Darth Milbury
Registered User
I would love to add Nikitin too, his size would be a big plus for the other smurfs. I don't know if we have a legit shot at him, but we could give him a fair offer and an opening in our top-4. Won't happen though.
I think Garth will be looking for a vet in a situation where a 1-2 year deal would be preferable. I like blinkman's suggestion of Derek Morris, but I don't know if he'd have any interest in us. That's why I think Garth has to trade for a top-4 d-man at the Draft. UFA's should be the frosting, the cake isn't even fully baked yet. We need a foundation piece on the blue line ASAP.
I think there is a strong potential match with Vancouver concerning Edler. He's not a Torts guy and he's having a down year. He may not be a true #1, we wouldn't need him to be. CdH and Hamonic is our shut down pairing and will play the toughest minutes as the already do. While technically the top pair, I feel confident in their ability. Visnovsky needs to be sheltered on the 2nd paring and Edler would give him a very capable partner. Reinhart could be sheltered on the 3rd pairing and should get PK time, I feel more confident that he would do a better job than our current PK defenders as we are last in the league. Hickey/Strait can be very capable 3rd pairing guys and may start out that way with Reinhart getting AHL time.
Offer them picks so they can start to replenish their prospect base. They're not getting our lottery pick, but a 1st round pick or two along with a B-level prospect should be about right in the value department. The Canucks get much needed salary cap relief in the process. It makes a lot of sense to me.
Edler has a NTC.