Player Discussion Eric Staal (The Frickin' All-Star)

[BagHead]

x2 when we signed him and i looked at his stats of only 13G last season i thought say what? hes faster than i thought & his compete level almost ranks up there with parise! real ? is do you protect him in expansion?

I wouldn't protect him. I'd save that spot for someone that's in the plans long-term. If he were a little younger and doing this, I'd protect him, as I'd think every year of his contract would be worth it, but since he isn't it's pretty likely he'll decline by the end of that deal. That said, it's a pretty good deal, especially for a FA signing!

The other part of why I wouldn't sign him is because I doubt Vegas takes him, anyway. He may be the best center available to them, but he's also going to be one of the oldest. If they take him, that only kinda sucks for us, as we'll get to keep Dumba, who is IMO a much more valuable player going forward (though, not this season). If they don't take him, then we'll be saying "good thing we didn't protect him".

 

[Minnesota]

Can't think of many teams that could lose a top-6 center and improve the following season, let alone match the same level of competitiveness.

Outside of Eriksson-Ek I don't see a potential top-6 center that could take Staal's place, and that's asking too much from a 20 year old kid.

Don't know if Staal can stay on track next year and match or exceed his production from this season, but I wholeheartedly think we'll regress next year if Vegas takes him.

 

[Ladde]

But why would Vegas take him? He is not going to provide much value for them since their team won´t be good enough to compete for the remainder of his contract.

 

[Minnesota]

But why would Vegas take him? He is not going to provide much value for them since their team won´t be good enough to compete for the remainder of his contract.

Why would they avoid good players? They're paying a pretty penny ($500M) and are actually getting decent roster in exchange. I don't think they'll be a Cup contender, but they won't be a bottom-feeder either.

Staal would be excellent Captain material for a brand new franchise. Hell, he might even re-sign if he enjoys it there.

Despite what some people speculate, I don't think teams actively tank. Especially when you're a brand new franchise.

 

[Wabit]

Despite what some people speculate, I don't think teams actively tank. Especially when you're a brand new franchise.

I don't think the players tank, management does. Sabres did a few years ago (McDavid/Eichel) without even bothering to try and hide it. The Buffalo fans even bought into it.

 

[TaLoN]

They would take Staal as early captain material and then flip him at the deadline.

 

[BagHead]

If we did protect him, who goes unprotected?

Without Staal protected, this is our protection list: Parise, Pominville (until it comes out that he's waiving, I'm penciling him in as protected), Koivu, Granlund, Nino, Coyle, Zucker.

Are we (or you, the reader) ok with losing one of those guys over Staal? Please, try not to think with a "what have you done for me lately?" mentality, as this is a long term decision. I'd have a hard time keeping Staal over any of those guys. Even if some of them are streaky, they're also young and consistency sometimes comes with age and experience. That said, I also wouldn't be extremely upset if we protected Staal and left Zucker or Coyle exposed.

 

[Digitalbooya]

I'm under the impression that Pominville 1) waives 2) is bought out 3) is traded.

 

[AKL]

Honestly with JEE and possibly Kunin/Tuch looking for NHL RW spots next year, I'd be OK with protecting Staal over Coyle.

We have a plethora of good young forwards now both on the team and in the minors to the point that one of them can be expendable. If exposing Coyle allows us to keep our 1C, keep all our defenseman, and we can still fill that roster spot, that's ok with me.

 

[Mnsportsfan22]

Honestly with JEE and possibly Kunin/Tuch looking for NHL RW spots next year, I'd be OK with protecting Staal over Coyle.

We have a plethora of good young forwards now both on the team and in the minors to the point that one of them can be expendable. If exposing Coyle allows us to keep our 1C, keep all our defenseman, and we can still fill that roster spot, that's ok with me.

Well I would sure hope we trade Coyle before leaving him exposed

 

[NotYou]

I am eating a delicious small crow now.

I will eat a standard size crow if Staal performs well and we beat the Blues in the first round.

I will eat a god-damn raven if Staal does the same in round 2 and we beat the Hawks. I will eat all the raven. All the raven. I will also eat a hawk because scr-w those guys.

x2

I'll chug some fight milk if we win the cup

(for those unaware)
https://youtu.be/feln0TIx8rI

 

[TwiztedHeat]

Well I would sure hope we trade Coyle before leaving him exposed

I just want to trade Coyle. Get something for him. Trade him for Bennett out of CGY.

 

[57special]

I'm under the impression that Pominville 1) waives 2) is bought out 3) is traded.

I hope you're right. At the beginning of this year I would've thought option 3 was impossible, but his good play this year has made him somewhat relevant again.

We all talk about bundling Haula with Scandella at the ED. I think Poms and Scandella would be a win-win. We rid ourselves of a lot of salary. LV gets themselves two legit players that will help them be competitive and act as leaders for the young pups. They should have plenty of cap space in the first couple of years.
Haula has not had a great year for us, but we should be able to resign him for a lesser amount, and C's are at a premium. I think Coyle and Granlund have proven this year that their best position is wing. Koivu and Staal aren't getting any younger, Kunin might not be a C in the pros...that leaves us with Ek and Haula in a couple of years. I'd try to keep him over Poms, allowing us to sign Nino and Gruntlestein comfortably.

 

[TwiztedHeat]

 

[Victorious Secret]

Good. I hope we get a full update soon.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

Is there any local news about his status? I was disturbed they didn't take spinal precautions with him leaving the ice, the way he could barely walk and seemed to have lost feeling in his hands. Maybe it looked a lot worse than it was? Hoping so, and that he has no serious injury after all.

 

[TaLoN]

 

[W75]

Although sad news, concussion was kind of an obvious thing. Good news is there are no more bad news on top of it.

 

[FVM]

The collision looked really bad. There was a real danger of getting paralyzed there. Concussion is terrible, but I feel he almost got off easy, if you can ever say that about a brain injury (you can't).

 

[TaLoN]

He was able to bend his neck and have his shoulders take some of the blow on impact. The spinal injuries usually happen when it's head first with the neck straight... that's how it happened to Jabs, and how it usually happens in football.

Ends up being a compression injury to the vertebra.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Are we (or you, the reader) ok with losing one of those guys over Staal?

The other question is cap hit. El Nino and Granlund are going to eat up a good portion of the cap. I would assume Granlund is looking for around 4-6 million and el Nino might be looking at 3-5 million depending on the contract size. We really don't have anyone coming off the books either for 2017-2018 and have a 2.5 million cap hit from Vanek's buyout. If at best, Minnesota has to pay Granlund 4 and el Nino 3 million, we're looking at 7 million, and we're at 68.6 million. We would also need to replace Haula (might be cheap), Folin and Kuemper. We're going to be sitting at 72-73 million next year on cap hits.

Losing Staal might not actually be bad to get some breathing room.

 

[TaLoN]

The other question is cap hit. El Nino and Granlund are going to eat up a good portion of the cap. I would assume Granlund is looking for around 4-6 million and el Nino might be looking at 3-5 million depending on the contract size. We really don't have anyone coming off the books either for 2017-2018 and have a 2.5 million cap hit from Vanek's buyout. If at best, Minnesota has to pay Granlund 4 and el Nino 3 million, we're looking at 7 million, and we're at 68.6 million. We would also need to replace Haula (might be cheap), Folin and Kuemper. We're going to be sitting at 72-73 million next year on cap hits.

Losing Staal might not actually be bad to get some breathing room.

I'm guessing Scandella and Haula go to Vegas so we can keep both Dumba Ann's Brodin... that opens up some space, also wouldn't be surprised to see another trade possibly to clear more, but we'll see.

Pretty sure we're keeping Staal.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I'm guessing Scandella and Haula go to Vegas so we can keep both Dumba Ann's Brodin... that opens up some space, also wouldn't be surprised to see another trade possibly to clear more, but we'll see.

Pretty sure we're keeping Staal.

Haula will need to be signed. He's a RFA. Are we going to trade his rights? Also what if Vegas doesn't want Scandella? While we might think he's a good defensemen, Vegas might want one of Minnesota's forwards instead.

 

[TaLoN]

Haula will need to be signed. He's a RFA. Are we going to trade his rights? Also what if Vegas doesn't want Scandella? While we might think he's a good defensemen, Vegas might want one of Minnesota's forwards instead.

Haula would be traded, Scandella would be the pick... Vegas can worry about signing him.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Haula would be traded, Scandella would be the pick... Vegas can worry about signing him.

Again though what if they don't want Haula or Scandella?