Observations XXV

[Armourboy]

Unless someone picks up the phone and makes Poile an offer he can't refuse he isn't going anywhere. Poile isn't going to trade him for scraps as cap space isn't an issue and he can be valuable depth if Joey or Duchene go down.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Turris has to play with RyJo and Arvy to make any semblance of a "come back" season. He would have to have a career year in G/60 to even match a normal year for him just because of the minutes he is playing.

We have a 6 million dollar 4th line center playing single digit minutes a night. You can say whatever you want about the depth or how the lines 'aren't actually the 4th line'...but the reality is just that. I am absolutely in the camp of taking the best/any offer we can get for him if that is going to be his role.

This would be my take too. I don't know why they gave up so soon on the 2nd line LW gig. I'm not especially optimistic about Turris as a winger either. But I still think it's the "best try" for him. No matter how decent he looks so far, playing 9 or 12 mins on a "leftovers" line isn't going to justify the cap space he represents. And just sitting on him as an insurance policy on Duchene or Johansen getting hurt is also a luxury we might not be able to afford in future years. We can afford it this year. But we kind of get locked into it the longer it goes, because he'll never salvage enough market value for us to ever get out of it.

 

[King Weber]

Turris skating with Grimaldi and Watson on the 4th line during practice today.

 

[Legionnaire11]

Turris skating with Grimaldi and Watson on the 4th line during practice today.

That sounds like it could work honestly.

I'd still like to give Watson a look on that Johansen line as well.

Forsberg - Duchene - Granlund
Watson - Johansen - Arvidsson
Grimaldi - Turris - Smith
Jarnkrok - Sissons - Bonino

(Grimaldi/Sissons/Bonino rotating until something works)

 

[Flgatorguy87]

That sounds like it could work honestly.

I'd still like to give Watson a look on that Johansen line as well.

Forsberg - Duchene - Granlund
Watson - Johansen - Arvidsson
Grimaldi - Turris - Smith
Jarnkrok - Sissons - Bonino

(Grimaldi/Sissons/Bonino rotating until something works)

The problem will be he isn't getting enough time to make an impact

This would be my take too. I don't know why they gave up so soon on the 2nd line LW gig. I'm not especially optimistic about Turris as a winger either. But I still think it's the "best try" for him. No matter how decent he looks so far, playing 9 or 12 mins on a "leftovers" line isn't going to justify the cap space he represents. And just sitting on him as an insurance policy on Duchene or Johansen getting hurt is also a luxury we might not be able to afford in future years. We can afford it this year. But we kind of get locked into it the longer it goes, because he'll never salvage enough market value for us to ever get out of it.

Exactly this. "We don't need the cap space right now" is an incredibly short sighted argument that an NHL GM can't make in my opinion. I guess I can hope Poile has plans to ride him out this year and then clear him to Seattle for a pat on the back and a draft pick.

 

[PredsV82]

I guarantee there will come a time this year when we will be glad we didnt trade Turris.

 

[Predsanddead24]

The problem will be he isn't getting enough time to make an impact


Exactly this. "We don't need the cap space right now" is an incredibly short sighted argument that an NHL GM can't make in my opinion. I guess I can hope Poile has plans to ride him out this year and then clear him to Seattle for a pat on the back and a draft pick.

Exactly. Sure we don't need cap space this season but we absolutely will need it after this season. Turris will never get any value back with the premium value cap space has in the NHL, especially if the cap freeze that has been discussed in the CBA negotiations actually comes to fruition. At this point if Poile ever gets an offer for him that doesn't involve retaining salary or giving up assets on our end I would hope he takes it.

 

[Predsanddead24]

I guarantee there will come a time this year when we will be glad we didnt trade Turris.

I don't doubt that, but I also think there will be way more times in the length of his contract that we will wish we had moved him if we hold on to him.

 

[GoldOnGold]

The problem will be he isn't getting enough time to make an impact


Exactly this. "We don't need the cap space right now" is an incredibly short sighted argument that an NHL GM can't make in my opinion. I guess I can hope Poile has plans to ride him out this year and then clear him to Seattle for a pat on the back and a draft pick.

It's going to cost a lot to have Seattle pick a 32 year old Turris after 3 years of bottom-6 minutes when someone much better will be available. If we go 4-4, probably Granlund. If we go 7-3, probably Ellis or Ekholm.

 

[Armourboy]

The problem will be he isn't getting enough time to make an impact


Exactly this. "We don't need the cap space right now" is an incredibly short sighted argument that an NHL GM can't make in my opinion. I guess I can hope Poile has plans to ride him out this year and then clear him to Seattle for a pat on the back and a draft pick.

It's actually not, it just means he has no need to get in a hurry and move him just to move him. It gives him time and options. If Poile had been getting any kind of decent offer for him he probably would have moved him after signing Duchene.

Keep in mind too we have several forwards hitting free agency next year, there is no guarantee you sign a single one of them, in which case that 6 million dollar cap hit doesn't mean jack.

 

[GoldOnGold]

It's actually not, it just means he has no need to get in a hurry and move him just to move him. It gives him time and options. If Poile had been getting any kind of decent offer for him he probably would have moved him after signing Duchene.

Keep in mind too we have several forwards hitting free agency next year, there is no guarantee you sign a single one of them, in which case that 6 million dollar cap hit doesn't mean jack.

It would be a lot easier to sign our UFA forwards if we didn't have Turris

 

[Flgatorguy87]

It's actually not, it just means he has no need to get in a hurry and move him just to move him. It gives him time and options. If Poile had been getting any kind of decent offer for him he probably would have moved him after signing Duchene.

Keep in mind too we have several forwards hitting free agency next year, there is no guarantee you sign a single one of them, in which case that 6 million dollar cap hit doesn't mean jack.

6 million dollars isn't a big deal if he's actually useful. Lavy thinks hes good for about 9 minutes a night right now. I hope it turns out well, but that could be a Lucic contract in 2 more years.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

That sounds like it could work honestly.

Nah, that's a terrible line.

 

[Armourboy]

It would be a lot easier to sign our UFA forwards if we didn't have Turris

Sure it would, but you have no idea if they even want to stay to begin with.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

I guarantee there will come a time this year when we will be glad we didnt trade Turris.

And that time will exist exactly once.
Any single player from the roster can make themselves useful. I'm not waiting a long period for Turris to become that.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

And that time will exist exactly once.
Any single player from the roster can make themselves useful. I'm not waiting a long period for Turris to become that.

Exactly. Matt Irwin might score a game-winning goal this year for all we know. And I'll be glad he did. It doesn't mean he's a net useful player though. I've seen Kyle Turris play 2 seasons for us, and - past the first two months anyway - I don't really recall being glad we had him. I was pretty excited at first with the acquisition. It seemed like just what we needed to patch our vacant 2C spot. But watching him play the last couple years - even allowing for his injury issues last year - I just don't see a scenario arising where he makes me think he's worth $6M on our team. Maybe he would be on others. Maybe he would have been again for us if we didn't sign Duchene and he pulled up his socks and started playing better. But the fact is, we did sign Duchene. And so far we can't seem to invent any new role that Turris is particularly suited for on our team.

As others have noted, it's not exactly a burning issue this season, since we've already got $3M in unused cap space. But it is still an issue. Because without a role, Turris isn't going to produce, and without production he'll have no market value. And that $6M cap hit is basically just going to be a dead charge on our cap. Or let's say $4M worth of it is --- he's about as useful to us today as Jarnkrok is. Not a terrible player, but not really one who does anything of special value for us. Teams have wasted $4M of cap space before, though, so I don't think it will be fatal to us or anything. But I don't think it would be reasonable to expect fans to just let it go unremarked either. Even if Granlund or Smith don't want to re-sign with us, or if they price themselves too high and we don't want to sign them, then we STILL are going to need to find some top-6 wingers and will have to shop elsewhere on the free agent market or in trades. And the Turris contract can still be a drawback to us. Right now, we have some needs - a #2 LW and maybe a sturdy depth D. Turris isn't giving us anything we need. His cap hit is simply part of the currency equation in considering our needs vs our surpluses.

 

[101st_fan]

Now for context when it comes to the Turris situation. He's tied 5th in ES goals (with a group that includes Joey and Duchene), t-9th in ES assists, t-10th in ES pts with Josi --- while 16th in ES TOI. The 2nd PP unit remains invisible for now with only four players having a PP point ... all first unit players. He isn't going to put up comparable ES points with Johansen or Duchene with approximately 2.5 and 5 fewer ES minutes per game, respectively.

 

[Legionnaire11]

Right now he's not bringing back the help we need (do we? we're a top scoring team), and his value today isn't any higher than what it will be next offseason. It's just a weird time to be pressing for an unnecessary move. Let him keep playing well and increasing his value for a potential future move.

I'd rather keep him in a limited role and have that insurance in case of a Joey or Dutchy injury, OR until another team is in such a desperate situation that they're willing to send some value in return for Turris.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Right now he's not bringing back the help we need (do we? we're a top scoring team), and his value today isn't any higher than what it will be next offseason. It's just a weird time to be pressing for an unnecessary move. Let him keep playing well and increasing his value for a potential future move.

I'd rather keep him in a limited role and have that insurance in case of a Joey or Dutchy injury, OR until another team is in such a desperate situation that they're willing to send some value in return for Turris.

I don't think we're "pressing" for something that's probably not even there. I suspect we could waive Turris today and he would not be claimed. Speaking for myself anyway, I just think we should have this filed under "monitor constantly" ... any chance we do get to escape from the Turris contract, we should jump on it. We may not ever get a chance. But that doesn't mean we should ignore the situation. The way things have gone so far this season (obviously tiny sample), he is probably not going to increase his value any.

In the meantime, yes, I think we all agree the default plan is to let him keep on playing, at least hope he increases his value, and appreciate that he represents an insurance policy. None of that takes away from the bigger picture with him.

 

[FilthyScoresberg]

Just saw a tweet that says Fiala will be a healthy scratch against Toronto tonight.
That trade was 1 for 1.. can’t believe it.

 

[drwpreds]

Just saw a tweet that says Fiala will be a healthy scratch against Toronto tonight.
That trade was 1 for 1.. can’t believe it.

Yep- was thinking the same thing when I saw that. But the key to making it a really great trade will be if we can re-sign Granlund, which I am thinking is a big if right now.

 

[Predsanddead24]

Going to the Wild and playing for Boudreau may be the worst situation that Fiala could possibly have been put int. He's the antithesis of the type of players that Boudreau likes. Wouldn't be shocked to see him traded again before the season is over.

 

[OldFan]

Going to the Wild and playing for Boudreau may be the worst situation that Fiala could possibly have been put int. He's the antithesis of the type of players that Boudreau likes. Wouldn't be shocked to see him traded again before the season is over.

Fiala is skilled. It’s all about willingness to work and attitude with him. The attitude thing has led to pouting eventually. Sounds silly to say this out loud but he still needs to grow up.

 

[FilthyScoresberg]

Yep- was thinking the same thing when I saw that. But the key to making it a really great trade will be if we can re-sign Granlund, which I am thinking is a big if right now.

Why wouldn’t he? Dude’s on a team with several Finns and the team is a contender. Great linemates. Plenty of minutes.
I guess it all comes down to how much he enjoys Nashville as a place to live.

 

[FilthyScoresberg]

It’s sad because I always had a lot of faith in Fiala. It really does seem to be mental with him.