Speculation: Official Fantasy Trade Offers/Armchair GM Thread

[BB88]

I think we need improvement in all three areas.

I just think that Hoffman could be had for cheap without giving up roster players. Great contract for a first line player in his prime. That type of opportunity only comes when an owner is an idiot and is pinching pennies.

Guys like Borgstrom, Tippett, Hepo, and Mascherin, despite great numbers are no guarantee at the NHL level. I'm a big fan of Borg and Hep and wouldn't want to trade either. Tippet and Mascherin I would move for the right player.

I'd like to start competing instead of waiting for young guys to develop into something. I wouldn't want to trade any but sometimes you have to make moves. Having an internal cap is probably going to keep all them Panthers, imo.

Defense is a big question mark. Don't know about longterm weakness necessarily. I think it's more that it's got a lot of uncertainty to how good it can get. Weegar has started to play well. He reminds me of a young Dan Boyle. Matheson has been more consistent and shows flashes of dominance, and Pysyk has been less of a liability and has played more consistency too.

We need another top 4 d-man, no doubt, but I don't know why we couldn't try to get both a forward and d-man. This forward group lacks depth big time.

Goaltending is tricky but I think it will be addressed in the offseason if Roberto is done. If Roberto comes back I have no idea what type of player he'll be next season. Will he be an injury prone mess that forces Reimer into another starting role? Or be a consistent vet, playing at a high level.

They are no quarantee but you have a good amount of solid prospects, and proven vets in Barkov, Huberdeau, Trocheck and even Dadonov, with Malgin& McCann developing.

I see nothing developing in defense outside the NHL, which should be a damm huge concern.

The other thing is that Hoffman won't be cheap, he has 2.5y left on his contract with a good cap hit, he's a goal scorer.
About 15-20 teams would be calling on him and contenders would be willing to give up a good package for him which raises his price.

 

[RainingRats]

They are no quarantee but you have a good amount of solid prospects, and proven vets in Barkov, Huberdeau, Trocheck and even Dadonov, with Malgin& McCann developing.

I see nothing developing in defense outside the NHL, which should be a damm huge concern.

The other thing is that Hoffman won't be cheap, he has 2.5y left on his contract with a good cap hit, he's a goal scorer.
About 15-20 teams would be calling on him and contenders would be willing to give up a good package for him which raises his price.

Max Gildon is killing it in college. We also have young guys in the lineup playing D. Ekblad, Matheson, McCoshen, and Weegar are just out of prospect status. Ideally Matheson turns into a legit top 4 d with top pairing potential. Weegar becomes a top 4 guy. Ekblad fixes his skating. If this can happen we can have a really nice d-core.

Not many teams have the cap space to get him and send nothing back to Ottawa. He also has a NTC iirc.

 

[Jakeybonz2]

Max Gildon is killing it in college.

yea but thats our only real d prospect and he didnt exactly make team usa. its not like we have an awesome crop of d men. im pretty sure this draft will be all about them though.

 

[RainingRats]

yea but thats our only real d prospect and he didnt even make team usa. its not like we have an awesome crop of d men. im pretty sure this draft will be all about them though.

Sorta, we have a bunch of young guys on D right now, right out of prospect status. They need to develop and take their game to the next level. Not like we have old vets and soon to be free agents.

 

[Jakeybonz2]

Sorta, we have a bunch of young guys on D right now, right out of prospect status. They need to develop and take their game to the next level. Not like we have old vets and soon to be free agents.

thats if they can. im not high on mccoshen. dont like him. weegar shows potential. everything below them is worthless besides gildon. and most things above them are worthless

 

[BB88]

Max Gildon is killing it in college.

I knew you were going to say that, but you realize that's 1 prospect, who's still proven very little?

Prospect pool should be healthy especially when you are not a contender, for so many reasons, and the biggest for Florida is not having a #1D, and you don't get those from trade.
Maybe the impossible happens and Ottawas owner causes Karlsson to leave but Florida isn't paying him 12.5M and even if they would would he sign with you?

Boston was really screwed when Chia got fired, but they re-tooled the defense and look at it now just few years later& how it's impacted the team.
McAvoy(just turned 20), Carlo(just turned 21y), Grzelcyk, Vaakanainen, Zboril, Lauzon, even Krug 26y. It's becoming a strenght and making Boston a team to watch in the East.

Be patient and build properly. Badly built teams rarely go far.

 

[RainingRats]

thats if they can. im not high on mccoshen. dont like him. weegar shows potential. everything below them is worthless besides gildon. and most things above them are worthless

We have Yandle and Ekblad locked up. Ekblad improves his skating and he can be close to a #1 d-man.

Matheson if he can become more consistent can be very good in the top 4 or top 2. That's half your d-core for the next few years.



Pysyk needs to play like he did last year and that's a very good bottom pairing guy, maybe top 4. so now we have 4/6 spots.

Weegar develops and becomes the player we want and we're fine on D.

Maybe we need a top 4 guy.

That D core has the potential to be very good.

 

[RainingRats]

I knew you were going to say that, but you realize that's 1 prospect, who's still proven very little?

Prospect pool should be healthy especially when you are not a contender, for so many reasons, and the biggest for Florida is not having a #1D, and you don't get those from trade.
Maybe the impossible happens and Ottawas owner causes Karlsson to leave but Florida isn't paying him 12.5M and even if they would would he sign with you?

Boston was really screwed when Chia got fired, but they re-tooled the defense and look at it now just few years later& how it's impacted the team.
McAvoy(just turned 20), Carlo(just turned 21y), Grzelcyk, Vaakanainen, Zboril, Lauzon, even Krug 26y. It's becoming a strenght and making Boston a team to watch in the East.

Be patient and build properly. Badly built teams rarely go far.

We just graduated a bunch of young d-men to the NHL level. Not like we've neglected this part of the team. They also weren't rushed. It's going to ebb and flow with your prospect depth when you move a bunch to the NHL level.

With our forward group, if three young current prospects make the team, it won't look as strong either next season.

It's almost impossible to have quality prospect depth in every area and have a bunch of quality young talent at NHL level.

Ekblad is supposed to be a #1. It's on him to improve his skating.

We needed to draft better and we'd be in a better position but it is what it is right now. We need young d-men to develop quickly and we'll be fine.

Karlsson is too expensive and we'd have too much money tied up in him. He also isn't worth 12.5.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

Be patient and build properly. Badly built teams rarely go far.

Exactly. We have Matheson, Yandle and McCoshen on the LD for the foreseeable future, and on the RD we have Ek, Pysyk, Petro/Weegar. With the exception of Yandle, all of them are young and more or less promising and talented. I'm not worried about defensive or the prospects at all. IMO the Cats have an above average prospect pool even though we are churning almost on every year a bunch of 'em in the show. If all goes well, Dale shouldn't have a pressing need to do anything about the defense for about three years or so.

 

[BB88]

We just graduated a bunch of young d-men to the NHL level. Not like we've neglected this part of the team. They also weren't rushed. It's going to ebb and flow with your prospect depth when you move a bunch to the NHL level.

With our forward group, if three young current prospects make the team, it won't look as strong either next season.

It's almost impossible to have quality prospect depth in every area and have a bunch of quality young talent at NHL level.

Ekblad is supposed to be a #1. It's on him to improve his skating.

We needed to draft better and we'd be in a better position but it is what it is right now. We need young d-men to develop quickly and we'll be fine.

Karlsson is too expensive and we'd have too much money tied up in him. He also isn't worth 12.5.

Yes but half of them were prospects every team has in +++'s.
Weegar& McCoshen aren't high end prospects.

The future of the blueline is now on Ekblad& Matheson developing, what are the odds that one of them develops into an elite #1D and one of them a real #2/3D?

Ekblads job is to be a #1D but so far he has failed to develop his skating, I haven't seen it really improve at all.
But it's not my team to run, if a budget team wants to spent on a winger and put their faith in that D-group longterm go for it. I certainly wouldn't.

Tampa, Toronto& Boston are trying to build power house teams in the Atlantic. Fighting is going to be tough.

Exactly. We have Matheson, Yandle and McCoshen on the LD for the foreseeable future, and on the RD we have Ek, Pysyk, Petro/Weegar. With the exception of Yandle, all of them are young and more or less promising and talented. I'm not worried about defensive or the prospects at all. IMO the Cats have an above average prospect pool even though we are churning almost on every year a bunch of 'em in the show. If all goes well, Dale shouldn't have a pressing need to do anything about the defense for about three years or so.

That's just my issue with the Floridas team/prospect pool. It's a huge gamble and if they bet wrong it's going to take years to fix that. By then your great contracts are starting to be over.

 

[RainingRats]

Yes but half of them were prospects every team has in +++'s.
Weegar& McCoshen aren't high end prospects.

The future of the blueline is now on Ekblad& Matheson developing, what are the odds that one of them develops into an elite #1D and one of them a real #2/3D?

Ekblads job is to be a #1D but so far he has failed to develop his skating, I haven't seen it really improve at all.
But it's not my team to run, if a budget team wants to spent on a winger and put their faith in that D-group longterm go for it. I certainly wouldn't.

Tampa, Toronto& Boston are trying to build power house teams in the Atlantic. Fighting is going to be tough.



That's just my issue with the Floridas team/prospect pool. It's a huge gamble and if they bet wrong it's going to take years to fix that. By then your great contracts are starting to be over.

Weegar could be a top 4 guy or at least a bottom pair. I think McCoshen could be a solid bottom pair guy.

Ekblad needs to fix his skating but he's done well this year as a top pairing guy. It takes time to become a #1.

Matheson could be a #2/3.

There aren't many elite #1s around the league to be fair. Not really fair to expect that. I think Ekblad if he can improve his skating could be a #1.

The huge gamble goes back to previous drafting. Maybe we flip a forward prospect for a d prospect or package one to get a top 4 D. Maybe we trade Bjugstad for a top 4 d. Maybe we snag a vet D in free agency to solidify things.

Tampa is going to have to sign Kucherov and has a ton of UFAs on D coming up so they'll have to rely on young guys.

Toronto will lose quality forward depth and their D core is meh. Matthews, Marner, and Nylander will eat up a lot of the cap when they sign them so they'll have to rely on young guys in their lineup too.

Boston's forward core is getting older too. They look like they're positioned well for now but are they good enough overall on paper to be cup contenders? Idk

It's very difficult to time everything to be in balance because of the salary cap. Teams can only get so good before the cap limits them.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

That's just my issue with the Floridas team/prospect pool. It's a huge gamble and if they bet wrong it's going to take years to fix that. By then your great contracts are starting to be over.

Well, hate to break to you but here's the thing: there's no guarantees. You just have to go with your gut and that's what Dalé is doing, for better or worse. Sure, you don't want to wait until guys like Barkov are on the brink of retirement but with the parity in the league there's really no knowing of which teams are going to find success. Hell, Caps just hemorrhaged their contract situation a year ago and that didn't still get them past the 2nd round. Thus, the slow 'n steady model is even more prevalent over the "all-in" version.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

I think McCoshen could be a solid bottom pair guy.

Probably something similar could've been said, let's say, about Jake Muzzin in the past. Or he could be a bust in making. The truth is that we really don't know, but as far as I'm concerned he looks promising.

 

[RainingRats]

Probably something similar could've been said, let's say, about Jake Muzzin in the past. Or he could be a bust in making. The truth is that we really don't know, but as far as I'm concerned he looks promising.

Yeah, I don't disagree. It takes longer for D-men to develop but I'm just being conservative.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

Yeah, I don't disagree. It takes longer for D-men to develop but I'm just being conservative.

I think it's seasonal too. Next year e.g. Yandle and Trocheck go cold and Matheson, McCoshen, McCann and Borg pick up the slack.

 

[RainingRats]

I think it's seasonal too. Next year e.g. Yandle and Trocheck go cold and Matheson, McCoshen, McCann and Borg pick up the slack.

Anything could happen. Look at Ottawa and Montreal, second and first in their division last year and now they're on the outside. Chicago was #1 in west and Edmonton was in a playoff spot. Tampa missed the playoffs and now they're 1st overall. WPG missed the playoffs and now they're looking very strong.

People, especially here, don't appreciate how much parity there is in the league and how much standings can change season to season.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Exactly. We have Matheson, Yandle and McCoshen on the LD for the foreseeable future, and on the RD we have Ek, Pysyk, Petro/Weegar. With the exception of Yandle, all of them are young and more or less promising and talented. I'm not worried about defensive or the prospects at all. IMO the Cats have an above average prospect pool even though we are churning almost on every year a bunch of 'em in the show. If all goes well, Dale shouldn't have a pressing need to do anything about the defense for about three years or so.

So one could say Tallon is BEASTING on drafting defensemen?

Yes but half of them were prospects every team has in +++'s.
Weegar& McCoshen aren't high end prospects.

The future of the blueline is now on Ekblad& Matheson developing, what are the odds that one of them develops into an elite #1D and one of them a real #2/3D?

Ekblads job is to be a #1D but so far he has failed to develop his skating, I haven't seen it really improve at all.
But it's not my team to run, if a budget team wants to spent on a winger and put their faith in that D-group longterm go for it. I certainly wouldn't.

Tampa, Toronto& Boston are trying to build power house teams in the Atlantic. Fighting is going to be tough.



That's just my issue with the Floridas team/prospect pool. It's a huge gamble and if they bet wrong it's going to take years to fix that. By then your great contracts are starting to be over.

So McCoshen (2nd round pick), a rookie this year isn't a high end prospect coming from a solid school at Boston College but Carlo and Lauzon (both 2nd round picks) are high end?

Ekblad is focusing more on defense first and has made noticeable strides in that department. He's playing top pairing minutes and has stated numerous times, he needs to work on his skating and first couple steps.

We have the next two years to use a 1st round pick on defense. It's time to use one of those 1st to fill a need in the top 6. As much as all Panthers fans want Borgstrom to just cake-walk his way to 40-50pts next year, he may need some time in AHL or sheltered minutes in NHL.
Hoffman or another top 6 player with 2-3 years left would allow a smooth transition. Malgin is impressing right now in that #2LW but he is still basically rookie and could easily fall into an extended funk.

Your Bruins drafted defense mid 1st and 2nd round, 3-4 players on your current defense and look what they're doing right now.

I think our goaltending long-term is the major issue. We hope Montembault is that answer but for now Reimer is showing he can handle the minutes and is actually seeing the shots now because our defense has finally started to block shots and move guys out front of the crease.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

So one could say Tallon is BEASTING on drafting defensemen?

Perhaps beasting at taking the credit for drafting à la 2010 Hawks.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Perhaps beasting at taking the credit for drafting à la 2010 Hawks.

I think Tallon should be credited for some depth trades like Ladd, Havlat, Versteeg and Sharp that insulated the young studs in Kane and Toews up front and probably helped the team win a couple cups.

He signed Campbell long term, also signed Hossa and Madden and found Niemi when he was an unknown.

Duncan Keith quoted in interviews saying Tallon pushed real hard to get him drafted there in 2002. (Even when he wasn't GM yet, director of player personnel from 1998-2002)
Then in 2003 becomes assistant to GM, same year Seabrook and Buff get drafted,
Brouwer and Bolland are drafted in 2004.

 

[flapanthersfan]

I think Tallon should be credited for some depth trades like Ladd, Havlat, Versteeg and Sharp that insulated the young studs in Kane and Toews up front and probably helped the team win a couple cups.

He signed Campbell long term, also signed Hossa and Madden and found Niemi when he was an unknown.

Duncan Keith quoted in interviews saying Tallon pushed real hard to get him drafted there in 2002. (Even when he wasn't GM yet, director of player personnel from 1998-2002)
Then in 2003 becomes assistant to GM, same year Seabrook and Buff get drafted,
Brouwer and Bolland are drafted in 2004.

He didn't sign Hossa.

He wanted to sign Havlat over Hossa and the power struggle that ensued over that issue is what ended up getting him fired.

Needless to say, he was wrong and Bowman was right.

 

[Gentle Man]

He didn't sign Hossa.

He wanted to sign Havlat over Hossa and the power struggle that ensued over that issue is what ended up getting him fired.

Needless to say, he was wrong and Bowman was right.

huh?

Marian Hossa and Blackhawks — how they came together, where they're headed

tl;dr

"Yeah, I get that," Hossa said, according to Winter. "I'm thinking it's Chicago and I believe it's the right choice. I get Dale's concerns.
"Just tell him we have a deal."
Tallon didn't recall that fateful exchange but said: "If (Winter) said it happened, I'm not going to dispute it."
So that's how Marian Hossa joined the Blackhawks.

 

[flapanthersfan]

huh?

Marian Hossa and Blackhawks — how they came together, where they're headed

tl;dr

"Yeah, I get that," Hossa said, according to Winter. "I'm thinking it's Chicago and I believe it's the right choice. I get Dale's concerns.
"Just tell him we have a deal."
Tallon didn't recall that fateful exchange but said: "If (Winter) said it happened, I'm not going to dispute it."
So that's how Marian Hossa joined the Blackhawks.

Havlat's Comments Throw McDonough under the Bus

This has been pretty common knowledge for a long time. Thought everyone around here already knew

 

[Gentle Man]

Havlat's Comments Throw McDonough under the Bus

This has been pretty common knowledge for a long time. Thought everyone around here already knew

Well yes, but doesnt mean Hossa wasnt signed by Tallon, which Winter confirms.

 

[flapanthersfan]

Well yes, but doesnt mean Hossa wasnt signed by Tallon, which Winter confirms.

Maybe Tallon was acting as the puppet, but clearly, he wasn't the one orchestrating the move to sign Hossa.

This has been well known in Chicago for years and it's what led to his firing there. Tallon wanted Havlat. McDonaugh wanted Hossa. They could afford one. Tallon lost. Tallon got fired. Simple as that.

@Blackhawkswincup will clear the air on this one i'm sure.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

My bad on the hossa signing. I didn't know how deep that rabbithole went but my point is Tallon made some solid moves and signings to help bring depth when given the nod to spend.