Rumor: In-season Proposals, Rumors, Free Agents & Roster Moves (related topics) XLIX

[Freudian]

So many people were against the Girardi notion a couple of months ago. Now he's the last Coca-Cola in the desert.

We've been exposed to a non-lethal dose of Holdenium.

These are desperate times, man.

 

[Avs71]

If the Avs are scared of paying a defenceman at 33, then they're never going to sign anyone.

Phaneuf is getting paid until he is 35.
Bouwmeester is getting paid until he is 35.
Keith until he is 39.
Campbell until he is 36.
Suter until he is 40.
Enstrom until he is 33.
Weber until he is 40.
Carle until he is 34
Wisniewski until he is 33.
Wideman until he is 34.

Chara, Boyle, and Timonen's last contracts all took them to over 35.

A #1/2 defenceman isn't going to become a UFA at 26 and sign a discounted deal with the Avs. If they want a good defenceman, they're going to have to come to terms with the fact that they will be paying him on the decline.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

If the Avs are scared of paying a defenceman at 33, then they're never going to sign anyone.

Phaneuf is getting paid till 35.
Bouwmeester is getting paid till 35.
Keith until he is 39.
Campbell until he is 36.
Suter until he is 40.
Enstrom until he is 33.
Weber until he is 40.
Carle until he is 34
Wisniewski until he is 33.
Wideman until he is 34.

Chara, Boyle, and Timonen's last contracts all took them to over 35.

A #1/2 defenceman isn't going to become a UFA at 26 and sign a discounted deal with the Avs. If they want a good defenceman, they're going to have to come to terms with the fact that they will be paying him on the decline.

Jay BO still makes me drool. I wanted him so bad last year. Could you imagine him and EJ as our first pairing.

 

[Huis Clos*]

If the Avs are scared of paying a defenceman at 33, then they're never going to sign anyone.

Phaneuf is getting paid until he is 35.
Bouwmeester is getting paid until he is 35.
Keith until he is 39.
Campbell until he is 36.
Suter until he is 40.
Enstrom until he is 33.
Weber until he is 40.
Carle until he is 34
Wisniewski until he is 33.
Wideman until he is 34.

Chara, Boyle, and Timonen's last contracts all took them to over 35.

A #1/2 defenceman isn't going to become a UFA at 26 and sign a discounted deal with the Avs. If they want a good defenceman, they're going to have to come to terms with the fact that they will be paying him on the decline.

Except the teams paying for those guys are generally getting more productive years from than the Avs would most likely get from Girardi.

 

[hockeyfish]

Except the teams paying for those guys are generally getting more productive years from than the Avs would most likely get from Girardi.

I think we may be over blowing the idea that Girardi is going to fall apart.

 

[Avs71]

Except the teams paying for those guys are generally getting more productive years from than the Avs would most likely get from Girardi.

True, but what are the Avs supposed to do? Hope Doughty hits the market at 30? Pray a 29 year old OEL becomes a UFA? Seabrook at 31?

Good young defencemen are getting contracts that take them to 28/29/30. Then they're getting deals that take them to 35 plus.

 

[Freudian]

If the Avs are scared of paying a defenceman at 33, then they're never going to sign anyone.

Phaneuf is getting paid until he is 35.
Bouwmeester is getting paid until he is 35.
Keith until he is 39.
Campbell until he is 36.
Suter until he is 40.
Enstrom until he is 33.
Weber until he is 40.
Carle until he is 34
Wisniewski until he is 33.
Wideman until he is 34.

Chara, Boyle, and Timonen's last contracts all took them to over 35.

A #1/2 defenceman isn't going to become a UFA at 26 and sign a discounted deal with the Avs. If they want a good defenceman, they're going to have to come to terms with the fact that they will be paying him on the decline.

Pretty much all of them are a different player type than Girardi.

Girardi is more like Volchenkov, Orpik, Sarich, Scuderi and Mitchell. Those kind of defenders don't have the same durability as others. They don't have good enough skating to stay effective when they lose a step or two.

Same goes for Callahan. He's not going to be able to play well at 36 while a player like Selänne or Whitney will be able to without problems.

That said, Girardi will just be 30 this summer, so it's possible he'll have 3-4 good years left in him. It's hard to know. He's not had injury problems in the past, which is a plus. It'd be worse if he had knee or shoulder problems previously.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Jay BO still makes me drool. I wanted him so bad last year. Could you imagine him and EJ as our first pairing.

Yea, I thought he'd be alright in the Avs system. We don't seem to want our defenders to be overly physical, and emphasize positioning and puck movement. He'd look fantastic here.

As for Girardi, I'd much rather get someone that plays the left side, but also feel that he'd be a very welcome addition to this team. If he came at a decent price and the Avs think they can re-sign him I think he'd be awesome.

 

[CB Joe]

A source way, way worse than Eklund

There is worse?

 

[Pokecheque]

Bouwmeester would never have waived his NMC to come here. And even if he had it would've been really tough to re-sign him afterwards.

 

[henchman21]

I think we may be over blowing the idea that Girardi is going to fall apart.

Yep... everybody seems to think that defensive defensemen fall apart at 31/32. Reality doesn't necessarily support that. A number are good into their mid 30s

 

[hockeyfish]

Yep... everybody seems to think that defensive defensemen fall apart at 31/32. Reality doesn't necessarily support that. A number are good into their mid 30s

We seem to have a pretty good example of that playing on our top pairing.

 

[JWK]

yeah.. good luck with that.

Posting a tweet from 2007?

 

[Pokecheque]

Girardi had a bad start to the season but is playing quite well of late, as is King Henrik.

I seriously don't see the Rangers failing to re-up Girardi. He's way too important. Without him they have McDonagh and Staal anchoring the D, and Staal is obviously not reliable health-wise. They already lost a potential impact blueliner in Sauer due to PCS. And I have a feeling McIlrath won't pan out at all.

And the rumored deal doesn't really make sense for NY either. Taking a legit top-pairing guy and gambling on a young defensive prospect seems like an even bigger gamble than Slats usually takes.

 

[Huis Clos*]

We seem to have a pretty good example of that playing on our top pairing.

That's an extremely poor analogy. Hejda didn't start playing regularly in the NHL until he was 28 and at 35 only has 513 games of wear and tear. Gigardi broke into the league at 22 and already has played more games than Hejda with 540.

 

[Avs71]

We seem to have a pretty good example of that playing on our top pairing.

Bingo.

Not to mention that playing behind EJ would cut his minutes from 25 a night to most likely around 21-22. That would save a lot of wear and tear over the course of a season.

We've been so used to having all the cap space in the world. It's a frightening change when the Avs will soon be bumping up against the upper limit. Eventually the Avs will have to overpay to put them in the contendor category. Pretty much every Cup winning team has had a contract that could look bad in 5 years.

 

[henchman21]

That's an extremely poor analogy. Hejda didn't start playing regularly in the NHL until he was 28 and at 35 only has 513 games of wear and tear. Gigardi broke into the league at 22 and already has played more games than Hejda with 540.

So are we going to ignore that Hejda has played over 400 professional games in Europe?

Scuderi was an anchor on a Cup winning team at 33. If Girardi can bring that sort of play in the middle of his contract, I would be thrilled to have him.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

So are we going to ignore that Hejda has played over 400 professional games in Europe?

You mean he didn't start playing hockey at 28 years of age? Crazy.

 

[Nihiliste]

I think Girardi has at least 3-4 more good years in him, and would be a good veteran to add. I imagine that the Rangers will keep him though.

We probably would have passed on any number of guys who've played great in key situations for other teams based on the criteria given here - Mitchell and Scuderi for example were fantastic for the Kings during their cup run. Admittedly, I don't see a guy like him being a as effective after his 33-34 year old season based on other guys around the league though so it's certainly not a long term solution.

 

[henchman21]

IMO one of the biggest upsides to a player like Girardi would be to be a mentor on a pairing with Siemens or Bigras. A seasoned vet to pair them with would be a big help in their development. We all see how much better Barrie plays with Hejda than with anybody else. A Girardi could do that here with another young defensemen.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

I think Girardi is more like Orpik than he is Scuderi, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't take the risk... in FA.

In a trade? Hell no.

It's not like we're only risking cap hit/dollars when we discuss guys like Scuderi, Hejda, etc... we're risking good young talent we'd have to move in either roster players or picks.

I can't justify the Avs making that kind of move right now when the farm isn't exactly stacked and we're not yet contenders. In 1-2 years? Perhaps. But this year we just want to win a round, which means we don't need to make a massive trade unless it is in our favor to do so.

 

[Pokecheque]

I think Girardi is more like Orpik than he is Scuderi, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't take the risk... in FA.

In a trade? Hell no.

It's not like we're only risking cap hit/dollars when we discuss guys like Scuderi, Hejda, etc... we're risking good young talent we'd have to move in either roster players or picks.

I can't justify the Avs making that kind of move right now when the farm isn't exactly stacked and we're not yet contenders. In 1-2 years? Perhaps. But this year we just want to win a round, which means we don't need to make a massive trade unless it is in our favor to do so.

There is almost zero chance he makes it to July 1st. He either re-signs with the Rangers or he gets traded and signs there. I don't see him being the type of player who wants to test the market, even one as weak as this.

I'm not a big fan of spending big on the FA market unless there absolutely is that big ticket player who'd turn you from pretender to contender (i.e., Niedermayer in Anaheim). I like the way the Avs have used free agency in the past and this offseason--make some nice bargain-bin pickups for a reasonable price. The big ticket players (if they can be had) from other teams should be acquired via trade.

 

[henchman21]

I think Girardi is more like Orpik than he is Scuderi, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't take the risk... in FA.

In a trade? Hell no.

It's not like we're only risking cap hit/dollars when we discuss guys like Scuderi, Hejda, etc... we're risking good young talent we'd have to move in either roster players or picks.

I can't justify the Avs making that kind of move right now when the farm isn't exactly stacked and we're not yet contenders. In 1-2 years? Perhaps. But this year we just want to win a round, which means we don't need to make a massive trade unless it is in our favor to do so.

Orpik is still a very solid middle pairing defender at 33.

In the trade that was speculated on it was basically Girardi + Miller for Barrie + McGinn. Wilson isn't a big loss by any means. Miller will be a better version of McGinn that can play center if needed, and you are trading a potential top 4 RD for a top 4 RD (I don't think the Avs do this as a rental, they would re-sign him). Each team is giving up a young piece for a more established piece. With the defensive talent in the system, I would say this actually balances out the farm a little bit more and doesn't take away from it. It adds a player with top 6 PF potential and gives up a top 4 potential PMD... kind of a wash, but levels out the prospects with Elliott, Siemens, Bigras, and Butcher in the system as defensemen with good upside.

 

[Huis Clos*]

So are we going to ignore that Hejda has played over 400 professional games in Europe?

Scuderi was an anchor on a Cup winning team at 33. If Girardi can bring that sort of play in the middle of his contract, I would be thrilled to have him.

Do you honestly believe the physicality or the style of play of the Czech league and the NHL are comparable?

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Do you honestly believe the physicality of the Czech league and the NHL are comparable?

Czech league looks almost faster than NHL. No defense and everyone just going 100%. Totally different league's for sure.