Speculation: Tavares Tells Toronto, "I'm YOUR Huckleberry Now". Fans leaguewide mourn.

[TheDizee]

if the money is there i see STL as a very attractive team. one of te best things IMO is that the media here is very lightweight compared to other markets and i think that is very underrated. it can be a great relief to some players to play in a market with less press around.

 

[Evocable Manager]

I wonder if anyone on our roster is friends with Tavares. Guys who were drafted around the same time are Pietrangelo, Tarasenko, Schwartz, Paajarvi, Allen.

Tavares is a pipe dream and with our prospect pool being deep, I think a deal could be made that makes our team better right now, doesn't destroy our future and that the Islanders can enjoy.

 

[Brian39]

We would have to lose *a lot* of salary in order to afford JT at something like the Toews/Kane contracts ($10.5m). Assuming no cap increase, we'd have to:

- Let Stastny walk
- Lose Gunnarson's salary entirely (possible)
- Find a taker for J-Bo (unlikely) or buy him out at $1.8m AAV (possible)
- Have Husso/Binnington back up Allen
- Sign/re-sign/assign five forwards, our entire left defense, and seventh defenseman for around $11.5m

That last point is doable if you sign our RFA's to bridge contracts and fill out the rest of the roster with players on ELC's and league-minimum contracts.

Using Psyck, Beaulieu, and Schmidt and comparables, you're looking at around $2.5m for Edmundson. For Fabbri, Burakovsky and Teravainen are comparables making around $3m. Who knows with Schmaltz, but let's assume $1.5m. I'm thinking we'd have something like this:

CapFriendly.com Armchair-GM User-Generated Roster

FORWARDS (14)
Right wing: V. Tarasenko ($7,500,000) - B. Schenn ($5,125,000) - V. Sobotka ($3,500,000) - T. Thompson ($925,000)
Centre: J. Tavares ($10,500,000) - P. Berglund ($3,850,000) - I. Barbashev ($741,667) - O. Sundqvist ($750,000) - C. Bleackley ($700,000)
Left wing: R. Fabbri ($3,000,000) - J. Schwartz ($5,350,000) - A. Steen ($5,750,000) - J. Kyrou ($772,500) - C. Thorburn ($900,000)

DEFENSE (7)
Right: A. Pietrangelo ($6,500,000) - C. Parayko ($5,500,000) - J. Schmaltz ($1,500,000) - R. Bortuzzo ($1,150,000)
Left: J. Edmundson ($2,500,000) - V. Dunn ($722,500) - J. Walman ($925,000)

GOALTENDER (2)
J. Allen ($4,350,000) - V. Husso ($847,500)

BUYOUTS
J. Bouwmeester ($1,800,000)

DETAILS
Roster Size: 23
NHL Salary Cap: $75,000,000
Cap Hit: $75,159,167
Cap Space: -$159,167

Honestly, that team looks pretty damned good aside from all the inexperience on the defense, but I think it's a long shot without even considering that JT probably won't consider us as an option.

I don't view that level of cap management as anything nearly serious enough to prevent a team from going after a guy like Tavares. That's very much still in the realm of tweaking/shuffling rather than taking major hits to make it work with the cap.

Not a chance I would buy out J-Bo unless he declines a ton this year. Trading Sobotka and keeping J-Bo is an almost identical cap savings than buying out J-Bo. Unless his playoffs were a complete fluke, a team would give up some type of asset for 2 years of Sobotka at $3.5 mil. If we have Tavares, Sobotka is more expendable than J-Bo for 2018/19, it brings some value and provides more cap flexibility for 19/20.

Slide Thompson up to Sobotka's spot, get a cheap UFA for your 4th line RW and replace one of the lower pairing D with J-Bo and I think the team is much better off.

Edit: Also, I think we can count on some cap increase. The PA keeps voting for the escalator and Vegas is forcing long term season ticket holders to shell out a large percentage of their total ticket fees in year 1. This will create cap issues down the road (AKA right about the time we may or may not have a lockout), but it should artificially aid the cap this year. We have heard 2 straight years of "flat cap" noise and we've seen a modest increase each time. I'd be shocked if the cap didn't go up at least $1 mil again for next year.

 

[David Dennison]

He's actually 26 going on 27 so he definitely fits our core age group.
7 years will bring him to 34 and I'd definitely roll the dice.

He will be 28 when the 2018-2019 season begins, when his new contact kicks in.

 

[Lakas]

I wonder if anyone on our roster is friends with Tavares. Guys who were drafted around the same time are Pietrangelo, Tarasenko, Schwartz, Paajarvi, Allen.

Tavares is a pipe dream and with our prospect pool being deep, I think a deal could be made that makes our team better right now, doesn't destroy our future and that the Islanders can enjoy.

He's destined to wear the note

 

[The Note in MI]

He's destined to wear the note

JT to STL confirmed! Lol

 

[BlueDream]

He looks quite good in a Blues uni.

Anyways, we all probably know how this is going to end (our hearts getting ripped out), but it IS pretty exciting that the team would actually have a strong chance at landing an elite #1 C and most attractive UFA since... Idk, the Civil War.

If he hits the free agent market I would just show him a piece of paper with our lineup, have a giant blank in the #1 center spot, and highlight both Tarasenko's and Pietrangelo's names and then write $10 million underneath it. He can't possibly pass that up, right?

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

If he were to hit UFA, I think it'd be super easy to be able to afford him(even with Fabbri/Edmundson deals). Let Stastny(7) walk, I think Gunnarsson(2.9) gets moved this year, I already have a feeling one of Berglund/Sobotka are dealt to Pitt. Then you can move the other over the off-season.

Schwartz-Tavares-Tarasenko
Fabbri/Schenn/Kyrou
Steen-Barbashev-Kostin
Paajarvi-Sanford-Thompson
Sundqvist, Jaskin

Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo
Dunn-Parayko
Edmundson-Walman/Schmaltz

That's a very young but very, very good team next year.

 

[Xerloris]

I 100% believe that if he hits FA it's because he's not happy with management. Therefore he wouldn't exactly be looking for a payday though he would certainly get one but more likely he would be looking for a team that has an ownership that cares and wants to win. That in my book is the Blues.

 

[TruBlu]

I just don't believe he's going to come here. There's a thread like this in every other team's forum. It all comes down to whether he is looking to get paid or if he wants a cup. He's not coming here if he wants to get paid.

 

[Ranksu]

 

[HighNote]

The way I see it is, he can do one of two things: choose loyalty, or choose winning. Money is not a big factor because no matter which one he chooses, he will make bank. And to be honest, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would ask for the moon considering he already took a discount on his current contract. The question is what does he value more, staying with the team that drafted him and putting up with likely never being a contender, or leaving for a better team that can contend now and that has a brighter future.

If Tavares was a rookie or in his early 20s, I would lean more towards him choosing the loyalty path because he would still have his entire career ahead of him, and the Islanders would have lots of time to build a contender. But he's been with the Islanders for 8 years now, and they have nothing to show for it. They have missed the playoffs 5 out of those 8 years, and only made it past the 2nd round once.

Heading into next season, Tavares will be 27, and his next contract will likely be his last big contract which makes this a very important part of his life. This makes me lean more towards Tavares valuing winning more than staying loyal. On top of that, if he truly valued loyalty and keeping his home in NY the highest, he would have resigned already. There's no upside to him waiting to see how the arena situation goes, or how the team shapes up before resigning if he simply wants to stay in NY.

Just my two cents.

 

[Alklha]

The Islanders need to trade him if he isn't going to sign an extension. The problem in this scenario is that the Islanders will probably be looking for a 1st++ in return, which we can't offer.

Signing him to a $10m extension would be very manageable going forward, the problem is if he is wanting more than that.

if the money is there i see STL as a very attractive team. one of te best things IMO is that the media here is very lightweight compared to other markets and i think that is very underrated. it can be a great relief to some players to play in a market with less press around.

Double edged sword.

A lightweight media is certainly good, but will typically go hand-in-hand with a market that has less lucrative endorsement deals.

Yep. Stamkos free agency all over again.

I never understand when people compare the two. Stamkos was seriously considering leaving and only signed an extension after speaking with several other teams. Signing an extension which had been on the table for a while, and with a team that is competitive.

Stamkos getting a equal/better financial offer, after taxes, on a better team than Tampa Bay was unlikely. Tavares getting an equal/better financial offer on a better team is easy to see happening.

 

[Ranksu]

The Islanders need to trade him if he isn't going to sign an extension. The problem in this scenario is that the Islanders will probably be looking for a 1st++ in return, which we can't offer.

So that pretty much seals the deal with Blues getting Tavares.

Does Jbo bring to us 1st? What about Berglund?

 

[Bye Felicia]

I just don't believe he's going to come here. There's a thread like this in every other team's forum. It all comes down to whether he is looking to get paid or if he wants a cup. He's not coming here if he wants to get paid.

But would he be motivated to come here if he is prioritizing a Cup?

 

[DatDude44]

if we did something like steen, bergy, Kyrou,Walman and 1st. We would save a ton of cap and easily be able to pay tavares while retaining everyone else and open up a spot for thompson/kostin either this year(excited for training camp) or a year from now. and it's third line RW, not like an imminent top6 guy we need to light the world on fire.



Schwartz-Tavares-Tarasenko
Fabbri-Stastny-Schenn
Sobotka-Barbashev- Bennett/Kostin/Thompson/MPS etc...


If need be let stastny walk or sign to a lower amount and move either fabbri or schenn or barbashev to 2C(if stastny walks). But i think by trading steen and berg, then trading gunnar either at the deadline if dunn emerges or in the offseason and signing stastny at a discount would be more than enough to pay tavares and retain fabbri and eddy etc..


As much as i like steen as a responsible two way guy, i think we have enough guys that take care of their own zone, i'm fine sacrificing him for a legit superstar top line center, the decline is obvious (but maybe not to garth snow lmao) and that cap space is key, it probably allows us to resign a discounted stastny. i honestly think we have more than enough good young top 9 guys along w/ some high end specs like thomas, thompson, kostin that trading alot for JT isn't out of the equation and wouldn't hurt the team now or in the future. A big reason why we can do this is because of Klim and Tage imo and my belief that they can play as soon as this year if called upon (especially Tage) and definitely next year.

I mean hell Chicago has won cups and been a top team in the league with a bottom 6 and D-core wayyyy worse than that above lineup.

I don't mind adding a beau bennett or a plug on that 3rd line if it means the rest of our top 9 consists of tavares, tarasenko,schwartz,fabbri,schenn,stastny,Barbashev,Sobotka w/tage,klim,blais,thomas on the outside looking in.


We seem to always be the team that has depth, but not enough high end talent to put us over the top, this trade gives us two elite talents up front and i think instantly puts us as the top contender from the western conference. We'd be retaining quality depth and still have high end specs on the outside looking in.

yes, i hate that this thread has gotten me excited about a possible tavares to blues trade, curse u HF, curse u

 

[Majorityof1]

For us to land him, Tavares needs to narrow the market based on more than money. If its a full-on bidding war to both trade for him and then again to sign him, its not worth it due to our lack of a 1st and cap structure. If he says, I only want to play for these couple teams including St. Louis, we have a legitimate shot. That is really the only scenario that I can see us signing him.

 

[TK 421]

Why would a 1st rd pick be a necessary component of a Tavares trade? I think primary pieces like young roster players and top prospects would hold a lot more value seeing as how a 1st rd pick varies greatly in value depending on draft position. Very unlikely Tavares would be headed to a team in a lottery position.

 

[Stealth JD]

Why would a 1st rd pick be a necessary component of a Tavares trade? I think primary pieces like young roster players and top prospects would hold a lot more value seeing as how a 1st rd pick varies greatly in value depending on draft position. Very unlikely Tavares would be headed to a team in a lottery position.

I don't think the 1st is crucial. Blues 1st would be late, and what is worth more: a late first rounder in 2018 or 2019, or a first-round talent already developing, that was previously identified by a team known to be a *very* good drafting/developing team?

I'd rather have a 1st rounder that's developed, than a mystery pick...but that's just me.
1st in 2018 or Klim Kostin, Robert Thomas or Tage Thompson? Any of those guys should satisfy the "and a 1st" requirement of the package.

 

[Majorityof1]

Why would a 1st rd pick be a necessary component of a Tavares trade? I think primary pieces like young roster players and top prospects would hold a lot more value seeing as how a 1st rd pick varies greatly in value depending on draft position. Very unlikely Tavares would be headed to a team in a lottery position.

There will be multiple pieces going to NYI for Tavares. NYI already has a good crop of prospects waiting to break into the league. Even in a rebuild, you don't want to field a team of all prospects. I'd think the deal would include a vet for a cap-dump to play with the young guys and then NYI could then flip down the road. It would also include some nearly NHL ready prospects. But then with a draft pick, you are looking at a guy who won't be ready for a couple more years giving the nearly ready prospects time to become acclimated, not veterans, but at least have some experience.

Let's say we trade them Walman, Kyrou and Tage. In two years they would have Barzal, Dal Colle, Bellows, Ho-Sang, Kyrou, and Tage all a mazimum of one year experience and all pushing for playing time. That is two whole lines of rookies, few of which would make good 4th liners. Then you'd have Walman and Pulock as very inexperienced D. Plus any prospects I don't know very well who force their way in. It would be better to get some picks and stagger the influx of talent.

 

[Alklha]

Why would a 1st rd pick be a necessary component of a Tavares trade? I think primary pieces like young roster players and top prospects would hold a lot more value seeing as how a 1st rd pick varies greatly in value depending on draft position. Very unlikely Tavares would be headed to a team in a lottery position.

It's not absolutely necessary, but it does put us at a disadvantage. We don't have the first so that means adding in more drafted players, and that means having more guys that the Islanders scouts really like.

The 2018 draft is being viewed as a very, very good draft year. Even if the first they get is a late first, they can be confident in getting a quality player.

The bigger aspect would be what type of trade it was; is he getting traded with or without an extension? With an extension then the first isn't such a big deal because Tavares is picking where he wants to go and the Islanders have to make the best deal possible, I'd expect to lose Fabbri in this type of deal. Without an extension, then it is a bidding war and not having a first is going to hurt when you know at least half the League will be making offers for him.

 

[TK 421]

There will be multiple pieces going to NYI for Tavares. NYI already has a good crop of prospects waiting to break into the league. Even in a rebuild, you don't want to field a team of all prospects. I'd think the deal would include a vet for a cap-dump to play with the young guys and then NYI could then flip down the road. It would also include some nearly NHL ready prospects. But then with a draft pick, you are looking at a guy who won't be ready for a couple more years giving the nearly ready prospects time to become acclimated, not veterans, but at least have some experience.

Let's say we trade them Walman, Kyrou and Tage. In two years they would have Barzal, Dal Colle, Bellows, Ho-Sang, Kyrou, and Tage all a mazimum of one year experience and all pushing for playing time. That is two whole lines of rookies, few of which would make good 4th liners. Then you'd have Walman and Pulock as very inexperienced D. Plus any prospects I don't know very well who2 force their way in. It would be better to get some picks and stagger the influx of talent.

Staggering the expected time frame for the acquired assets makes sense but it's not a compelling argument for a 1st being a crucial component imo. I could counter with primary piece roster player, 2016 prospect, 2017 prospect all of which have value sooner while still being staggered. Idk, just seems like "a 1st" is one of those addendums at the end that can easily be replaced by an already drafted prospect.

 

[Dbrownss]

It's not absolutely necessary, but it does put us at a disadvantage. We don't have the first so that means adding in more drafted players, and that means having more guys that the Islanders scouts really like.

The 2018 draft is being viewed as a very, very good draft year. Even if the first they get is a late first, they can be confident in getting a quality player.

The bigger aspect would be what type of trade it was; is he getting traded with or without an extension? With an extension then the first isn't such a big deal because Tavares is picking where he wants to go and the Islanders have to make the best deal possible, I'd expect to lose Fabbri in this type of deal. Without an extension, then it is a bidding war and not having a first is going to hurt when you know at least half the League will be making offers for him.

This is where I disagree to an extent.... its still going to be a good TDL package but its still something a package of prospects can beat. At the end of the day a GM still isnt going to break the bank to rent JT. It will be similar to the Shattenkirk situation....

 

[BleedBlue14]

I think that I'm just confused on what the Islanders are trying to do. They trade Strome for Eberle which is what kind of lateral in a way? And then trade Hamonic for draft picks. Are they trying to prepare for Tavares leaving or was that to shave money? I just don't get it, I'd think they wouldn't trade a top 4 defender if they are trying to show JT they are wanting to compete with him. But then again it is GMGS

 

[Evocable Manager]

I think that I'm just confused on what the Islanders are trying to do. They trade Strome for Eberle which is what kind of lateral in a way? And then trade Hamonic for draft picks. Are they trying to prepare for Tavares leaving or was that to shave money? I just don't get it, I'd think they wouldn't trade a top 4 defender if they are trying to show JT they are wanting to compete with him. But then again it is GMGS

Eberle is superior to Strome and friends with Tavares from their junior days.

They made room for Pulock by moving Hamonic.