash. Not happening unless we are out of it, which I don't see in 6 weeks.
Exactly, Dump. You're not raising the white flag by trading the 72nd goal scorer in the league this year. I've been unimpressed with Nash for a long time and getting him out of here would be a good thing.
And I disagree with you guys. You will not get equal talent value back for Nash in season...just won't. You certainly can get a better cap situation to make other moves...which is why that is a summer move UNLESS we are out of it. In season no shot and does equal raising the white flag IMO. Summer time...I 100% agree with you guys that Nash could be dealt and we can put together a deeper team.
I don't care about "equal talent". How do you even measure that, anyways? This isn't EA NHL 16 where you trade a 87 rated player and get another 87 back. Nash has been here 4 yrs already and has never carried this team anywhere averaging about 0.5pts/gm in the playoffs. At 31 i don't think his best years are ahead of him, either. I'm all for trading him, and spare me this is a summer move. BIG trades have happened at the deadline but you need a GM with balls to do that, and while still very new at his job, we have not seen that from Gorton yet.
Agree. Teams out there believe players they trade for will turn it around. That's how GM's think. So if Nash agrees to a trade, I can see them getting back a good, young forward with scoring potential and high pick for him. That team has to have cap room. Said this before. The Ducks are a team that badly needs a Nash. They are built to win now. Not at all 3 years from now. Ritchie is legit forward prospect. They have about 8 million in cap room. Nash might accept a trade there. Ducks appear to be setting up a move. Moving Hagelin and his moronic salary for Perron who is a UFA next year. Didn't Sather and company want Perron for years? Ritchie and Perron for Nash. Makes an awful lot of sense for both teams.
That'd be a good trade with the Ducks for sure, but will the talent calculator say we're getting equal talent? lol
Also, agree on the Ducks situation. With Getzlaf, Kesler and Perry all 30yo (31 for Kesler) that's a win-now team and would most certainly want Nash. It may be a good environment for him where he's not the "biggest name" and may not feel the pressure to carry them.
Let me clarify my point a little. Look at the Gabby trade in season. You can say that is very similar to the Nash situation. That trade was made at the trade DL, and that is the only season we didn't make it past the 2nd round the past 4 playoff seasons. BUT the following season we made the SCF because we were able to add some pieces that summer around Brass and Moore to a lesser extent. This is the same. If we deal Nash I do not believe that day we will be better. I do believe over the summer as we add some pieces to go with the players we get for Nash we could improve and be better for it, same with the Gabby deal. That is my point. I do not believe the day we make a Nash deal in season we are better, I think we will be worse, but once we can build around what we get for Nash and make use of the better cap position we will be in, then we can take a step forward. That is why to me Nash would be better as a summer deal not a trade DL deal. That is why I think we would be raising a white flag, because I don't think we'd be better that day (raising the flag on winning a cup this season potentially). To me it would be one step back at the DL for the potential of two steps forward in the summer after we fill out the team.
If Gorton and Sather have a brain they realize they can't beat Washington in the playoffs with this team. Let's say you trade Yandle for King and a second. Then you trade Nash for Perron who will be a UFA next year and Ritchie and perhaps a good pick. You now have added Ritchie and King to moron Kreider. You have three, big, physical forwards. Maybe those other two guys will get Kreider to play like he should. Ritchie is a top, power forward prospect. Your forwards just got a ton bigger, tougher and your team just added 2 guys who should be able to score dirty goals. Plus, you just dumped Nash's moronic salary. Perror is a right handed shot. They either won't sign him or he'll have to sign next year for 2 million. He's had 2 poor years in a row.
