Speculation: Acq./Rost. Bldg./Cap Part LXII (Arbitration MADNESS)

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Gimme an UFA name who has something to prove, can take face-offs and PK.

Mike Richards. Jarrett Stoll.

Neither will play in the league again, though.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Mike Richards. Jarrett Stoll.

Neither will play in the league again, though.

Add Slava Voynov

I like how the Kings completely fell apart this year

 

[Slappy]

Gimme an UFA name who has something to prove, can take face-offs and PK.

David Steckel. Am I doing this right?

 

[trick9]

I still think Marcus Kruger is the ideal target.

I don't know if Chicago moves him though, unless they are forced to.

 

[Xaroc]

Goc: http://public.tableau.com/shared/2HZQDXYFY?:display_count=yes that is some impressive effect on teammates. He couldn't shoot the puck into the ocean off of a pier but looks like he might be cheap.

Smith: http://public.tableau.com/shared/ZH7PDJFJ7?:display_count=yes is this guy really available for a reasonable cost?

Santorelli: http://public.tableau.com/shared/TW8JM585T?:display_count=yes plays like a 3rd liner. Not a terrible option.

Beagle: http://public.tableau.com/shared/S7FGWX4WR?:display_count=yes internal option. Definitely not crazy about this. Goc probably in the same category but helps team offense a lot more.

Kruger: http://public.tableau.com/shared/ZWYWTQG3Q?:display_count=yes not a lot going on offensively but man he can shut people down. He did get just terribad zone starts and very tough assignments so that could be a factor.

Boyes: http://public.tableau.com/shared/5XNYSHTTT?:display_count=yes very strong. If we did this and then flipped MoJo for a quality center option like Helm that wouldn't be bad.

I will say I am against unloading MJ90 for a center without other moves. I think we need scoring depth and if we ditch him for say Kruger then our bottom 6 looks like this:

Laich-Kruger-Wilson
Chimmer-Beagle-Latta

That group isn't going to score anything.

As opposed to:

MJ90-Santorelli/Smith-Wilson
Chimera-Beagle-Laich

Or

Boyes-Helm-Wilson
Chimera-Beagle-Laich

I like those a lot better. I firmly believe you need at least some skill in your bottom 6 to compete.

 

[trick9]

I very highly doubt Craig Smith is available. Even if he somehow was then you have to assume that the cost is going to be roster player. Nashville is still starving for more offense and they won't trade their young offensive center for futures. For WSH i don't think they can fit that expensive bottom-6 (MJ+Smith option) under the current cap situation, especially with Laich being there too.

Goc is a good 4th line center.

Santorelli would be solid choice for reasonable contract as the 3C but he's not exactly a good defensive forward.

Boyes is a winger(?)

 

[Xaroc]

I very highly doubt Craig Smith is available. Even if he somehow was then you have to assume that the cost is going to be roster player. Nashville is still starving for more offense and they won't trade their young offensive center for futures. For WSH i don't think they can fit that expensive bottom-6 (MJ+Smith option) under the current cap situation, especially with Laich being there too.

Goc is a good 4th line center.

Santorelli would be solid choice for reasonable contract as the 3C but he's not exactly a good defensive forward.

Boyes is a winger(?)

Yeah, I didn't realize Smith was an RFA. There is no way that will work. I was just picking names out of the thread that people were mentioning.

 

[Hivemind]

Trotz didn't seem to have an issue going with a "power-vs-power" match-up last year. If one of the two top lines can be matched against an opponent's scoring line, it really reduces the need to have the 3rd line be a checking line. Without Ward and Fehr, the odds of having a line that can cycle the opponent to death is greatly reduced, anyway. Maybe you can use Chimera and Laich to stitch together a new cycle line, but it's unlikely to match the quality of the Ward lines in recent year.

All that considered, it makes more sense to me to pursue a more up-tempo 3rd line. The 3rd and 4th can still be defensively aware, but don't build around the grind and cycle identity they've had the past couple years.

 

[strungout]

Paul Carey signed for the Bears. Whoever that is.

 

[Roughing]

Best option might be to dangle Johansson (+) and go after someone like Hanzal

Stop it, I'm getting misty.

 

[stanleycaps18]

Paul Carey signed for the Bears. Whoever that is.

He wore #28 for the Avs, so that should put an end to the Semin BS.

 

[Hivemind]

He wore #28 for the Avs, so that should put an end to the Semin BS.

 

[BobRouse]

1. We're not going to trade MJ unless we absolutely have to salary cap wise.

2. Trotz did say we are looking at a bottom six forward to add and there was an article that pointed to Tyler Kennedy who would be an excellent cheap option.

3. Based on the cap and bottom 6 forward need it seems our D is set and we won't be getting a cheap vet option. We have 3 relatively unproven players rounding out our 5-7 roles so we could use another dose of good luck.

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

Trotz didn't seem to have an issue going with a "power-vs-power" match-up last year. If one of the two top lines can be matched against an opponent's scoring line, it really reduces the need to have the 3rd line be a checking line. Without Ward and Fehr, the odds of having a line that can cycle the opponent to death is greatly reduced, anyway. Maybe you can use Chimera and Laich to stitch together a new cycle line, but it's unlikely to match the quality of the Ward lines in recent year.

All that considered, it makes more sense to me to pursue a more up-tempo 3rd line. The 3rd and 4th can still be defensively aware, but don't build around the grind and cycle identity they've had the past couple years.

Even with retaining Johansson, I don't think an uptempo 3rd line is a possibility.

The most talented 3rd line I can jangle together would be

21-90-43 which leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Langway]

Here's the part of the Trotz interview where he discusses possible additional moves:



UFA is top priority with trades perhaps becoming more of a factor by the start of August as other GMs evaluate their teams further. They want a 9-12 forward as a stopgap that can play with some pretty good players and leverage it down the line for more term and dollars elsewhere. That suggests youth and upside on the cheap rather than a stopgap 4C PK specialist type so maybe three scoring lines is a goal. Or maybe they want to maximize the value spent and the fit in order to maybe move someone else down the line.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Here's the part of the Trotz interview where he discusses possible additional moves:



UFA is top priority with trades perhaps becoming more of a factor by the start of August as other GMs evaluate their teams further. They want a 9-12 forward as a stopgap that can play with some pretty good players and leverage it down the line for more term and dollars elsewhere. That suggests youth and upside on the cheap rather than a stopgap 4C PK specialist type so maybe three scoring lines is a goal. Or maybe they want to maximize the value spent and the fit in order to maybe move someone else down the line.

James Sheppard? Already said him in the other thread, but he is cheap and has offensive talent. Problem is he never translated that offensive talent to the NHL. Given the opportunity I think he could prove he holds a higher value then expected.

 

[Hivemind]

Even with retaining Johansson, I don't think an uptempo 3rd line is a possibility.

The most talented 3rd line I can jangle together would be

21-90-43 which leaves a lot to be desired.

90/65-Santorelli-43

or

25-Santorelli-90

Doesn't have to be Santorelli, but it could be another affordable 3C capable of playing on a scoring line (which simultaneously provides insurance for Backstrom's injury).

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

He wore #28 for the Avs, so that should put an end to the Semin BS.

If he's assigned another number, does it mean that Semin is coming back ??

 

[Langway]

James Sheppard? Already said him in the other thread, but he is cheap and has offensive talent. Problem is he never translated that offensive talent to the NHL. Given the opportunity I think he could prove he holds a higher value then expected.

His skating limits him to being a more of a RW I think. That's how the Rangers used him. San Jose did play him at center. It could work but I'm not sure the upside is there.

Tlusty & Stewart stand out as buy low opportunities. Both are the same age as Sheppard (27) but more proven. Both wingers but if they want four lines that can play and to maximize value then those are probably the two best targets. Or maybe Weiss or Upshall to prove they can stay healthy and productive. There are quite a few buy low opportunities and it makes sense to at least pursue them so that it's one less player for PIT or NYR to choose from to round out their forwards on the cheap. I'd still probably try to circle back to Fehr and see if he'll take what they can offer and cash in next year.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

His skating limits him to being a more of a RW I think. That's how the Rangers used him. San Jose did play him at center. It could work but I'm not sure the upside is there.

Tlusty & Stewart stand out as buy low opportunities. Both are the same age as Sheppard (27) but more proven. Both wingers but if they want four lines that can play and to maximize value then those are probably the two best targets. Or maybe Weiss or Upshall to prove they can stay healthy and productive. There are quite a few buy low opportunities and it makes sense to at least pursue them so that it's one less player for PIT or NYR to choose from to round out their forwards on the cheap. I'd still probably try to circle back to Fehr and see if he'll take what they can offer and cash in next year.

Tlusty and Stewart are far more proven options, but would cost a lot more then Sheppard. Sheppard would be 950k more then likely. Given my choice of those three Tlusty and Stewart would come first. But on a real cheap deal with really no risk at all, he is a good option in that sense. Better then Latta, but not quite Fehr,Tlusty or Stewart. My opinion may be a bit biased since seeing him a lot in junior.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

I don't think anyone left in the UFA market is going to cost much at all.

 

[hockeykicker]

Paul Carey signed for the Bears. Whoever that is.

Guy with some nhl experience but Hershey needs forwards after losing a lot of them this off-season

 

[Langway]

I don't think anyone left in the UFA market is going to cost much at all.

Agreed. Franson may be the one exception to that in getting $3M+ in spite of his limitations. Oduya is seemingly waiting on Chicago to clear cap room and so is likely to sign at a discount. Ehrhoff has a lot of questions as far as durability goes. Everything else is picked over and only a few will get more than $2M (from teams that can easily meet that price).

I'm not sure they'll be able to afford another $2M. It might be more like $1-1.5M unless they're comfortable waiving/trading Latta or Galiev to hit that $2M mark and carry one less extra forward. Four lines that can score would be interesting but I'd still wonder about the PK units and their depth up the middle. Knowing Trotz I'd think they'd want to build a little more traditionally and ideally add a stopgap value center with some upside, particularly as insurance if Backstrom isn't ready to go.

 

[itsjustsurvival]

Wonder how much Maxim Lapierre is looking for. Decent on the draw. Annoying as ****.

 

[hockeykicker]

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