Darren DregerVerified account@DarrenDreger 3h3 hours ago More No rest for NHL clubs as today the window opens for teams to begin talking to pending unrestricted free agents. Can't negotiate terms. Pierre LeBrunVerified account@PierreVLeBrun 3h3 hours ago More Wink wink LOL @ Pierre
After looking through the list and the RFA's we have coming up the next couple years, I would sign nobody. See if I can get Staal to accept a trade. Pay half his salary to dump him. I would see if I could get moron Sakic to trade Soderberg and his awful contract with 50% retained. He was atrocious last year. However, he's about a 52% faceoff guy. 3 more years on his contract at 4.7. So, 2.3 cap hit if they pay half. 6'3 three and before last year he had 51 points. A nice stop gap. Klein needs to make a decision what he's doing. I figure you can send them Gilmour, Fogarty and Pedrie. Give them a 4th line center and two defenseman that might turn into lower pairing guys. Basically, they are dumping half of a bad contract. I think Soderberg can find his game on a much better team. On the Av's he'll suck again.
Thinking maybe they will try and sign Michael Stone if they can't get anyone else.. on the fence about Shattenkirk... Yandle came here got 40a a year but didn't seem like he did much of anything else
We will sign someone, and most likely a couple of guys. No shot we leave a huge amount of cap space on the table. We also have to remember Nash's 7.8 mill comes off the books after next season, so that will help us with our RFA's after next season as well. And I think Klein will retire. Doubt he floats it out there, has a going away party and then stays. He'll retire this week I think. Leaving us about 23 mill under the cap. Now with that said, I do not want us going crazy with big money long term deals. A guy like Shatt takes a NY discount or we should not even try to sign him. Same goes with a guy like Thornton. I have zero interest unless he takes a one year deal for a lower cap hit. Gorton needs to be smart and not sign bad long term deals as we come out of the tough cap spot we have been in the past couple of seasons. But like it or not, we will sign people that is a given I think.
I have always felt Shatt is a better player than Yandle, and I think it is pretty clear. Plus he is a R shot, which makes him more valuable just for that reason alone. But even with that said, pass unless he gives us a discount in years and AAV and really wants to play for his favorite team growing up in his home city.
Shatt has said he will take less to play here. I think he means it. I think they get him for $5.75 /5 type deal. He's definitely better than Yandle. Better shot and better in his zone. The fit is perfect.
Smith said as long as they come in fair market he wants to stay so i think we can 92% pencil him in. The Shatt signing will be interesting. I'd say it's 60/40 he ends up here but nothing more than 5y/6.2.
I wouldn't go over 6 per on a 5 or more year deal. My max is 5.7 +/- per. If he wants more and a Yandle type deal, all good it just won't be with his favorite team in NY.
No interest in Smith. The fact he's talking market value shows he's a dickhead. Rangers saved his sorry ass from a shit Wings team with fans that were ripping him at the time. If Shatt will take a discount and go 5.5 million for 5 years here, then I'm for it. We'll see. Players seem to go for every penny so I doubt that. I would rather go with three young guys. McDonagh-DeAngelo Graves-Skjei Staal-alexie bereglazov Holden Skjei can play the right side. McDonagh is a perfect guy to pair with DeAngelo. Let Poink play a year in the minors. Move Staal to the bottom pairing where he belongs. Work Holden in as an active 7th guy. Giving Bereglazov, Graves and DeAngelo some games off so they don't press too much. If Shatty takes less to come here. McDonagh-Shattenkirk Graves-Skjei Staal-alexie bereglazov Holden Let DeAngelo play a year for the Pack and get his defense up to par. Would love if they could dump Staal and make the third paring Holden/Bereglazo-DeAngelo Either way. Graves has to be on this defense. Way too many asswipes on the d-core last year. He's ready.
I agree Disturbed. And I don't see Gorton going with the first D group you called out kreider. Gorton has made his intentions clear that he wants a RD to play with McDonagh, so I don't think he pairs DeAngelo with McDonagh, and also has Graves in the top 4. Maybe one on the 2nd pair, but I don't see an unproven kid starting with McDonagh on paper in the summer. And then back that up by having another unproven kid starting on the 2nd pair (and with still young Skjei as well). My guess is both guys will be in the 3rd pair mix to break them in slowly. Maybe one on the 2nd pair if we don't resign Smith. The 3rd pair will be very interesting because you have Staal and Holden here. To me only one should be in the lineup and I'd like two kids in the top 6 unless we can get Shatt and Smith both here, then maybe the 3rd pair becomes Staal with a kid Graves or DeAngelo. If Shatt is here DeAngelo could start in the AHL because we'd have our PP QB in Shatt. If we don't sign Shatt then I could see DeAngelo on the 3rd pair as the PP QB. What will really be telling to me is how AV (with Ruff) deploys the dmen. To me he has to trust the kids (unless we get Shatt AND Smith then only the 3rd pair is open for kids). Staal and Holden need to be buried in the 3rd pair mix. If either are in the top 4 it is shame on AV. And he needs to trust the kids in big spots also, only way they will learn. To me most likely I see at least one of Shatt or Smith here in the top 4. Then I would play a kid on the 2nd pair and a kid on the 3rd pair. The more I look at it I think we'll see something like this: McDonagh/Shatt Skjei/Graves or DeAngelo Staal/Graves/DeAngelo/Holden/other kid Once again, I do think it will be very interesting to see how Gorton completes the D. I really think the focus is a RD to pair with McDonagh, which tells me Shatt will be here unless he demands a monster get every penny deal like Yandle did.
I just crunched some ## on capfriendly and if Smith gets 5m and Shatt 6.2 ish, backup goalie 1m, Zib 5 and Fast 2.5 we will have about 5m left if Klein retires which he likely will. I stuck in Dwight King at 2.5 and brought up Nieves and it left us with 1m. You would have to move Miller back to C which isn't optimal but isn't bad either. 7D would be Shatt,Skjei,Smith,Staal,Holden, two of DeAngelo/Bereglazov/Graves. You can sit Staal here and there to keep him 'fresh.
Numbers aren't far off. I think Smith is more in the 4.5 range, and I hope Shatt is closer to 5.7 or 5.8. On the flip side on a longer term deal Zib may be 5.2 or so. But in the range. Issue there is I see a C added more than I see a King added with that last 4 mill or so. I think they'll look to add a C, even if it is on the lower end like a face-off type grit guy (maybe a Boyle type).
Yeah, so overall it's within 1m total, and they could just use a Jensen instead of paying King and then use 3m for a C. Hanzal would be good but he'll probably get more $ and years elsewhere.
Yeah, a guy like King has lost something, plus I don't really know if they would target him. I am okay with Fast and Grabner anchoring the 4th line with kids around them. If the C they sign is more of a 4th line face-off C like Boyle, I would see Fast and the Boyle type anchoring the 4th line, and Grabner bumped up to the 3rd line. Then have a kid man the last spot on the 4th line (last two spots until Fast is ready). If the C they sign is a top 9 guy, then the 4th line is Fast and Grabner with kids. I rather the latter option, but not sure if we have the money for a true top 9 C unless one takes less money to be here. And the more I think about it the more I think Shatt will be here.
Ideally, the best way to approach upcoming season is not to spend any money on anybody. I would say they should tank next season, develop the kids dump mentioned. Get one of the top picks in the next draft so they can set themselves up nicely for the next decade with andersson and some other kid from the next year deep draft. Nash will be gone and his 7.8. They will have tons of money to spend in a very good FA market next year. Yeah, I know hank is here so we have to cater to his ass.
And there is zero chance that happens, whether I/we want it to or not. Doesn't work that way in NY. And double so with Hank at 35. I will say this. Our issue this year was D. Girardi gone. Staal's role has to be diminished. DeAngelo added. Worst case either Smith or Shatt will be here all year long. And Skjei should improve after his first full season. So the D has to be better. The O should be around the same. Yes Stepan is gone, but he was just okay this past season. Buch and Vesey have to be better in their 2nd years. Grabner I am sure will go back down to 15 goals +/- I'd think. Most of the other guys I'd expect similar seasons from. And I think we'll add at least one forward next week. Reason I mention this is because I don't see why we cannot be a good team next season. In the NHL things change quickly. We will be younger and should be hungry. Pens will be good again. Caps have to step back. Leafs and BJ's will be good. After that I think we can be there with any team. We also could falter just like most teams. But by no means would I punt on next season and say we have no shot. Not in the NHL when the 8 seed Preds made the SCF. The Sens made the ECF. Teams like the Oilers and Leafs and BJ's took big steps forward. In the NHL who knows what will happen.
They can be just good enough team next year. They have a huge hole up the middle now. How they are going to address it? They need a high end talent though so they can set themselves up for the next decade. The only way they can do that is tank like the other teams. I feel like gorton is setting them up for the run after this year. Thats why he traded Stepan so he has a lot of room to maneuver after this season.
