Confirmed Trade: [MIN/BUF] Marcus Johansson for Eric Staal

[GM Armchair]

You expect him to sit up there and say their are tight financial stipulations where salaries will need to be cut when possible?

Also, Johanson wasn't a center.

Buffalo fans have been lied to for a decade now. We literally are operating with a ECHL front office right now. Seriously, go look at it on Sabres.com.

Your hatred for a team your suppose to be a fan of is the only thing ugly around here.

 

[CupInSIX]

Apparently Staal had all the top teams on his NT list because Boston and a few other teams tried to trade for him, so he did the opposite of what most players do. ~ per Friedman on SeriusXM NHL radio

Not a very good strategy, but then again he didn't expect the Wild so make such a bad trade.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Apparently Staal had all the top teams on his NT list because Boston and a few other teams tried to trade for him, so he did the opposite of what most players do. ~ per Friedman on SeriusXM NHL radio

Not a very good strategy, but then again he didn't expect the Wild so make such a bad trade.

So this was a "hold my beer" moment for the Wild front office?

 

[sufferer]

Your hatred for a team your suppose to be a fan of is the only thing ugly around here.

 

[Royal Thunder]

Put yourself in his shoes.

Played 4 games since March. Gonna be 36 years old when next season starts. Would need to move his family for maybe one year to a team that has zero aspirations to even compete next season. Has more than enough money already.

Ask yourself, why go through all this crap, in a time when who knows what will even happen next season?

Zero aspirations to even compete next season? The team is clearly wanting to make a push for the playoffs, you’re acting like he got traded to Detroit

 

[BloFan4Life]

Zero aspirations to even compete next season? The team is clearly wanting to make a push for the playoffs, you’re acting like he got traded to Detroit

Let's see what this roster looks like in 2 months.

Don't be surprised with a lot of entry level deal players and cheap vets. This team will be close to the salary cap floor.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Sometimes a single trade/player makes a team a lot better than the average move in my eyes.

This is one of those things. Eichel-Staal is a powerful duo down the middle, and unlike in the days of Eichel/ROR, they actually have the wingers to make the top 6 look complete.

Reminds me a little bit of the Canes trading for Niederreiter. The potential short-term payoff is there.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Let's see what this roster looks like in 2 months.

Don't be surprised with a lot of entry level deal players and cheap vets. This team will be close to the salary cap floor.

no they won’t

 

[Dr Quincy]

again, history and comparisons do not favor your statement. you'd have to dig pretty deep beyond a first ballot hall of fame type player like thornton to find a player that was able to keep up 50+ pt production at 36+. even hossa, while a wing, another 1st ballot HOF player scored 61 in his 36 and never again the next two seasons.

I don't see staal keeping it up at 36 in buffalo of all places on a 13th place east team this year

not knocking staal at all, but father time catches everyone. brad richards pretty much fell off a cliff after 33

I agree.

I want to point out, not as a critique of your post or anything just as an aside:

Pt totals for older players can be misleading. Older players who are bad get weeded out for cheaper/younger players... so the ones that are still playing will tend to have ok pt totals. So to point out this guy or that guy who is still putting up points is missing the 20 other 37 year old players who didn't get a deal, and the 30 other 36 year olds, etc etc.

Staal did put up points last year, so he has that on his side. I don't expect a fall off a cliff (though possible) but a downturn would be fairly likely. You can also make the case that perhaps he'll have a bump in #s based on usage or teammates, but I don't see that as likely as a slight decline.

 

[Srsly]

Apparently Staal had all the top teams on his NT list because Boston and a few other teams tried to trade for him, so he did the opposite of what most players do. ~ per Friedman on SeriusXM NHL radio

Not a very good strategy, but then again he didn't expect the Wild so make such a bad trade.

I wonder if that means he’s more interested in a top 6 role than winning another cup. He’s already carved out a pretty nice career(cups,medals,trophies,awards) and may just feel like playing more than winning at this point.

 

[HabsQC]

Man I wish this was a 3 way with Detroit so we could get a Buffalo-Wild-Wings trade

 

[innitfam]

A salary dump by the Sabres.

No way Staal plays and Buffalo now doesn't have to pay Johanson's 4 million dollar salary. Sabres don't care about cap implications if he retires because they will be at the 70 million mark anyways. They just want as little real cash spending as possible.

Staal is only 36. Why would he retire? Even if he didn't want to play in Buffalo, there's any number of teams who would love Staal on a 1 year deal.

 

[Jugitsu]

I wonder if that means he’s more interested in a top 6 role than winning another cup. He’s already carved out a pretty nice career(cups,medals,trophies,awards) and may just feel like playing more than winning at this point.

No, it means he didn't want to get traded at all.

 

[BFLO]

Even if Staals production falls off a cliff, by say 50%, he's still a huge upgrade at 2c for the Sabres. And can be that cup winning veteran pressence the Sabres have lacked in the lockeroom.

Even if Staal retires without playing a game its a win, we just dumped 4.5m of cap for free. Johansson isn't worthless, but he's not a difference maker and was overpaid for what he brought.

 

[thrillhous]

If he doesn’t want to play for Buffalo maybe he would want to play for the Jets and they could find a deal with them given their needs up the middle and proximity to home for Staal.

 

[57special]

Next up, Dumba for Okposo and a 2nd.

 

[rynryn]

Next up, Dumba for Okposo and a 2nd.

 

[Sabreality]

from 31 Thoughts...

It was a smart move by Buffalo, although Staal, who is building a retirement home in Minnesota, was completely caught by surprise — and disappointed he found out when his phone blew up. (In case anyone was worried he wouldn’t report, I’m told that’s not happening — he’s going to play.)

31 Thoughts: Is Matt Dumba next up on the Wild trade block? - Sportsnet.ca

 

[GM Armchair]

from 31 Thoughts...

It was a smart move by Buffalo, although Staal, who is building a retirement home in Minnesota, was completely caught by surprise — and disappointed he found out when his phone blew up. (In case anyone was worried he wouldn’t report, I’m told that’s not happening — he’s going to play.)

31 Thoughts: Is Matt Dumba next up on the Wild trade block? - Sportsnet.ca

here you go @BloFan4Life looks like your ridiculous confirmed theories were wrong.

 

[BlueOil]

johansson is a guy that will always leave you wanting more

 

[CamPopplestone]

kind of a head scratched on both sides. minnesota got a pretty vanilla return there, on the flip side I guess buffalo just wanted to dump johansson's contract? because I'm not sure what an about to be 36 year old declining center like buffalo is supposed to do for them since buffalo is not going to be competing for anything than maybe a playoff appearance and 1st round exit next year

A guy like Staal is there to help in the locker room. That team needs someone like him

 

[tsujimoto74]

A guy like Staal is there to help in the locker room. That team needs someone like him

Veteran leadership isn't nothing, but I think, more importantly, he's here to be an honest #2C---not a winger being played at center---and to add another forward who can score when Eichel isn't on the ice with him.

Staal obviously won't be more than a stop-gap at his age, but hopefully that's all we need with Cozens developing like he has so far.

 

[BloFan4Life]

here you go @BloFan4Life looks like your ridiculous confirmed theories were wrong.

It's LeBrun, far from a guarantee. Literally worthless info.

I will believe it when I see Staal on the ice regular season game 1

 

[Riptide]

Most of HF doesn't realize that Staal isn't the player they think he is. The man has slowed incredibly over the last year. Painful watching him skate sometimes. Can't imagine he gets any better next year. Johansson is fast and skilled. Being undervalued because a couple rough years.

That doesn't change the facts though.
1. Staal even if slow was still a 50pt center the past 2 seasons (was on pace for 58pts last year).
2. That Staal was by far the best center Minny had at the time of the trade.

I don't have an issue with Minny moving out players that don't fit Bill's vision for the team. But you still need to have your basic positions filled. Moving out your top center for a winger (lets not pretend Mojo is anything but) when you have no real replacements internally is a terrible ideal. Especially given the fact that we all know how hard centers are to acquire. And FA won't be a solution for him (if it was ever an option) with Koivu and Soderberg as the top two FA centers this summer.

 

[featherhawk]

holy smokes Minny got bent over bad here.

Staal is a FAR superior player than MJ

Minny seems to make idiotic moves on a reg basis.