Free Agent Frenzy

[Armourboy]

Maybe I'm biased, but I don't think the Dallas run was as much a fluke as most people seem to. Even with some top players not on their games, I give them full credit as West champs, and think they'll easily be in the top-2 next season.

Not me. They were a team that was well on it's way to missing the playoffs before the shutdown. We were within 2 points and they were sliding hard. I suspect we see the normal Dallas team we've seen over the last several seasons. Not that much better than we are if at all.

They may be 2nd but it will be because the rest of the Central sucks.

 

[weeze]

With the proposed new alignment, we will be lucky to not end up at the bottom with Chicago and Florida! The Preds seem to always play the East pretty well but that was for just two games. Now add 5 teams to your Division and play them a lot, I am not so sure. Carolina and Florida seem to have our number over the other teams but again those are for just two games a year.

Since the 15-16 Season the Preds against the Eastern Division teams are:
Carolina 3-5-2
Fla 3-6-1
Caps 8-2-0
CBJ 6-2-1
TBL 7-0-3

So we would have the last three SCC's in our division in the Blues, Caps and Bolts. Carolina is a beast and CBJ have improved. We would be a bottom tier team for sure in this division unless we can add a top 6 to the mix and the PP/PK improve a lot. Also the goalie situation needs to play itself out to see who is the starter/backup.

A lot of questions going into this season...

 

[BigFatCat999]

With the proposed new alignment, we will be lucky to not end up at the bottom with Chicago and Florida! The Preds seem to always play the East pretty well but that was for just two games. Now add 5 teams to your Division and play them a lot, I am not so sure. Carolina and Florida seem to have our number over the other teams but again those are for just two games a year.

Since the 15-16 Season the Preds against the Eastern Division teams are:
Carolina 3-5-2
Fla 3-6-1
Caps 8-2-0
CBJ 6-2-1
TBL 7-0-3

So we would have the last three SCC's in our division in the Blues, Caps and Bolts. Carolina is a beast and CBJ have improved. We would be a bottom tier team for sure in this division unless we can add a top 6 to the mix and the PP/PK improve a lot. Also the goalie situation needs to play itself out to see who is the starter/backup.

A lot of questions going into this season...

I'm a contrarian optimist. I know know, it annoys the f*** out of everyone. This draft is going to be heavy in defensemen. When I look at Nashville's pipeline, it's the defensemen I worry about. If 2021 is gonna suck, this might be a good year. Rebuild the defenseman pipeline, beat the hell out of Detroit, have a fun expansion type season, save the owner cash. Sure first half play hard but if the team looks like shit, build for next year.

 

[weeze]

I'm a contrarian optimist. I know know, it annoys the f*** out of everyone. This draft is going to be heavy in defensemen. When I look at Nashville's pipeline, it's the defensemen I worry about. If 2021 is gonna suck, this might be a good year. Rebuild the defenseman pipeline, beat the hell out of Detroit, have a fun expansion type season, save the owner cash. Sure first half play hard but if the team looks like shit, build for next year.

Ok, let's say they play hard and suck. So at the trade deadline you are in last place and have to make some decisions, what do you do? Who do you keep and who do you try and trade?

Keep:
Josi
Forsberg
Arvi

Trade:
Everyone else is available

I probably would keep a few more depending on who is having a decent season and who is fitting in well with the system.

 

[Scoresberg]

Good to hear that we're still in on Hoffman. Doubt we'd bring Granlund back after all this.

 

[GoldOnGold]

Good to hear that we're still in on Hoffman. Doubt we'd bring Granlund back after all this.

It would really be something if we re-signed Granlund.

I wonder if his awful performance with us is making teams much more leery to sign him, especially in this economic climate. He might not have as many options as he had hoped.

Of course, if that's the case I dunno why he would come back.

 

[Scoresberg]

It would really be something if we re-signed Granlund.

I wonder if his awful performance with us is making teams much more leery to sign him, especially in this economic climate. He might not have as many options as he had hoped.

Of course, if that's the case I dunno why he would come back.

Only reason I can think of now that he really stepped up his game when Hynes came in. He was probably our best, most consistent forward under Hynes (excluding the bubble hockey).

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

The team would be nuts to consider Granlund. Even if he played here for the league minimum. I know he had that solid 20 games under Hynes in the winter, but the bottom line is there is just no chemistry whatsoever between him and Duchene. We saw in the playoffs that there was just nothing whatsoever that he was able to contribute to our team once we had the JoFA line rolling. I would rather keep that JoFA line rolling, through thick and through thin - because I KNOW they can function as a true NHL #1 line - even if not ALWAYS, they at least have more chemistry than anybody else we have had in those top line spots. And then if we are figuring out how to construct another scoring line around Duchene - well, we already know that Granlund is NOT the answer to that. Better to try a prospect or some other free agent. Even if it turns out they aren't the answer either, at least it represents an attempt at some progress.

 

[herzausstein]

I could see Granlund being brought back as a stablizer for the 3rd line. Him and Duchene were like oil and water and need to be kept from being on the ice at the same time.

JoFA
Tolvanen Duchene Kunin
Grimaldi Tomasino Granlund
Jankrok Cousins Sissons
Richardson/Trenin

Lines are flexible. Granlund goes nowhere near Duchene. Tolvanen may end up back in the AHL so Jarnkrok/Grimaldi swings up there and Trenin/Richardson tag in. I think Tomasino is going to get a good look but if he goes down Sissons slides up to 3C and Richardson/Trenin tags in. So worse case:

JoFA
Jarnkrok/Grimaldi Duchene Kunin
Grimaldi/Jarnkrok Sissons Granlund
Cousins Richardson Trenin

Either one isn't very impressive unless the young guys Tolvanen/Tomasino take off

 

[Byrddog]

The team would be nuts to consider Granlund. Even if he played here for the league minimum. I know he had that solid 20 games under Hynes in the winter, but the bottom line is there is just no chemistry whatsoever between him and Duchene. We saw in the playoffs that there was just nothing whatsoever that he was able to contribute to our team once we had the JoFA line rolling. I would rather keep that JoFA line rolling, through thick and through thin - because I KNOW they can function as a true NHL #1 line - even if not ALWAYS, they at least have more chemistry than anybody else we have had in those top line spots. And then if we are figuring out how to construct another scoring line around Duchene - well, we already know that Granlund is NOT the answer to that. Better to try a prospect or some other free agent. Even if it turns out they aren't the answer either, at least it represents an attempt at some progress.

Of course you are right but most are pointing in the wrong direction about the chemistry problem. Everyone knows that players must compliment there linemates in order for chemistry to develop. The oil and water comment above is pretty accurate and crossed every line last year. Even the JOFA line had long periods of just being inconsistent and looking lost together. Lavy and Hynes both juggled players trying to find something that worked. Poile has sent mixed messages over the last week first indicating that he was still happy with the offseason moves and that core players need to step up and mentioning The JOFA line along with Duchene and Rinne, he talked of the defensive additions freeing uk icetime for the top four to be more offensive minded by playing Benning and Boro more on the PK reducing the minutes for Josi and Ellis. And this morning from Andy Strickland "Carolina and CBJ (among other teams) remain two potential landing spots for Mikael Granlund. #Preds also interested in both him and Hoffman but have much better chance of landing Hoffman than they do Granlund. #Canes #CBJ".

The bottom line continues to be will there be a season and if so what is it going to look like. After losing 11 million last year Poile has a budget again but he is not the only GM in that situation. In article after article and tweet after tweet GM's are holding on to Cap space and the few UFA players signed recently have shorter deals at reduced amounts Hoffman and Granlund and a few others remain out there with no contracts and teams with Cap issues have players they need to trade but can't due to uncertainty of the season being canceled. Last Thursday reports leaked out that 18 teams were in favor of canceling the season. Almost a month ago now there was this report 3 to 5 NHL teams forced to file for bankruptcy, would be better off not playing the season - NHL News - HockeyFeed. The number of teams objecting to Bettman and Daileys push to have some sort of season has grown due to there simply absurd leadership in this case. TSN reported that a 48 game season played with 50% fans in the seats would result in each team losing from 50 to 80 million dollars, whereas if the season was canceled each team would lose between 12 to 15 million. The vaccine news is not much better with reports that the first rollout would be to healthcare providers and nursing homes and would take place the second week of January and it would be July before the vaccine would be available to large segments of the general population. There is just no way that we can expect a season starting in February and finishing by the start of the Olympics on July 17th as Dailey has set as the endpoint of the 20-21 season. Right now it is being projected that the 3 to 5 teams filing for bankrupcy is being projected to grow to 8 to 10 teams and Nashville is one of those included. It is further projected that 4 to 6 of those teams will fold.

 

[Predsanddead24]

If Granlund wants to come on a one year deal and it's a choice between him or leaving that spot open I'd probably lean towards signing him I guess. Forsberg-Duchene-Granlund did work early on last season so maybe with the right linemate (Tomasino, Tolvanen, or Kunin?) you can make a line that works with Duchene and Granlund. At the very least like noted above you can just throw him on the third line and the PK.However, what concerns me about signing him is I feel like Hynes would probably spend the whole season trying to make him fit every which way the top six even if it isn't working.

I don't really see the appeal to come here for Granlund though so I doubt it happens. Columbus and Carolina both seem like they would be much better situations for him in my opinion.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

I would genuinely prefer to play one of the younger guys over Granlund. I never even knew when he was on the ice. The guy was freaking big foot in a Preds jersey. You'd get a random flash of him, but there's very little proof he ever existed in Nashville.

 

[LeighDx59]

I thought he played better under Hynes, but if it was between him or Hoffman? You have to go Hoffman for sure imo.

 

[OldFan]

Preds kind of have to try Tolvanen next season whenever next season is. They’ve asked him to develop certain things; he has worked to develop those things; he is older, wiser and grown into a man’s body; performed moderately well in Milwaukee and there’s nothing left to do except see if he can earn a spot in camp and perform well in the NHL. Another year in the KHL and/or the AHL doesn’t prove much. But he has to earn the chance in camp and hold onto it in the season. It’s time to find out if he can cut it.

 

[Soundgarden]

I thought he played better under Hynes, but if it was between him or Hoffman? You have to go Hoffman for sure imo.

He was better under Hynes, but he was also gifted major minutes and still didn't produce enough for it to be worth it for me to bring him back.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

He was better under Hynes, but he was also gifted major minutes and still didn't produce enough for it to be worth it for me to bring him back.

That's just it. It took 20 minutes a night in all situations for him to... get 15 points in 20 games. I mean, that was pretty good. But it wasn't enough. Not when the rest of the top-6 forwards were basically sidelined to accomplish it. I'll be happier giving those minutes to JoFA again. We saw 70 games of Granlund being invisible when he didn't have that spotlight on him, vs. 20 games of him being arguably our top forward and everybody else being invisible. I think both sides are best off just leaving things the way they've gone thus far... his contract expires, he walks, wish him well in Columbus or wherever.

I still don't know how to fix the 2nd line, mind you. Or if it should be a 2/3 hybrid line, or what. I don't know if Kunin will bring something to the table there, or if a younger player might (Tomasino, Trenin, Tolvanen). I do know we're stuck with making Duchene a big part of things, though - for better or worse. And I do know I've seen all I need to from Duchene-Granlund together. So I'm ready to see something new. Even if it doesn't end up being any better.

Although if the season does happen and the holding pattern on the remaining UFAs did thaw, I'd still be fine with circling back to Hoffman. On a 1-year trial deal, I'd run that experiment. And it wouldn't necessarily have to be a super bargain contract either. I mean, why pay more than you have to, but if the market is still there for him when the season resumes, I'd have no problem with us putting in a $5M/1yr bid on him, say.

 

[maplepred]

Unless granlund is signing for under $2 million a season I have zero interest. We lost fiala for this bum and he was so brutal for us. Would prefer to roll the young guys in top six than this guy.
Big no from me.

 

[Predsanddead24]

So I assume we'll see the market pick back up again now with a season looking to be forthcoming. What's everyone's final guess for what we end up doing?

I'm going to go with us taking one or both of Killorn/Johnson for a mid-round pick from Tampa.

 

[herzausstein]

So I assume we'll see the market pick back up again now with a season looking to be forthcoming. What's everyone's final guess for what we end up doing?

I'm going to go with us taking one or both of Killorn/Johnson for a mid-round pick from Tampa.

Once there's for sure a season, you'll start seeing the teams that are over the cap move to become cap compliant. If there wasn't going to be a season, they'd of held out hoping for more favorable circumstances. No clue what happens though.

There are 10 teams over the cap:
Arizona - 2.77M over the cap on a 22 man roster. will be under the cap once Hossa goes to LTIR
Tampa - 1.9M over the cap on a 19 man roster. 2 high profile RFAs to sign (Cernak and Cirelli)
Canucks - 1.5M over the cap with a full roster. Could probably cut to a 21 player roster if absolutely needed.
Blues - 1.1M over the cap with Vince Dunn as RFA and a 21 man roster. Will have to make a move dependent on the health of Tarasenko and Steen.
Leafs - 1.05M over the cap with a full roster. Could become compliant by burying a contract over that or by trimming down to 21.
Capitals - 1M over the cap on a 21 man roster. Something will have to give here.
Vegas - Same issue as Capitals. 1M over with a 21 man roster.
Ducks - 1M over but will be fine once Kesler goes to IR
Jets - 700K over with Roslovic as a RFA. Will have to make a move dependent on the health of Little.
Oilers - 200K over with Bear left to sign. Klefbom is probably going to be out a chunk of the season so they'll probably be ok as is

At the cap (13 teams)
Stars - 250K space with a full roster
Canadiens - 380K space on a 21 man roster
Hurricanes - 930K space on a 22 man roster
Flames - 1M space on a 21 man roster and Kylington as RFA
Penguins - 1.3M space on a full roster
Avs - 1.8M space on a 20 man roster. Kamanev as RFA.
Sharks - 2.3M space with a full roster
Wild - 2.7M space with a 22 man roster
Bruins - 2.9M space on a 21 man roster
Buffalo - 3.495M space on a 21 man roster
Islanders - 3.9M space on a 20 man roster - Barzal left to sign but Boychuk going to LTIR so Barzal likely signs after that paperwork is done. Likely not alot of space left once roster is filled out.
Flyers - 4.8M on a 19 man roster - Myers left as a RFA. Likely not alot of space left once roster is filled out.
Blackhawks - 5.2M in space on a 20 man roster. D. Strome as a RFA. Likely not alot of space left once roster is filled out.

Teams with some spending money (8 teams)
Rangers - 4.8M in space with a full roster - may want to keep this as a bonus cushion though
Panthers - 8.3M in space on a 19 man roster
Columbus - 9.2M in space on a 22 man roster. Dubois left to sign which should eat half of this space atleast
Detroit - 9.5M in space on a 22 man roster
Senators - 12.5M in space on a 22 man roster
Predators - 12.9M in space on a 19 man roster. Kunin as RFA
Kings - 13.6M in space on a 19 man roster
Devils - 17.2M in space on a 16 man roster. Bratt and Blackwood as RFAs

There's alot of shuffling that is going to be needed. I expect some LTIR players to be dealt to gain some capspace for some of these teams over the cap. That said.... there aren't really many teams that can accept a full on expensive player like Tyler Johnson without having to purge their own cap somewhere.

 

[Predsanddead24]

Once there's for sure a season, you'll start seeing the teams that are over the cap move to become cap compliant. If there wasn't going to be a season, they'd of held out hoping for more favorable circumstances. No clue what happens though.

There are 10 teams over the cap:
Arizona - 2.77M over the cap on a 22 man roster. will be under the cap once Hossa goes to LTIR
Tampa - 1.9M over the cap on a 19 man roster. 2 high profile RFAs to sign (Cernak and Cirelli)
Canucks - 1.5M over the cap with a full roster. Could probably cut to a 21 player roster if absolutely needed.
Blues - 1.1M over the cap with Vince Dunn as RFA and a 21 man roster. Will have to make a move dependent on the health of Tarasenko and Steen.
Leafs - 1.05M over the cap with a full roster. Could become compliant by burying a contract over that or by trimming down to 21.
Capitals - 1M over the cap on a 21 man roster. Something will have to give here.
Vegas - Same issue as Capitals. 1M over with a 21 man roster.
Ducks - 1M over but will be fine once Kesler goes to IR
Jets - 700K over with Roslovic as a RFA. Will have to make a move dependent on the health of Little.
Oilers - 200K over with Bear left to sign. Klefbom is probably going to be out a chunk of the season so they'll probably be ok as is

At the cap (13 teams)
Stars - 250K space with a full roster
Canadiens - 380K space on a 21 man roster
Hurricanes - 930K space on a 22 man roster
Flames - 1M space on a 21 man roster and Kylington as RFA
Penguins - 1.3M space on a full roster
Avs - 1.8M space on a 20 man roster. Kamanev as RFA.
Sharks - 2.3M space with a full roster
Wild - 2.7M space with a 22 man roster
Bruins - 2.9M space on a 21 man roster
Buffalo - 3.495M space on a 21 man roster
Islanders - 3.9M space on a 20 man roster - Barzal left to sign but Boychuk going to LTIR so Barzal likely signs after that paperwork is done. Likely not alot of space left once roster is filled out.
Flyers - 4.8M on a 19 man roster - Myers left as a RFA. Likely not alot of space left once roster is filled out.
Blackhawks - 5.2M in space on a 20 man roster. D. Strome as a RFA. Likely not alot of space left once roster is filled out.

Teams with some spending money (8 teams)
Rangers - 4.8M in space with a full roster - may want to keep this as a bonus cushion though
Panthers - 8.3M in space on a 19 man roster
Columbus - 9.2M in space on a 22 man roster. Dubois left to sign which should eat half of this space atleast
Detroit - 9.5M in space on a 22 man roster
Senators - 12.5M in space on a 22 man roster
Predators - 12.9M in space on a 19 man roster. Kunin as RFA
Kings - 13.6M in space on a 19 man roster
Devils - 17.2M in space on a 16 man roster. Bratt and Blackwood as RFAs

There's alot of shuffling that is going to be needed. I expect some LTIR players to be dealt to gain some capspace for some of these teams over the cap. That said.... there aren't really many teams that can accept a full on expensive player like Tyler Johnson without having to purge their own cap somewhere.

One interesting aspect will be if they end up allowing expanded rosters and whether they change the rules around cap compliance slightly. Even minor changes could solve the problem for a lot of teams, although something still has to give for Tampa.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

One interesting aspect will be if they end up allowing expanded rosters and whether they change the rules around cap compliance slightly. Even minor changes could solve the problem for a lot of teams, although something still has to give for Tampa.

This seems likely to me. If the NHL owners are worried about how much money they are losing, I doubt they will want to completely carry their farm teams if those teams can't get fans in the seats.

Although presumably there is no real significance to the Olympics for the AHL. They could theoretically start later and end later than the NHL. Except who wants to watch minor league hockey in July or August? Probably still not feasible, even if Covid is no longer a factor.

 

[Legionnaire11]

The AHL is planning to start Feb 6 at the earliest. So the NHL teams could carry extra players for basically a month to get through the initial wave (I'm certain we'll see the worst of it at the onset) and then after three weeks of actual regular season games, hopefully things will have settled down to where we only see cases here and there throughout the rest of the season.

 

[herzausstein]

One interesting aspect will be if they end up allowing expanded rosters and whether they change the rules around cap compliance slightly. Even minor changes could solve the problem for a lot of teams, although something still has to give for Tampa.

per Elliotte Friedman they were looking at upping the cap a little bit but no agreement could be met so they just moved on. Would be sort of a thumb in the eye to the teams that bought out players thinking they'd need to for cap reasons if they upped the cap.

After stalemate, NHL, NHLPA agree to keep economic framework of new CBA

Edit: I think a work around could be to have a declared NHL roster and everyone else that will be on the AHL team hangs around with the team. They can't practice with the NHL roster players but the coaching staff can work with them separately. If callups are needed, they are in game shape and ready to go and it's just a paper transaction to make it happen.

 

[Scoresberg]

I think they could allow teams to carry a few extra players but once the AHL and the Junior season get underway, we'll be looking at fairly normal roster sizes. If there's COVID cases on the team, the games will be cancelled and moved to a later date, I think.

Which leads me to believe that we can make out like bandits here. We're flush with cap space and probably the most attracting team to players who need to be moved and want to be moved to a contender. Guys like Killorn, one of the Vegas guys etc. Let's hope Poile can fully weaponize our cap space, teams will come calling.

 

[Predsanddead24]

per Elliotte Friedman they were looking at upping the cap a little bit but no agreement could be met so they just moved on. Would be sort of a thumb in the eye to the teams that bought out players thinking they'd need to for cap reasons if they upped the cap.

After stalemate, NHL, NHLPA agree to keep economic framework of new CBA

Edit: I think a work around could be to have a declared NHL roster and everyone else that will be on the AHL team hangs around with the team. They can't practice with the NHL roster players but the coaching staff can work with them separately. If callups are needed, they are in game shape and ready to go and it's just a paper transaction to make it happen.

It may not be an increase in the cap per se, but how contracts are counted towards the cap could change slightly. Even in your scenario where the AHL team is with the NHL team that makes it far easier to be comfortable carrying 20 guys versus the situation where you would need to physically bring the player to where you are.

I guess it'll depend what happens with the AHL, but I find it very unlikely that they have a normalish season. If the NHL is hurting this hard with no/limited fans it has to be near impossible for the AHL. If nothing else there are three Canadian teams with American affiliates so they definitely can't play normally. I suppose you could have the AHL team just move to the market of the teams they are an affiliate for this season?