Who would YOU trade for forward help.

[DaveG]

Pesce has been a beast playing with Slavin every night. Best pairing we've had here in a long time.

Murphy has had some games where he doesn't look too awful and others where he's just a dumpster fire out there. He needs to get traded somewhere that he can be given regular ice time on the 3rd pairing since he's not really developing here as the #4 RHD behind Pesce, Faulk, and Tennyson.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Mind giving an opinion on how Pesce and Murphy have done this year?

Murphy = Terrible.
Pesce = Fantastic. Paired with Slavin and been the defensive pair that goes against the toughest competition.

 

[GoldiFox]

My pipe dream: we sneak into the playoffs, Cam gets shelled, Eddie steps in a la '02 Weekes / '06 Ward and singlehandedly wins us a playoff round or two.

You mean Alex "The Future" Nedeljkovic... Right? He's getting his audition now.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

You mean Alex "The Future" Nedeljkovic... Right? He's getting his audition now.

I know you are being sarcastic, but I'll be surprised if he sees the ice unless Ward is on his deathbed or Ward gives up a bunch of goals early and gets pulled.

 

[Roboturner913]

I wouldn't say Murphy has been "terrible" on the whole. He's had games where he played pretty solidly. I think he just needs playing time, but he's clearly the 8th best option here so he's not going to get much of it. But if Schultz can turn his career around, Murphy can do the same. Just needs the right opportunity.

 

[GoldiFox]

I know you are being sarcastic, but I'll be surprised if he sees the ice unless Ward is on his deathbed or Ward gives up a bunch of goals early and gets pulled.

I agree... My guess is that it is a motivation move. Gives him a big bonus for the next x number of games and let's him spend some time on an NHL bench.

I think there is a very small chance he could play on the Friday (start of the back-to-back) if they end up facing an AHL goalie from Columbus. First NHL game vs. the best PP in the league would be a rough intro though.

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

...

It really depends on how much help you want to get. If you trade a 3rd pairing defenseman, you won't get a star in return obviously.

Moving Hanifin to get a player like Duchene would make the most sense. Duchene would become your #1 Center immediately and he would make a big impact on your forwards.

While moving Hanifin is tough, your defense is very strong already and you will still have a number of very good young prospects on defense remaining (Fleury, Murphy, McKeown, etc).

As mentioned, you will also get to keep the Slavin - Pesce pairing intact, along with Faulk - Hainsey.

 

[The Faulker 27]

Murphy's played in 134 NHL games. I think that constitutes more than a small sample size and I just don't see NHLer. I don't think he's got the hockey sense to put his skill set to work. Whatever skillset that is actually, because I haven't really seen anything that impressed me other than maybe moving the puck into the O zone well on occasion. His defense is barely passable and he often miss fires a pass, or just turns it over

 

[Roboturner913]

We don't expect or want Hainsey around past next year, I don't think. He's been pretty bad for long stretches of this season although he's been better lately. I think the hope is that Hanifin takes on a bigger role next year and steps into a top 4 role so that we can roll complimentary pairs of Slavin/Faulk and Hanifin/Pesce for a balanced approach, as good as Slavin and Pesce are together they aren't necessarily generating a lot of offense because they're both pretty conservative in their decision making.

If we fall out of the race the first thing we need to do is trade Hainsey and see what Fleury/Carrick can do in his place for a look at next year. Then we'll know if we need to sign a veteran LHD in the offseason to bridge the gap or roll with the kids.

 

[RodTheBawd]

Murphy's played in 134 NHL. I think that constitutes more than a small sample size and I just don't see NHLer. I don't think he's got the hockey sense to put his skill set to work. Whatever skillset that is actually, because I haven't really seen anything that impressed me other than maybe moving the puck into the O zone well on occasion. His defense is barely passable and he often miss fires a pass, or just turns it over

Yeah, I love all the talk of Murphy's offensive game... where is it? You can overlook his massive defensive deficiencies if he's doing something to generate offense, but I see nothing. His shifts are basically trying to survive. I hold my breath every time he's out there, which, fortunately, is not long.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

It really depends on how much help you want to get. If you trade a 3rd pairing defenseman, you won't get a star in return obviously.

Moving Hanifin to get a player like Duchene would make the most sense. Duchene would become your #1 Center immediately and he would make a big impact on your forwards.

While moving Hanifin is tough, your defense is very strong already and you will still have a number of very good young prospects on defense remaining (Fleury, Murphy, McKeown, etc).

As mentioned, you will also get to keep the Slavin - Pesce pairing intact, along with Faulk - Hainsey.

Nah. We'll wait.

 

[RodTheBawd]

We don't expect or want Hainsey around past next year, I don't think. He's been pretty bad for long stretches of this season although he's been better lately. I think the hope is that Hanifin takes on a bigger role next year and steps into a top 4 role so that we can roll complimentary pairs of Slavin/Faulk and Hanifin/Pesce for a balanced approach, as good as Slavin and Pesce are together they aren't necessarily generating a lot of offense because they're both pretty conservative in their decision making.

If we fall out of the race the first thing we need to do is trade Hainsey and see what Fleury/Carrick can do in his place for a look at next year. Then we'll know if we need to sign a veteran LHD in the offseason to bridge the gap or roll with the kids.

Why would we not just roll Slavin/Pesce as the shutdown pair, and Hanifin/Faulk as the offensive pair? And it's not like Faulk isn't used to facing top competition, so as long as Hanifin continues to progress, they can handle last change mismatches.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Schultz is 6'2", 195 lbs. Murphy is 5'11", 185lbs soaking wet. Even when Schultz was struggling, he wasn't playing "scared" and Murphy looks scared every time he's on the ice and has zero confidence. He also doesn't display great hockey sense (although that could be the confidence issue).

 

[NotOpie]

Schultz is 6'2", 195 lbs. Murphy is 5'11", 185lbs soaking wet. Even when Schultz was struggling, he wasn't playing "scared" and Murphy looks scared every time he's on the ice and has zero confidence. He also doesn't display great hockey sense (although that could be the confidence issue).

I'm with you BBA....Murphy gets games and looks almost the same. He hasn't progressed and has zero confidence. I just don't see that he brings enough "future" to justify giving him games in a row anymore. He's a throw in as part of a package deal, a chip for a lower quality prospect, or maybe a low 3rd round pick. I'm not going to call him a bust, but it's getting pretty close. I would love for the light to go on and for him to turn into something; just don't see any indications of that happening any time soon. If GMRF uses any of our 2nds or 3rds on an RHD in the draft, it solidifies his ongoing decline in value.