Speculation: Now what do we do? - Part 3

[Volodya Krutov]

Yeah, but the main difference in depth scoring between this year and last is Drouin. He'll be in the top-six this year, which will push somebody down. That's going to help. We're putting a, what, 60-70 (?) point player into the lineup? That way, for all intents and purposes, didn't have last year.

If our top-six is different than last year, our bottom-six will be different too. I used Killorn as an example, but I'm not sure who it'll be. It'll probably change. But adding Drouin full time, especially with Stamkos healthy, will have a ripple effect.

I'm not talking about who's expendable. Talking more about how we don't need to add anyone as much as we might have thought.

You're 100% correct on this one. Our main weakness is "only" bottom 6 scoring depth and we don't have the cap space to do much more anyway. The Connolly case is intriguing me. It annoys me because the bottom 6 improvement we're looking for is Marchessault IMO. I tend to believe if he's given a decent opportunity on the 3rd line, he's going to produce. He's got a legit skillset, he can shoot, he can pass, he can skate and he's feisty when needed. but I fear Coop just doesn't like him. So as opposed to JAM, whose perceived lack of size and physicality is something that seems to refrain Coop to view him more than just a 11th, 12th forward, we know Coop would give Connolly 3rd line minutes without thinking twice. Connolly doesn't possess JAM's passing skills but he's still a gifted shooter and he's big.


Ps: Just looked up Connolly's advanced stats last season. They're absolutely atrocious, Bergeron and Marchand were his most common linemates and he dragged them down.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Don't see how we're going to move Callahan and Drouin is going to cost us a LOT more than $4.5M. If we're lucky maybe we could extend him now for two seasons at $5.5-6M which would at least give us a chance of keeping him around a while, but if we don't lock him up now he'll end up costing us $7M - I think he'll be that good.

What has Drouin done to deserve that kinda money? All he has is one good playoff run and potential. He hasn't done anything worthwhile in the regular season to get more than 3mil a year.

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

Yeah, but the main difference in depth scoring between this year and last is Drouin. He'll be in the top-six this year, which will push somebody down. That's going to help. We're putting a, what, 60-70 (?) point player into the lineup? That way, for all intents and purposes, didn't have last year.

If our top-six is different than last year, our bottom-six will be different too. I used Killorn as an example, but I'm not sure who it'll be. It'll probably change. But adding Drouin full time, especially with Stamkos healthy, will have a ripple effect.

I'm not talking about who's expendable. Talking more about how we don't need to add anyone as much as we might have thought.

Ill be safe and call 70 for drouin scary thing 90 wouldnt surprise me with stamkos and maybe kucherov ohhh my

Don't see how we're going to move Callahan and Drouin is going to cost us a LOT more than $4.5M. If we're lucky maybe we could extend him now for two seasons at $5.5-6M which would at least give us a chance of keeping him around a while, but if we don't lock him up now he'll end up costing us $7M - I think he'll be that good.

I am saying look got to lock up killer and clutch right now so dont get offer sheeted which is more likely if drags out a bit and we cannot deal with that without more moves NOW..... so im saying do those two contracts go right to drouin give him 4.5 for 3 years or 5 years or whatever we can lock down than do vladdy and hedman which should be easy both of them

yep stevie is a little busy for next month lol

I'd expose Coburn and see what happens, that contract will get worse before it gets better, and hopefully Koekkoek can play those minutes.

id rather do garrison than coburn issue is they gave him that new deal so said to me he was picked over garrison for a reason I am not fully aware of maybe cause does well with the kids etc.. anyway i wanted us to keep 3 legit d guys who had the higher hits since we could .... just my thought process id much rather have slater than coburn but had the money so that made the decision and just feel cooper loves the bigger guys whether they are better or not

You're 100% correct on this one. Our main weakness is "only" bottom 6 scoring depth and we don't have the cap space to do much more anyway. The Connolly case is intriguing me. It annoys me because the bottom 6 improvement we're looking for is Marchessault IMO. I tend to believe if he's given a decent opportunity on the 3rd line, he's going to produce. He's got a legit skillset, he can shoot, he can pass, he can skate and he's feisty when needed. but I fear Coop just doesn't like him. So as opposed to JAM, whose perceived lack of size and physicality is something that seems to refrain Coop to view him more than just a 11th, 12th forward, we know Coop would give Connolly 3rd line minutes without thinking twice. Connolly doesn't possess JAM's passing skills but he's still a gifted shooter and he's big.


Ps: Just looked up Connolly's advanced stats last season. They're absolutely atrocious, Bergeron and Marchand were his most common linemates and he dragged them down.

still like guys like ott pirri briere would take a shot at vanek etc.. is some guys out there would love if they called stevie out of blue today hey i want the cup will a million cut it

 

[HoseEmDown]

The reason our bottom 6 scoring sucked is because Callahan, Filppula and Paquette scored 51 points less last year than the one prior. Drouin also missed more than half the season so we lost his production and had to try to fill it with Condra and Blunden. If we get a bump from all 4 of those players our depth scoring is vastly improved.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

What has Drouin done to deserve that kinda money? All he has is one good playoff run and potential. He hasn't done anything worthwhile in the regular season to get more than 3mil a year.

Just as a reminder, we gave Palat $3.3M over 3 years after a 59 points campaign and a 11th place finish in Selke votings.

$4.5M seems about quite fair regarding Drouin, unless he scores 100 points next season of course lol

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

What has Drouin done to deserve that kinda money? All he has is one good playoff run and potential. He hasn't done anything worthwhile in the regular season to get more than 3mil a year.

not worried what he has done so far worried he scores at over a ppg this season so why risk it?

i dont want to lose the drouin we saw for the end of the year

play with fire get burnt

we'ed get a fantastic return but id rather have him core for the next ten

 

[Volodya Krutov]

not worried what he has done so far worried he scores at over a ppg this season so why risk it?

i dont want to lose the drouin we saw for the end of the year

play with fire get burnt

we'ed get a fantastic return but id rather have him core for the next ten

If you're advertising the idea to extend Drouin now, I don't think this is going to happen. Drouin has nothing to gain by jumping the gun, unless he's just another of our players that wants to do us a solid haha

 

[tjs*]

I am saying look got to lock up killer and clutch right now so dont get offer sheeted which is more likely if drags out a bit and we cannot deal with that without more moves NOW..... so im saying do those two contracts go right to drouin give him 4.5 for 3 years or 5 years or whatever we can lock down than do vladdy and hedman which should be easy both of them

Drouin's not going to sign a contract for $4.5M for three years and especially not for five when he can put up a big season or two and get $6-7M. If we extend him before this season maybe he'd take something around $5.5M for two years but otherwise he'll likely price himself off our team.

If the dream is to keep Drouin without losing Palat or Johnson our only chance is to get him locked in now so our only issues next offseason will be guys who might be willing to work with us. Otherwise somebody will offer him more than we can afford to match and unlike the Triplets there's no doubt that he'd sign it.

 

[DFC]

The reason our bottom 6 scoring sucked is because Callahan, Filppula and Paquette scored 51 points less last year than the one prior. Drouin also missed more than half the season so we lost his production and had to try to fill it with Condra and Blunden. If we get a bump from all 4 of those players our depth scoring is vastly improved.

Weirdly, the only one I trust to bounce back at all is Callahan. And that's basically only because Still All In said he wasn't at 100% for most of last year.

I'd like to see Namestnikov solidified as our #3C for the entire year. If he doesn't turn out to be valuable in that role, then we move on from him in 2017. But, when Callahan gets back, something like X-Namestnikov-Callahan SHOULD provide decent depth scoring. Especially if that LW can make plays (Richard? Read for this?).

 

[tjs*]

Just as a reminder, we gave Palat $3.3M over 3 years after a 59 points campaign and a 11th place finish in Selke votings.

$4.5M seems about quite fair regarding Drouin, unless he scores 100 points next season of course lol

Palat's also reasonable and understands the concept of paying his dues. Does that sound like Drouin to you? He's going to want to get paid based on what he does next season and if he's one of our leading scorers that's what he'll get, whether from us or somebody else. If we offer him something close to $6M for a couple years now he might take it; otherwise he'll wait and see what he can get on an offer sheet.

 

[DFC]

Just as a reminder, we gave Palat $3.3M over 3 years after a 59 points campaign and a 11th place finish in Selke votings.

$4.5M seems about quite fair regarding Drouin, unless he scores 100 points next season of course lol

Drouin looks like a prime candidate for a bridge deal, whatever he does. Unless he loses his mind and wins an Art Ross or something, but I mean, then it's a GOOD problem that the bridge option is out the window.

I'm expecting 60+ from him. Maybe some durability issues. My big fear is Jon Cooper will have me tearing my hair out by not pairing him with a shooter while also not pairing Stammer with a playmaker.

 

[HoseEmDown]

not worried what he has done so far worried he scores at over a ppg this season so why risk it?

i dont want to lose the drouin we saw for the end of the year

play with fire get burnt

we'ed get a fantastic return but id rather have him core for the next ten

If he scores at a ppg rate, I'm more worried about the performance bonuses he'll get rather than his AAV. We could be screwed next year with him Koekkoek and Vasilevskiy in line for bonuses.

 

[tjs*]

The way I see it our only hope of Stamkos not being an $8.5M anchor for the next eight years is for him and Drouin to become a duo for the ages. That being the case we simply cannot afford to lose him. And I just don't see him taking a bridge deal to stay with us if some team makes him a $6M+ offer next summer. Better to get him locked in at or slightly below that number now for a couple years and at least then our only potential offer sheet targets will be guys who want to stay and might be willing to work with us to make that happen.

If we lose Drouin we're not just losing his production, but probably a good chunk of Stammer's as well. And we simply cannot afford to let that happen.

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

If he scores at a ppg rate, I'm more worried about the performance bonuses he'll get rather than his AAV. We could be screwed next year with him Koekkoek and Vasilevskiy in line for bonuses.

when i looked at his bonuses when first signed the MOST i thought he could achieve in third year was a number like 1,233,333

it was for art ross etc.. selke etc.. he aint gonna be best player in league it will work out

so if you can find something that says my thinking is wrong let me know ill shoot a tweet to bp and ee see what they know

 

[HoseEmDown]

when i looked at his bonuses when first signed the MOST i thought he could achieve in third year was a number like 1,233,333

it was for art ross etc.. selke etc.. he aint gonna be best player in league it will work out

so if you can find something that says my thinking is wrong let me know ill shoot a tweet to bp and ee see what they know

He has a chance to get 2.3mil in bonuses. Vasilevskiy and Koekkoek 600k each, doubt they all Max but would be 3.5 if they did.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Drouin's not going to sign a contract for $4.5M for three years and especially not for five when he can put up a big season or two and get $6-7M. If we extend him before this season maybe he'd take something around $5.5M for two years but otherwise he'll likely price himself off our team.

If the dream is to keep Drouin without losing Palat or Johnson our only chance is to get him locked in now so our only issues next offseason will be guys who might be willing to work with us. Otherwise somebody will offer him more than we can afford to match and unlike the Triplets there's no doubt that he'd sign it.

Please please please tell me how the F Drouin will get 6+ on his next contract? No offense but he's done jack **** so far in his career. 4.5 is generous for him.

 

[These Are The Days]

If Drouin doesn't play big with Stamkos then he will with Kucherov or Johnson. Everything that young man touched turned to gold last year. People forget that he was pretty much the reason why we got out of the first rounds and lasted as long as we did in the ECF. Call it a flash in the pan but it showed his true potential. We may have a bottom 6 scoring problem but Drouin looked like a care-all to our top line scoring problems.

What came with that wannabe diva attitude was a will to win that we've seen only in Marty St. Louis and at times Lecavalier. Those two guys could grab the team and say, "Climb on my back boys. We're winning this thing." Don't forget his dissection of the Red Wings at Joe Louis and his last minute assist after getting knocked silly in Long Island. The Pittsburgh series was dazzling as well.

It's not going to matter what points he puts up in the regular season. If he has another playoffs like he did then he can charge whatever the hell he wants. It won't be a popular decision but he will get a payday. Players are paid to win Stanley Cups not to guide to a division title and crap out in a game 7 loss of the 2nd round.

By the sound of it Victor Hedman's contract is gonna be done sooner than later and if he signs at a bargain then the precedent for the entire team will be set: "Sign for a fair price that keeps us all together or GTFO." Your two best players signing for less than what they could've gotten sends a very strong message. God forbid Kucherov does the same thing and by this time next year signing a fair deal will become team culture like not stepping on the logo in the locker room.

If that happens then Drouin will be under as much pressure by the locker room to sign a fair deal as he will be by Yzerman regardless of how he performs next season.

A fair deal will be done for both sides because a strong season next year will prove Drouin to be indispensable.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Hoping we add some bottom six scoring here in the next few days.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Hoping we add some bottom six scoring here in the next few days.

We have 12 waiver eligible forwards right now, not including Drouin who's exempt and Killorn , Namestnikov or Kucherov who aren't signed. With those 4 we have 16, Vermin, McGinn and Richard should clear so 13 which is what we went with last year. Yzerman isn't going to waive Paquette or Condra so barring a trade we might sit still. The only reason I see us going for one due to Callahan being out the first month but wouldn't be surprised if Yzerman gives the 3 waiver players or Blunden if signed a chance instead.

 

[Werewolf]

Sign Drouin for $6M ... ? LMAO ... what? That's Kuch / Forsberg / Tarasenko money. How are we trading Johnson, giving Drouin $6M, and who knows what else. Jumping the gun doesn't even begin to describe the madness. Once we see the term & $s given out to our RFAs - we'll have a clearer picture of Yzerman's plans. But right now ... some people are jumping out of the ship because somebody saw some smoke. If you just wait a bit longer you would have seen that it was just burned toast.

 

[Werewolf]

We have 12 waiver eligible forwards right now, not including Drouin who's exempt and Killorn , Namestnikov or Kucherov who aren't signed. With those 4 we have 16, Vermin, McGinn and Richard should clear so 13 which is what we went with last year. Yzerman isn't going to waive Paquette or Condra so barring a trade we might sit still. The only reason I see us going for one due to Callahan being out the first month but wouldn't be surprised if Yzerman gives the 3 waiver players or Blunden if signed a chance instead.

This exactly. Fully agree.

 

[Chet]

Stamkos, Headman, Vasilevski. Seems like most of our cap space is gone. We gonna be able to hang on to Kucherov and Bishop. I've got a feeling Bishop is gone before the season starts.

 

[DFC]

I would think Bishop is likely to want out now. This is obviously his last year if he stays. I can't imagine wanting to play under those conditions.

 

[Werewolf]

I like the extension and hope both Bish and Vasi go at it again as 1A / 1B this season. If Vasi doesn't take the step forward and take the job then Yzerman can trade Vasi wherever he wants as a #1 goalie signed to a great contract and try to re-sign Bish. If Vasi takes the step forward then the job is his on an excellent contract.

 

[ltpato]

Wish we could get Dwight King and boost our bottom 6