2022 Free Agency Thread

[jkutswings]

I'm an optimist. So I'll assume that part of the circumstances with Larkin is that he was very focused on the arrangements for his engagement (and the team didn't want to ruin that particular surprise by referencing it for why the player had less than normal availability to get a deal hammered out).

So now that he's popped the question, let's get an A+ deal in the books and everybody can move forward.

 

[DTR]

Trocheck is for sure worth it, IMO. He was great in the playoffs.

And I am sure Yzerman has interest in Trocheck. But I doubt Yzerman wants to pay he going rate for a 28 year old Trocheck his age 33-35 seasons. We have so much cap room that Steve can pay a lot to him for 3-4 years. Problem is these UFA want term more often than not. I don’t fault them, but July is when just about all the future buyout contracts get signed for a reason.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

I don't think any of those players are good enough to warrant 5+ years on this team. There's good UFAs every year and I believe Yzerman will get decent UFAs signed to reasonable deals that don't have a ton of downside.

I'm not even sure we would want Klingberg, but I'd be happy to take him. His value is being a top PPQB. Do we really need that?

I also think that Copp is more of a role player than someone to sign for 5 years at big money. Trocheck is the closest guy and he is still a 2nd or 3rd line center at best.

Trocheck is the only UFA I really want us to sign.

& he's a very solid 2-way 2C. not remotely a "3C' as you suggest.

Copp is my Plan B, but I'm comfortable w/$4.75-$4.9 * 3-4yrs max....he'll get way more somewhere for longer.

Klingon $6.5 *3-4 would be perfect, but also a pipedream. agree on the topPPQB angle. We need a 5on5 Def.Rock. & 2-way 30pt+ R-PMD.

 

[TCNorthstars]

I'm an optimist. So I'll assume that part of the circumstances with Larkin is that he was very focused on the arrangements for his engagement (and the team didn't want to ruin that particular surprise by referencing it for why the player had less than normal availability to get a deal hammered out).

So now that he's popped the question, let's get an A+ deal in the books and everybody can move forward.

That would make sense if Larkin was negotiating his own deal, but he has agents that take care of all that.

 

[Frk It]

And I am sure Yzerman has interest in Trocheck. But I doubt Yzerman wants to pay he going rate for a 28 year old Trocheck his age 33-35 seasons. We have so much cap room that Steve can pay a lot to him for 3-4 years. Problem is these UFA want term more often than not. I don’t fault them, but July is when just about all the future buyout contracts get signed for a reason.

I’d rather give Trocheck that term and have a clear upgrade at the 2C slot; then sign another Pius Suter type guy to a cheaper deal and slot a 3rd liner on your 2nd line and hope it works out (spoiler : it doesn’t)

 

[jkutswings]

That would make sense if Larkin was negotiating his own deal, but he has agents that take care of all that.

Yes and no. I'm sure there's no direct back and forth between the team and the player on financials. But as negotiations progress, there's probably at least some updates between agent and player, and getting feedback for any hard lines in the sand versus any possible concessions or trade-offs.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Trocheck is for sure worth it, IMO. He was great in the playoffs.

So was Copp. I wouldn’t be mad at the Hyman deal for either of them. Front load it so they’re making little money in years 5-6-7 and if the team stinks then it’s easier to move.

 

[DTR]

Looking back at the 2016 FA Class since a lot of those guys that signed long term deals would be at the end of those contracts:

Jason Demers: 5x4.5 (traded after one season, now in the KHL)
Milan Lucic: 7x6 (traded for a less worse contract)
Andrew Ladd: 7x5.5 (traded as a cap dump)
Kyle Okposo: 7x6 (has yet to eclipse 20 goals for Buffalo)
Loui Eriksson: 6x6 (traded as part of a cap dump, yet to eclipse 11 goals since signing as a UFA)
Frans Nielsen: 5x6: we all know the story here
David Backes: 5x6 (traded, never eclipsed 17 goals)

People can say with hindsight that these guys sucked but many of these guys were talked about in the same manner as guys in this years class. It’s just how UFA goes.

 

[Frk It]

Looking back at the 2016 FA Class since a lot of those guys that signed long term deals would be at the end of those contracts:

Jason Demers: 5x4.5 (traded after one season, now in the KHL)
Milan Lucic: 7x6 (traded for a less worse contract)
Andrew Ladd: 7x5.5 (traded as a cap dump)
Kyle Okposo: 7x6 (has yet to eclipse 20 goals for Buffalo)
Loui Eriksson: 6x6 (traded as part of a cap dump, yet to eclipse 11 goals since signing as a UFA)
Frans Nielsen: 5x6: we all know the story here
David Backes: 5x6 (traded, never eclipsed 17 goals)

People can say with hindsight that these guys sucked but many of these guys were talked about in the same manner as guys in this years class. It’s just how UFA goes.

What were the age of those guys when they got those deals?

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

From the 32 Thoughts Pod

- The Larkin deal is tracking to get done soon
- Marek was told Yzerman has no interest in giving UFA term

Man I really hope this isn't the case.

If we don't bring anyone decent in during UFA, I wonder if that signals Yzerman might trade the sort of tweener roster players (Vrana, Bertuzzi, Hronek) and double down on the rebuild.

If we're not going to bring in talent this summer then I'm not sure how much sense it makes to keep those guys around.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

What were the age of those guys when they got those deals?

Millenials. Now they're Boomers.

 

[DTR]

What were the age of those guys when they got those deals?

Okposo: 27
Lucic: 27
Demers: 28
Ladd: 29
Eriksson: 29
Nielsen: 32
Backes: 32

 

[StargateSG1]

Man I really hope this isn't the case.

If we don't bring anyone decent in during UFA, I wonder if that signals Yzerman might trade the sort of tweener roster players (Vrana, Bertuzzi, Hronek) and double down on the rebuild.

If we're not going to bring in talent this summer then I'm not sure how much sense it makes to keep those guys around.

He pretty much said he won't be in the market for "big splashes", not to mention that none of the "big UFAs" will want to come into the rebuild situation without major overpayments.

 

[Frk It]

Okposo: 27
Lucic: 27
Demers: 28
Ladd: 29
Eriksson: 29
Nielsen: 32
Backes: 32

I can understand people not wanting to give term to guys like Kadri (31), Palat (31), or Giroux (34)

But I don't really have an issue giving term to Trocheck (28), Burakovsky (27), or Strome/Copp (27/28). Not with our current cap situation.

There are other examples of guys signing to 33/34/35 and being fine, and I don't think they play the kind of game that ages as poorly as Lucic or Okposo.

 

[DTR]

I can understand people not wanting to give term to guys like Kadri (31), Palat (31), or Giroux (34)

But I don't really have an issue giving term to Trocheck (28), Burakovsky (27), or Strome/Copp (27/28). Not with our current cap situation.

There are other examples of guys signing to 33/34/35 and being fine, and I don't think they play the kind of game that ages as poorly as Lucic or Okposo.

I think signing anyone above for 3-4 years is obviously fine. Even if we overpay by 10-15%. I just don’t think putting seals on the books for 5+ Years is a great use of resources.

I still wouldn’t put it past Yzerman to land a few of these guys for less than five years term.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

He pretty much said he won't be in the market for "big splashes", not to mention that none of the "big UFAs" will want to come into the rebuild situation without major overpayments.

Personally, I think this team would benefit from overpaying a good 2C.

I see this year as a bit of a crossroads. I'd like to see us supplement the roster talent with some solid free agents. If we're not going to put out a competitive roster, I think we should probably move guys like Vrana, Bertuzzi, and Hronek for futures, double down on a couple more years of bad hockey, and try to build a good group around Seider's prime years.

I'd rather see us try to improve the roster, but if we're not going to do that in a meaningful way then I'd probably be listening on offers for some of our guys in their primes.

 

[DTR]

 

[Ricelund]

From the 32 Thoughts Pod

- Marek was told Yzerman has no interest in giving UFA term

I'm not surprised. I posted this earlier in the thread:

Here's a list of all of Yzerman's UFA signings in TB:

PLAYER	SIGNING DATE	TYPE	LENGTH	CAP HIT	VALUE
St. Louis, Martin	Jul. 1, 2010	35+ (UFA)	4 years	$5,625,000	$22,500,000
Ellis, Dan	Jul. 1, 2010	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$1,500,000	$3,000,000
Kubina, Pavel	Jul. 2, 2010	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$3,850,000	$7,700,000
Moore, Dominic	Jul. 30, 2010	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$1,100,000	$2,200,000
Angelidis, Mike	Aug. 3, 2010	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$500,000	$500,000
Bergeron, Marc-Andre	Jan. 5, 2011	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$1,000,000	$1,000,000
Brewer, Eric	Jun. 24, 2011	Standard (UFA)	4 years	$3,875,000	$15,500,000
Pouliot, Marc-Antoine	Jun. 25, 2011	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$550,000	$550,000
Bergeron, Marc-Andre	Jun. 28, 2011	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$1,000,000	$2,000,000
Hall, Adam	Jun. 29, 2011	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$600,000	$600,000
Angelidis, Mike	Jun. 30, 2011	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$525,000	$525,000
Garon, Mathieu	Jul. 1, 2011	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$1,300,000	$2,600,000
Ouellet, Michel	Jul. 1, 2011	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$525,000	$525,000
Smith, Trevor	Jul. 4, 2011	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$525,000	$525,000
Picard, Alexandre	Jul. 7, 2011	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$600,000	$600,000
Miettinen, Antti	Dec. 12, 2011	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$1,300,000	$2,702,585
Labrie, Pierre-Cédric	Dec. 30, 2011	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$525,000	$1,050,000
Caron, Sebastien	Mar. 19, 2012	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$525,000	$525,000
Hall, Adam	Jun. 15, 2012	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$650,000	$650,000
Angelidis, Mike	Jun. 19, 2012	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$525,000	$525,000
Salo, Sami	Jul. 1, 2012	35+ (UFA)	2 years	$3,750,000	$7,500,000
Pouliot, Benoit	Jul. 1, 2012	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$1,800,000	$1,800,000
Carle, Matthew	Jul. 4, 2012	Standard (UFA)	6 years	$5,500,000	$33,000,000
Taormina, Matt	Jul. 6, 2012	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$700,000	$700,000
Purcell, Teddy	Jul. 10, 2012	Standard (UFA)	3 years	$4,500,000	$13,500,000
Thompson, Nate	Mar. 24, 2013	Standard (UFA)	4 years	$1,600,000	$6,400,000
Crombeen, B.J.	Apr. 1, 2013	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$1,150,000	$2,300,000
Angelidis, Mike	Jun. 27, 2013	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$550,000	$550,000
Labrie, Pierre-Cédric	Jul. 1, 2013	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$625,000	$625,000
Desjardins, Cedrick	Jul. 3, 2013	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$650,000	$650,000
Taormina, Matt	Jul. 3, 2013	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$650,000	$650,000
Filppula, Valtteri	Jul. 5, 2013	Standard (UFA)	5 years	$5,000,000	$25,000,000
Morrow, Brenden	Sep. 23, 2013	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$1,500,000	$1,500,000
Cote, Jean Philippe	Dec. 18, 2013	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$550,000	$1,100,000
Callahan, Ryan	Jun. 25, 2014	Standard (UFA)	6 years	$5,800,000	$34,800,000
Strålman, Anton	Jul. 1, 2014	Standard (UFA)	5 years	$4,500,000	$22,500,000
Boyle, Brian	Jul. 1, 2014	Standard (UFA)	3 years	$2,000,000	$6,000,000
Angelidis, Mike	Jul. 1, 2014	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$650,000	$650,000
Blunden, Mike	Jul. 1, 2014	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$600,000	$600,000
Corrente, Matthew	Jul. 5, 2014	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$550,000	$550,000
Corrente, Matthew	Jul. 5, 2014	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$550,000	$550,000
Morrow, Brenden	Jul. 11, 2014	35+ (UFA)	1 year	$1,550,000	$1,550,000
Bishop, Ben	Aug. 2, 2014	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$5,950,000	$11,900,000
York, Allen	Feb. 23, 2015	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$550,000	$550,000
Blunden, Mike	Jun. 29, 2015	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$600,000	$660,000
Condra, Erik	Jul. 1, 2015	Standard (UFA)	3 years	$1,250,000	$3,750,000
Angelidis, Mike	Jul. 1, 2015	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$650,000	$650,000
Taormina, Matt	Jul. 1, 2015	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$600,000	$600,000
Tambellini, Jeff	Jul. 5, 2015	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$575,000	$575,000
McGinn, Tye	Jul. 21, 2015	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$625,000	$625,000
Coburn, Braydon	Feb. 26, 2016	Standard (UFA)	3 years	$3,700,000	$11,100,000
Witkowski, Luke	Jun. 24, 2016	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$575,000	$575,000
Taormina, Matt	Jun. 28, 2016	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$575,000	$575,000
Stamkos, Steven	Jun. 29, 2016	Standard (UFA)	8 years	$8,500,000	$68,000,000
Hedman, Victor	Jul. 1, 2016	Standard (UFA)	8 years	$7,875,000	$63,000,000
Bournival, Michaël	Jul. 1, 2016	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$575,000	$575,000
Dumont, Gabriel	Jul. 1, 2016	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$575,000	$575,000
Morin, Jeremy	Jul. 1, 2016	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$575,000	$575,000
Letourneau-Leblond, Pierre-Luc	Jul. 1, 2016	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$575,000	$575,000
Halmo, Mike	Jul. 9, 2016	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$575,000	$575,000
Conacher, Cory	Jul. 13, 2016	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$575,000	$575,000
Budaj, Peter	Jun. 19, 2017	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$1,025,000	$2,050,000
Gourde, Yanni	Jun. 26, 2017	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$1,000,000	$2,000,000
Conacher, Cory	Jun. 28, 2017	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$650,000	$1,300,000
Dumont, Gabriel	Jun. 28, 2017	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$650,000	$1,300,000
Girardi, Dan	Jul. 1, 2017	Standard (UFA)	2 years	$3,000,000	$6,000,000
Kunitz, Chris	Jul. 1, 2017	35+ (UFA)	1 year	$2,000,000	$3,000,000
Bodie, Mat	Jul. 1, 2017	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$650,000	$650,000
McBain, Jamie	Jul. 1, 2017	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$650,000	$650,000
Leighton, Michael	Jul. 1, 2017	35+ (UFA)	1 year	$650,000	$650,000
Pasquale, Edward	Jun. 18, 2018	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$650,000	$650,000
McDonagh, Ryan	Jul. 1, 2018	Standard (UFA)	7 years	$6,750,000	$47,250,000
Gaunce, Cameron	Jul. 1, 2018	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$650,000	$650,000
Lynch, Kevin	Jul. 1, 2018	Standard (UFA)	1 year	$650,000	$650,000

The biggest outside UFA signings were Brewer (4 x 3.875), Carle (6 x 5.5), Stralman (5 x 4.5), Filppula (5 x 5), Purcell (3 x 4.5), Kubina (2 x 3.85), Salo (2 x 3.75), Girardi (2 x 3), Boyle (3 x 2).

Nothing major. Seems like he was more inclined to commit long-term to defensemen.

 

[StargateSG1]

Personally, I think this team would benefit from overpaying a good 2C.

I see this year as a bit of a crossroads. I'd like to see us supplement the roster talent with some solid free agents. If we're not going to put out a competitive roster, I think we should probably move guys like Vrana, Bertuzzi, and Hronek for futures, double down on a couple more years of bad hockey, and try to build a good group around Seider's prime years.

I'd rather see us try to improve the roster, but if we're not going to do that in a meaningful way then I'd probably be listening on offers for some of our guys in their primes.

This scenario is very much likely, when he does just that, trading out some players for really good returns.

 

[The Red Line]

lol

Also that dude might wanna check his math on those point totals.

 

[datsyukfan]

"- Marek was told Yzerman has no interest in giving UFA term"


Very dissappointing to hear. After all the talk about improving (some from UFA etc.).

So no Trocheck? no Copp? no Klingon? all will want 5y+

Claude Giroux, 3yrs+ * $whatever , come on down!!

Listen to the actual podcast the way he said it didn’t sound overly convincing or concrete. Again it’s tough to get any leak out of yzerman anyways so who knows

 

[redwings8831]

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

You knew this day would come, but it's still crazy to see the Rowney Era come to an end.

 

[datsyukfan]

Season ruined lol

 

[NickH8]

I'd be all over that. It'd be nice to add a legit top 6 winger who is a good possession player.