GDT: 'Twas the day after July 1st... Free Agent Frenzy

[bdub24]

Still betting on Vinny... the irony would be too sweet now that Legwand is gone.

Only if we make Phlly own some of that salary.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

I kinda am hoping we don't get stastny.

Paying a guy like him over 7 million a season is ridiculous and could be crippling for the team. Stastny was outstanding his first few NHL seasons but has been up and down and rather inconsistent since 2010-2011 season.

I mean sure this season he had 60 points in 71 games, but the season before he had only 24 in 40 which is barely over .5 ppg average.

He's the best available for centres no doubt but is he really worth paying the 7.5-8 million a season it will most likely cost us to get him???

I like brad Richards as our gig for this crop of free agents unless we can trade for a centre.
Then we save money by signing Richards instead and try to bring in hemsky or moulson. Or bring in volchenkov or ehroff to replace mdz.

I actually loathe the idea of paying him that much. He didn't do squat to justify the $6.6M per contract he was just on, and now a good season in a contract year is going to give him another bloated one. But even at $7-$7.5M, he's probably overpaid by $1-$1.5M per at the current going rate, and I'm guessing most around here would rather a player like him be overpaid than a Hendricks or Nystrom. I'll be surprised if he averages 60pts a year going forward though.

In terms of offensive ability and being worth the cost of the contract though, I would have preferred Spezza probably.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

for those saying grabbo http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/mikhail-grabovski-signs-with-soccer-team-in-belarus/

Shopping cart in order of my own personal preference

List of Centers: (pick 0-1)
Statsny (ha)
Richards
Offer sheet Sutter
Roy
Trade for one

List of Wingers: pick (1-2)
Moulson
Michalek
Offer sheet Niederreitor
Jokinen
Raymond
Stempniak
Kulemin
Hemsky
Heatly
Havlat
Booth
Mueller
Setoguchi
Leino

List of D men: (pick 1)
Volchenkov
Mitchell
Pitkanen
Ehrhoff
Schultz
Meszaros
Quincey
Gleason
Stoner

 

[bdub24]

Injured in the worlds and decides to sign up for soccer? Yeah, not making solid life choices.

 

[Persona5]

Richards is more of a third line center so he would be more of what we have. If we sign him Fisher will be our #1 again. I am still holding out hope that DP and PL are close enough to Stastny from international play that it sways him to come to Nashville. That is by far our best bet of being really good next season.

 

[Infinite Jest]

Lol guys, Grabovski signed that soccer contract just so he could back into game shape during the summer. He isn't leaving hockey for soccer, how is it a bad life decision?

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

Nevermind. Should probably read the title first.

 

[PredsV82]

Vanek is going to the Wild. Stastny is the ultimate prize. It's unlikely though with Poile going after Spezza and VL ahead of time.

I'm sure poile was going for the bird in the hand with a trade rather than putting all his hopes on free agency. Doesn't mean we don't have a shot at Stastny or any other UFA.

 

[ItsKangarooJack]

Richards is more of a third line center so he would be more of what we have. If we sign him Fisher will be our #1 again. I am still holding out hope that DP and PL are close enough to Stastny from international play that it sways him to come to Nashville. That is by far our best bet of being really good next season.

Richards has undoubtedly declined since his glory days in Dallas, but I just don't think he was a fit in NY. He certainly drew a lot of scrutiny and was absolutely destroyed by the NY press by not dropping like 70 points every season. I feel like he could thrive again in a small market like Nashville where his name still has a ton of value to fans and he doesn't have to worry about getting completely bashed if he doesn't play amazing. I think he has a few years left of at least 50 point seasons and I'm sure him and Neal would inflate each other's numbers significantly

 

[PredsHabs]

for those saying grabbo http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/mikhail-grabovski-signs-with-soccer-team-in-belarus/

Shopping cart in order of my own personal preference

List of Centers: (pick 0-1)
Statsny (ha)
Richards
Offer sheet Sutter
Roy
Trade for one

List of Wingers: pick (1-2)
Moulson
Michalek
Offer sheet Niederreitor
Jokinen
Raymond
Stempniak
Kulemin
Hemsky
Heatly
Havlat
Booth
Mueller
Setoguchi
Leino

List of D men: (pick 1)
Volchenkov
Mitchell
Pitkanen
Ehrhoff
Schultz
Meszaros
Quincey
Gleason
Stoner

Getting my buggy out and playing Poile.
1. List of Centers-Stastny has to be our first priority. Trade is my second option. Third option for me Colin Wilson.

2.Wingers- Moulson, Hemsky, Raymond

3. Defense- Ehroff, Pitkanen


If we get Stastny add one more winger to fill out top six and cheaper dman.
Same if we trade for a true #1.
If we go with Wilson go for two top six wingers and dman.

The more I think about it I almost would not mind the last option and looking like this.

Forsberg-Wilson-Neal
Moulson-Jarnkrok-Smith
Cullen-Fisher-Stalberg
Nystrom-Gaustad-Bourque
Clune

Weber-Josi
Jones-UFA veteran dman/Quincey
Ellis-Ekholm
Bartley

Rinne
Hutton

Think about the PP units we would have with this lineup.

Seriously whatever happens I am happy as long as we do not go for more borderline players.

 

[Infinite Jest]

Matt Moulson plays a very similar offensive game to Patric Hornqvist, he's probably even better. Spends a lot of time around the crease, especially on the powerplay. If the Preds sign him to a cap hit somewhat similar to PH's 4.25, it'll almost be like they got Neal for free.

 

[PredsHabs]

Matt Moulson plays a very similar offensive game to Patric Hornqvist, he's probably even better. Spends a lot of time around the crease, especially on the powerplay. If the Preds sign him to a cap hit somewhat similar to PH's 4.25, it'll almost be like they got Neal for free.

Sounds like the kind of player we need to be after. Hopefully Poile has reached out to his agent.

 

[PredsHabs]

"Preds Shopping For Offense"

From July 1st Tennessean

Interesting quotes from Poile.
"If we can sign a center, that would be a wish list"

"There's not a bunch of guys available and I am not signing somebody for the sake of signing somebody"

Cooper says" Poile has not given up hope that Wilson or Jarnkrok could jump into the center position and play a role for the Prods, maybe even centering for Neal."

Cooper's list of Targets
Center
Paul Stastny
Derek Roy
Mikhail Grabovski

Non-center
Thomas Vanek
Matt Moulton

Trade options
Jason Spezza

 

[VanIslander]

Imagine a Thomas Vanek - Paul Stastny - James Neal 1st line. An honest to goodness legit 1st line!!

 

[RaiderDoug]

I'm pretty sure that whoever signs Stastny will end up regretting it in the long run. He's not worth the 6.6 he made last year, and he'll end up signing for 7.5 on at least a 5-6 year term.

That doesn't mean it would be a bad signing - short term, he's the type of guy that could transform Nashville from playoff contender to cup contender. But eventually, we'd end up saying "We're paying 7.5 for this?!?!?!"

My favorite UFA's:

1. Moulson - scores wherever he goes.
2. Stastny - will get overpaid, but is the best center available.
3. Grabovski
4. Richards - can still play, but legs are going..going......
5. Mason Raymond - not getting alot of talk, but the guy flourished on Toronto
6. Vrbata - Probably a good bet to score here, even though he was iffy out of PHX.

I'd be wary of guys like:

Cammaleri - scores alot, only plays about 60 games a year.
Roy - not very productive for a while now.
Hemsky - borderline 1st liner who will get overpaid and has injury troubles.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Two things to keep in mind:

-We probably need a middle to bottom pairing D.
-If we end up signing both a center and a winger (without looking at a lineup), I'd think we will need to trade someone (probably for a pick).

 

[AintLifeGrand]

How many cash monies does Poile have to throw around? Asking for a friend

 

[PFL615]

Yeah, I know he went to Chaminade.

Still doesn't make anything I said untrue.

Didn't say it did. Throwing out reasons why he would.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

How many cash monies does Poile have to throw around? Asking for a friend

Estimated to hover around $15mil

 

[PFL615]

I'm pretty sure that whoever signs Stastny will end up regretting it in the long run. He's not worth the 6.6 he made last year, and he'll end up signing for 7.5 on at least a 5-6 year term.

That doesn't mean it would be a bad signing - short term, he's the type of guy that could transform Nashville from playoff contender to cup contender. But eventually, we'd end up saying "We're paying 7.5 for this?!?!?!"

My favorite UFA's:

1. Moulson - scores wherever he goes.
2. Stastny - will get overpaid, but is the best center available.
3. Grabovski
4. Richards - can still play, but legs are going..going......
5. Mason Raymond - not getting alot of talk, but the guy flourished on Toronto
6. Vrbata - Probably a good bet to score here, even though he was iffy out of PHX.

I'd be wary of guys like:

Cammaleri - scores alot, only plays about 60 games a year.
Roy - not very productive for a while now.
Hemsky - borderline 1st liner who will get overpaid and has injury troubles.

Why is Raymond out in Toronto if he flourished?

 

[AintLifeGrand]

Estimated to hover around $15mil

$ 7ish mil for Stas

$ 5 ish for Hemsky

$3 ish for Gilbert


Neal-Stas-Hemsky
Jarnkrok-Wilson-Smith
Cullen-Fisher-Forsberg
Stalberg-Goose-Nystrom

 

[alexmanu]

$ 7ish mil for Stas

$ 5 ish for Hemsky

$3 ish for Gilbert


Neal-Stas-Hemsky
Jarnkrok-Wilson-Smith
Cullen-Fisher-Forsberg
Stalberg-Goose-Nystrom

I doubt we spend the whole $15m I can see us spending $10-12m

 

[Roman Yoshi]

$ 7ish mil for Stas

$ 5 ish for Hemsky

$3 ish for Gilbert


Neal-Stas-Hemsky
Jarnkrok-Wilson-Smith
Cullen-Fisher-Forsberg
Stalberg-Goose-Nystrom

Gilbert is right handed and that is far too much for a third pairing D man. We need a left. Look to Volchenkov, Gleason, Mitchell, and the like. Sounds like Pitkanen's career is done… hard to believe. Thank God they got rid of touch icing. He was a fun player to watch. I would really love to trade for Vinny and Timonen somehow. Timonen would be a great add to Jones and could retire a Pred. Probably not going to happen.

If we don't get Statsny, I foresee a trade for Vinny or I see Wilson + getting moved for a younger center under contract. After Vinny is paid his bonus today, I foresee him being traded to Nashville for walnuts (because peanuts are too cheap).

Michalek, Moulson and Jokinen top my list for wingers. Raymond, Heatly and Hemsky to a lesser extent.

 

[RaiderDoug]

Why is Raymond out in Toronto if he flourished?

Why does any good free agent make it to free agency?

He signed a 1 year "prove-it" deal and now wants to get paid.

 

[Predarat]

If he wants to live in St Louis then be my guest. The quality of life there is simply, not very good. Sure, he can find him a nice big home out in Wildwood, Chesterfield, or Eureka, but if all things are equal, why would you pick the city of St Louis over Nashville?

St Louis is probably closer to a cup now, but in really feel like Nashville can do something special in the next 2-4 years. Call me a St Louis hater, but there isn't any amount of $$ out there I would take to live in that city.

Keep in mind the new practice rink is in Antioch, so kind of like a mini St Louis.