List of Upcoming UFA Defensemen

[Balthazar]

God the idea of Niskanen at 6+ million makes me want to vomit.

I feel the same when I think about starting the new season with (now-one-year-older) Hejda as our #2.

Seriously though, I don't think that we should give him 6M. I think we can have him for 5/5.

 

[billybobjoe2112]

Some of these numbers are crazy. The season before the first lockout Gretzky was making 3 million and now D-men are going for upwards of 5 million. Ridiculous.

 

[Relaxedriley]

How much does everyone think Benoit will get on the open market? He took 900k for this season...but I'm sure Roy was the only one offering 2nd pairing minutes.

 

[InjuredChoker]

How much does everyone think Benoit will get on the open market? He took 900k for this season...but I'm sure Roy was the only one offering 2nd pairing minutes.

depends how many dman there will be available eventually. i'd guess 2+ mil for few years.

maybe i underrate him but that's how i see it.

 

[henchman21]

Except Letang makes $7.25 and had a 50 point season, a 42 point in 51 game season, and a 38 in 35 games season to put on the table.

Matt Carle was given $5.5M long term with recent point totals of 40 and 38, and in the summer the CBA expired with plenty of uncertainty over the cap in the future.

Wizniewski and Wideman signed their $5.5M and $5.25M deals three years ago under a $64.3M cap.

Streit was given $5.25M for four years under a $64.3M cap this year as a 35 year old.

Niskanen is a 27 year old, with a 46 point season. The cap will be $69-71M next year, and will rise considerably year after year. He's going to get paid more than any of those D men except Letang.

The best comparison you listed is Enstrom. He's a much more proven D man IMO, but he signed a pretty friendly deal with Winnipeg. Niskanen will get at least as much as him as a UFA. My guess is that will be the starting point of the serious offers he'll get, and it'll finish around $6M by some desperate team.

If he takes less than that, it will be to stay in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh can't afford it and those are the closest comparables to Niskanen. Every single one of these was/is more proven than Niskanen as well. 5.5-5.75 is pretty much where the market is, and that is about .75-1m overpaid, about the normal premium for UFAs. If he gets a $6m deal, I would be very, very surprised.

How much does everyone think Benoit will get on the open market? He took 900k for this season...but I'm sure Roy was the only one offering 2nd pairing minutes.

Probably a 3 year deal worth 2.25-2.5m per.

 

[RockyMtnRedhawk]

For those worried about money...

-Trade PAP for picks (-$4M)
-Add a million or two to PAP's money and acquire Niskanen.

That's it: a #2 dman with minimal payroll increase.

Not a bad idea, and I wouldn't hate it. Only problem is that Niskanen would be on the books for around 5 years, whereas PAP only has 2 years. This would make the Avs better in the short term, but I'm not sure it's worth the risk at the end of a 5 year contract unless the Avs can frontload some of the salary.

 

[henchman21]

Not a bad idea, and I wouldn't hate it. Only problem is that Niskanen would be on the books for around 5 years, whereas PAP only has 2 years. This would make the Avs better in the short term, but I'm not sure it's worth the risk at the end of a 5 year contract unless the Avs can frontload some of the salary.

I personally wouldn't worry about that... the cap is going up and one contract that is ~$1m overpaid isn't going to make or break a team especially when the best players are locked up for the long term on good deals.

 

[hockeyfish]

I personally wouldn't worry about that... the cap is going up and one contract that is ~$1m overpaid isn't going to make or break a team especially when the best players are locked up for the long term on good deals.

I wouldn't count on much cap increase beyond this year. They are getting most of the revenue jump this year from the pile of outdoor games and the post Olympic push. And even then, it's falling short of goals. I bet we see much more modest 1-2 million jumps, rather than these 5 million jumps.

 

[RockLobster]

I personally wouldn't worry about that... the cap is going up and one contract that is ~$1m overpaid isn't going to make or break a team especially when the best players are locked up for the long term on good deals.

True, while the Cap is going up consistently, we have to remember that at some point it will stop increasing or decrease (since it's tied to league revenues).

We already saw a little blip of it this year with them having to adjust the Cap because of the weaker Canadian dollar

 

[henchman21]

I wouldn't count on much cap increase beyond this year. They are getting most of the revenue jump this year from the pile of outdoor games and the post Olympic push. And even then, it's falling short of goals. I bet we see much more modest 1-2 million jumps, rather than these 5 million jumps.

5% seems pretty modest considering the growth that has been seen the past ~10 years. If the cap ends up at 70, 5% growth gives a 3.5m and then a 3.675m increase.

What is hurting the cap now is a weak Canadian dollar. I don't see the Canadian dollar staying at .92 long term, if it goes back up to .94-95 (where it should be long term) that alone adds ~1m to the cap right now.

Still that doesn't really matter because after this offseason, only 2/3 players (EJ, MacK, Barrie) will be the only ones that could possibly get the big raises. EJ, if he keeps up his play, will get a ~3-4m raise. Same with MacK. Those happen in 2 years. The Avs won't be to the cap this year (probably ~3-4m from the limit) and with ~6-7m in growth there is plenty of room to absorb those raises. Then you combine that with expiring contracts of PAP, Tanguay, Wilson, and Hejda. There is plenty of room to fit in decent sized contracts.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Thought next years cap doesn't even include the new tv deal, which will bump it up once again.

 

[Foppa2118]

Thought next years cap doesn't even include the new tv deal, which will bump it up once again.

That is correct. The NHL won't collect revenue from that TV deal until next season, so it's HUGE impact will be on the 2015-16 season. The cap will go up significantly.

 

[AslanRH]

Really starting to think 6m long term is more than fair value for ROR. If he (or his headache of an Agency) does look to maximize in relation to his QO, it could get Sketchy.

I doubt any team would trade 1 for 1 the quality defenseman we'd want back, so prepare for some Pahneuf+, Yandle, Edler+, etc offers if this draws out.

Anyhow, although it is HF, I have seen some Edler for late 1st discussions of late from the Knuckleheads base. Edler was awful, but I personally think he's better than that showing this year. I think Foote and company can make Holden, Guenin, and even Benoit better, they should be able to turn Edler around too.

Seems they are down on Jannik Hansen too.

I would not mind our 1st + something minor (Wilson?) for Edler + Hansen (for RW depth).

 

[Foppa2118]

Really starting to think 6m long term is more than fair value for ROR. If he (or his headache of an Agency) does look to maximize in relation to his QO, it could get Sketchy.

I doubt any team would trade 1 for 1 the quality defenseman we'd want back, so prepare for some Pahneuf+, Yandle, Edler+, etc offers if this draws out.

Anyhow, although it is HF, I have seen some Edler for late 1st discussions of late from the Knuckleheads base. Edler was awful, but I personally think he's better than that showing this year. I think Foote and company can make Holden, Guenin, and even Benoit better, they should be able to turn Edler around too.

Seems they are down on Jannik Hansen too.

I would not mind our 1st + something minor (Wilson?) for Edler + Hansen (for RW depth).

If they re-sign Benoit instead of upgrading his position, I might hurt something facepalming so hard.

 

[RockLobster]

I can't help but shake the feeling that they know they can't go into next season with the same glaring issue(s) from the year before: Top-4 defenseman and winger depth, preferably a bigger body that can still put out some offense...I still think Kulemin would be a great signing

 

[Burnaby_Joe*]

If/when we lose PAP, who will be on Duchene's right side? I'm thinking Landy. O'Reilly and Landy work great together.

 

[Foppa2118]

If/when we lose PAP, who will be on Duchene's right side? I'm thinking Landy. O'Reilly and Landy work great together.

Tanguay seems like the best fit IMO. McGinn has played well with him and O'Reilly before too.

 

[tigervixxxen]

If/when we lose PAP, who will be on Duchene's right side? I'm thinking Landy. O'Reilly and Landy work great together.

O'Reilly-Duchene
Landy-MacKinnon

That's the main pairs from here on out.

 

[PeterTheGreat]

Really starting to think 6m long term is more than fair value for ROR. If he (or his headache of an Agency) does look to maximize in relation to his QO, it could get Sketchy.

I doubt any team would trade 1 for 1 the quality defenseman we'd want back, so prepare for some Pahneuf+, Yandle, Edler+, etc offers if this draws out.

Anyhow, although it is HF, I have seen some Edler for late 1st discussions of late from the Knuckleheads base. Edler was awful, but I personally think he's better than that showing this year. I think Foote and company can make Holden, Guenin, and even Benoit better, they should be able to turn Edler around too.

Seems they are down on Jannik Hansen too.

I would not mind our 1st + something minor (Wilson?) for Edler + Hansen (for RW depth).

Edlers back is messed up. He'll never be the same. He cant even do full workouts etc.

The sad part is that the Canucks knew that before giving him his extension.

 

[Mile High Madness]

Just checked out a Pens board concerning Niskanen. Almost all of the people posting are pretty content to let him go (and confident that the penguins will let him walk) with Maata, Scuderi, and Martin locked up and Letang playing like his old self of late. If that's the case do you think someone makes a move for his rights at the draft to try and sign him before free agency? He would likely still want around $5 something million but it would be less that what he would want after July 1st.

Edit: what I'm saying is that Shero knows he wont resign and would rather shop him to try and get something for him, as opposed to getting nowhere in contract talks and letting him go for nothing.

 

[AslanRH]

O'Reilly-Duchene
Landy-MacKinnon

That's the main pairs from here on out.

Is this assuming Stastny is not re-signed?

 

[tigervixxxen]

Is this assuming Stastny is not re-signed?

No, it wasn't explicitly LW-C pairs. We all know Stastny slides right in on that line.

 

[Miri]

Vancouver and Edmonton are a mess, NYR already have quite a bit locked up on defense in Girardi, Staal, and McDonagh, and Florida is a rebuilding team.

Colorado is really the only team positioned in a Chicago/Pittsburgh pre-contention type of position. Overall, and in terms of Cap space, and only needing one or two more pieces.

If Niskanen is confident in his ability to play the left side, looking at playing with EJ and getting the raise he deserves will be a extremely competitive combination compared to any other teams.

Pitt can't even afford to give him 5M/per with Letang on the roster.

If they do make a play for him, we may not have the top offer in terms of money, but we would be at the top in every other area, and competitive in terms of money IMO.

With all this said, we'll see if the position we're in cap wise, and in team development is going to have the same impact on free-agents as it has had in the past (other teams of course). You never know really... it may not...

I think our position is a little stronger than you do, but generally agree with you.

I agree with this. Surely as 27-years old signing a long-term contract he is thinking about his chances to win a cup at the potential destinations. Well, you never know, he may be in purely for money ... but i hope not.

Personally i think, its more of the matter, whether Roy and co. rate him and see him fit into the current setup or not. If yes, i think there is a good chance he may be our player come next season.

 

[Balthazar]

Not a bad idea, and I wouldn't hate it. Only problem is that Niskanen would be on the books for around 5 years, whereas PAP only has 2 years.

That would be a problem if he were older, but he's 27 and will be in his prime for the whole 5 years so it's not really an issue, especially with the cap going up.

 

[Drury_Sakic]

That would be a problem if he were older, but he's 27 and will be in his prime for the whole 5 years so it's not really an issue, especially with the cap going up.

The concern I have with going whole hog on Niskanen, i.e. the 6+ range, is that it blows the whole salary construction of the team off kilter. Do you want an outsider to set the payroll standard in negotiations? Right now your highest paid players are the "core" guys in Duchene and Lando....and I imagine the teams goal is to set similar range deals for O'Reilly and a slightly higher value in the UFA Stastny.

I think the club thus far has been very careful to construct the franchise standard for the top end talent to keep the cap in control. Because the core players are being paid X, the supporting players get Y....if you bring in a long term unproven player at a salary above those guys, you blow that carefully constructed limits out of line which potentially makes signing Mac, Barrie, and then onto the depth players harder.

Not that is its 100% to work when Mac and Barrie come due for their big deals, but if you are consistent at the dollars and term and set salaries at the Duchene/Stastny/Lando pecking order for salary you keep the cap more manageable. But if you throw that out of whack adding a guy like Niskanen at a potentially crazy UFA salary......you risk the long term salary management argument. Also not to say Niskanen is a bad signing even at that value, but he will never be worth the money he gets.

Detroit is a very good example of this. They set the gold standard on their roster for the cap in their core players and others fall into line behind that or else!