Off-Season Thread: Free Agency & Trade Talk

[SpookyTsuki]

Exactly.

I have a feeling he'll be back though. Not too big of a deal, he is a seriously good pker.

He's only going to get more injuries from here on Out. Miller is a broken player now. And he's old. Eventually you gotta let go

 

[Vatican Roulette]

What is your goal for next season?

More physical, better puck movement so the young forwards develop.

You don't want them but you'll take Campbell? Alllllllllrighty then and why Matt Martin

Campbell is a good all around dman, even at his age. He won't sign for more than 2 years.

Matt Martin is a great 4th liner, very physical, and will set the tone.

 

[Heaton]

More physical, better puck movement so the young forwards develop.




Campbell is a good all around dman, even at his age. He won't sign for more than 2 years.

Matt Martin is a great 4th liner, very physical, and will set the tone.

Passing up the chance to get elite players without giving up assets is never the right move for a franchise with no elite players.

 

[Vatican Roulette]

Passing up the chance to get elite players without giving up assets is never the right move for a franchise with no elite players.

Signing a big FA would be a bad idea for Detroit. Upgrading the salary cap for Detroit long term creates money problems going forward.

Stamkos to Detroit creates even more cap space problems.

Radulov might make a winger traded for defense, but then again, Radulov might bug out.

Don't go big money.

 

[Ezekial]

He's only going to get more injuries from here on Out. Miller is a broken player now. And he's old. Eventually you gotta let go

I agree, just think he's gonna get 1 or 2 from Kenny. He'll play it out and someone will make it to the 4th from GR.
The last thing this team needs is new plugs. Martin's gonna get a few year contract, no thanks.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

Signing a big FA would be a bad idea for Detroit. Upgrading the salary cap for Detroit long term creates money problems going forward.

Stamkos to Detroit creates even more cap space problems.

Radulov might make a winger traded for defense, but then again, Radulov might bug out.

Don't go big money.

Who're we saving the money for?larkin, give me a break, the kid needs to earn it first

The chances we draft a stamkos level talent is about 0% because we will not tank for a top 2 pick and hoping for a late rd steal is a terrible plan.

 

[LeighDx59]

I'm excited to see/hear all these quotes about us being active in free agency and trading (its a start). And I know its not wise, but id be all for them trading their first rounder this year if it acquires us one of these younger right handed defensmen that could be available.

 

[Bench]

I'm excited to see/hear all these quotes about us being active in free agency and trading (its a start).

It is a start. Usually they say they'll "see what's out there" and do the usual tire kicking before settling on some modest deals. But the proof is in the pudding. If we get a tired response about prices being too high, we'll know it's business as usual. Although, come on, they have to know Stamkos is going to command top dollar. Hopefully this isn't some half-assed offer like they put to Parise just to have their name in the conversation.

The last few years Holland has offered market value for players like Boyle, Niskanen, even Weiss if you want to count him. So that's good! But none of those were near the big dollar commit of Stamkos.

 

[The Zermanator]

Signing a big FA would be a bad idea for Detroit. Upgrading the salary cap for Detroit long term creates money problems going forward.

Stamkos to Detroit creates even more cap space problems.

Radulov might make a winger traded for defense, but then again, Radulov might bug out.

Don't go big money.

Yeah, stars tend to do that. So what's the problem?

 

[Syckle78]

Yeah, stars tend to do that. So what's the problem?

That he isn't worth the money he's going to get.

This thread will be a nice bump when he ends up with a boat anchor contract.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Larkin - Stamkos - Radulov
Tatar - Z - Nyquist
Abdelkader - Sheahan - AA
Helm - Glendening - Jurco

 

[vladdy16]

Am I the only one not close to sold on Stamkos as a center? For a guy that made his name as a goal scoring winger, and has had negative defensive metrics his whole career, I'm really suspicious of paying him and playing him as a no.1 center.

Anyone watch TB enough recently to chime in?

 

[Bench]

Am I the only one not close to sold on Stamkos as a center? For a guy that made his name as a goal scoring winger, and has had negative defensive metrics his whole career, I'm really suspicious of paying him and playing him as a no.1 center.

Anyone watch TB enough recently to chime in?

You've got it reversed. Stamkos has been a career #1 center. Stamkos made his mark as a center, getting the puck from winger Martin St. Louis. Only recently has he been moved to wing, thus the rumblings he's not happy with his role and wants to return to playing center.

As for metrics, his early days with Tampa were on not good teams. I mean, he was taken #1 overall for a reason. He's by no means a Selke candidate, but not surprising a 19-20 something centering a lottery team isn't killing the defensive metrics.

What we do know is that over his career Stamkos has been the premier goalscoring center. There's been nobody better at that. The argument comes into play if his best days are behind him, which is perhaps valid, but his position as an elite scoring center should still be very much secure for the next 5 years. Give him wingers that can dish the puck and create space and you're going to be very happy. I actually think Nyquist is a glove fit, for example.

Tampa has moved him to the wing because they have an embarrassment of riches in their forward grouping. And if not the case, his return wouldn't even be a question. But Yzerman is in a luxury position to decide if he wants to keep his scorer that the team was able to surive very well without, or keep the band together temporarily at the risk of losing pieces in the future. Filppula's regression this year offensively really puts Yzerman in a tougher spot than when he was producing offensively. The Flip they saw this year is closer to the one we were willing to trade for Weiss... oh hindsight.

 

[Ingvar]

Am I the only one not close to sold on Stamkos as a center? For a guy that made his name as a goal scoring winger, and has had negative defensive metrics his whole career, I'm really suspicious of paying him and playing him as a no.1 center.

Anyone watch TB enough recently to chime in?

He's the closest to 1C we'll ever get outside of lucking out in a draft. Pay him all he wants, deal with problems later. He'll be only 33 at the end of his contract, he'll still be useful in some role. Look at contract of Rick Nash for comparison.

 

[Bench]

He's the closest to 1C we'll ever get outside of lucking out in a draft. Pay him all he wants, deal with problems later. He'll be only 33 at the end of his contract, he'll still be useful in some role. Look at contract of Rick Nash for comparison.

Absolutely. The easy part is justifying the contract. The hard part is convincing the hottest free agent in years that Detroit should be his new home for lion's share of his remaining career.

But if his agent starts looking to put ink on paper?

 

[Reddwit]

That he isn't worth the money he's going to get.

This thread will be a nice bump when he ends up with a boat anchor contract.

With a boat anchor of a contract that will....make us uncompetitive? Just like signing some junk like Staal to replace Datsyuk will? Or doing nothing at all will?

 

[Marky9er]

No reason to trade for an pending UFA rights as the league now allows teams to talk to UFA's the week prior to July 1st. This makes understandable the deals that are announced at 12:01 AM E.T..

There's still 2-3 weeks before that week before July 1st, though. That's a reason not to wait for an equal playing field.

 

[Heaton]

Signing a big FA would be a bad idea for Detroit. Upgrading the salary cap for Detroit long term creates money problems going forward.

Stamkos to Detroit creates even more cap space problems.

Radulov might make a winger traded for defense, but then again, Radulov might bug out.

Don't go big money.

Nope, the big problem was Holland signing mediocre players to money for long periods of time. In the salary cap world, you sign the elite players long term and the role players for short term. Holland ****ed up the contracts for guys like Abdelkader, Howard, and Ericsson. Had he not done that, the scary idea of signing Stamkos is out the door. Holland should focus on moving all of those contracts and sign the players who have proven they're worth the term... like 40+ goal scorers in a league where maybe 4 players hit 40+ goals a year.

 

[HisNoodliness]

Am I the only one not close to sold on Stamkos as a center? For a guy that made his name as a goal scoring winger, and has had negative defensive metrics his whole career, I'm really suspicious of paying him and playing him as a no.1 center.

Anyone watch TB enough recently to chime in?

I watch 70+ Tampa games a year plus playoffs as they're my number two team. Stammer's game honestly would fit better on a wing but for better or worse he's a center. He wants to be a center and is very unhappy whenever he is moved. Part of the reason he might leave Tampa is that Cooper seems to want to move him to wing and has done so at times. Stamkos then voices his discontent and is eventually moved back.

From a defensive standpoint I think Stammer is actually a little underrated. He doesn't have a ton of natural ability on the defensive end but he's very committed to that aspect of his center duties. He is occasionally caught out of position or beat by a forward but he's giving 110% in his own end.

I'm also not sold on Stamkos, however I don't question his center ability but instead that he's a franchise player. Before the broken leg he was arguably the best player in the league. He deserved to be in the Crosby-Ovie conversation much more than he was and I think he'd have picked up a couple of Hart trophies if he played on an original six team or up north.

His shot was lethal and he did an incredible job streaking down the ice with the puck to let loose. When He picked it up in his own zone and had a bit of space in front of him he'd look like He was fired out of a cannon, blow past the defense and rip a wrist shot across the goal top shelf. He looked unstoppable doing this. He was also so good at roaming the offensive zone to find open space for his one timer. His ability to cycle and pivot at high speeds was very impressive. He was a threat to score every single time he touched the puck.

Then he broke his leg and his game changed tremendously. He lost the speed that he's always used to beat defenders. His puck ability isn't good enough to beat opponents either (never has been really) so he can't be relied on to carry the puck...at all. Zone entries in particular are painful to watch. He either loses the puck or turns back before the blue line before passing it off to a teammate that's capable of entering the zone.

Luckily the classic Stammer one-timer from the circles remained mostly effective. Teams cover him well and he's lost some of his elusiveness and more of his shots are getting blocked. Still his slap shot finds its mark more often than not, is very hard and very fast. He releases it with almost no delay which is a huge key to his success IMO. Goalies really struggle to stop it even when they have enough time to get across.

This brings us to the blood clot though. The pre-blood clot, post-broken leg Stamkos is an elite player IMO.His shot is still so good to cover up his other deficiencies. Without the clot I think he'd be worth a 7×7 deal and I'd give him a 7×9 because the wings are starved for talent and you have to overpay for a star like this.

However this injury is very worrisome. He had a rib removed and has to change the form for his slap shot. He can't rely on his arms as much and has to pull some of his power from his upper back. It might work but if Stamkos's shot is ten percent worse he his not going to be a good player to have. Also these clots have a tendency to be recurring especially in people who work out a lot which being a hockey player...Stammer does. Honestly signing Stamkos to a 7×9 deal is a risky gamble that's a bad idea IMO. Signing him to the 7×11 contract he wants is a terrible idea. If we get him (which according to the insiders is a very real possibility) I'll suck it up and hope that I'm wrong. I'd love to have 60 goal dominant Steven Stamkos on this team, but I expect to have a very different player out there.

 

[Bench]

There's still 2-3 weeks before that week before July 1st, though. That's a reason not to wait for an equal playing field.

I think Stamkos has a NMC for this season? So he'd have to agree to have his rights moved, I think.

 

[RedMachine87]

I watch 70+ Tampa games a year plus playoffs as they're my number two team. Stammer's game honestly would fit better on a wing but for better or worse he's a center. He wants to be a center and is very unhappy whenever he is moved. Part of the reason he might leave Tampa is that Cooper seems to want to move him to wing and has done so at times. Stamkos then voices his discontent and is eventually moved back.

From a defensive standpoint I think Stammer is actually a little underrated. He doesn't have a ton of natural ability on the defensive end but he's very committed to that aspect of his center duties. He is occasionally caught out of position or beat by a forward but he's giving 110% in his own end.

I'm also not sold on Stamkos, however I don't question his center ability but instead that he's a franchise player. Before the broken leg he was arguably the best player in the league. He deserved to be in the Crosby-Ovie conversation much more than he was and I think he'd have picked up a couple of Hart trophies if he played on an original six team or up north.

His shot was lethal and he did an incredible job streaking down the ice with the puck to let loose. When He picked it up in his own zone and had a bit of space in front of him he'd look like He was fired out of a cannon, blow past the defense and rip a wrist shot across the goal top shelf. He looked unstoppable doing this. He was also so good at roaming the offensive zone to find open space for his one timer. His ability to cycle and pivot at high speeds was very impressive. He was a threat to score every single time he touched the puck.

Then he broke his leg and his game changed tremendously. He lost the speed that he's always used to beat defenders. His puck ability isn't good enough to beat opponents either (never has been really) so he can't be relied on to carry the puck...at all. Zone entries in particular are painful to watch. He either loses the puck or turns back before the blue line before passing it off to a teammate that's capable of entering the zone.

Luckily the classic Stammer one-timer from the circles remained mostly effective. Teams cover him well and he's lost some of his elusiveness and more of his shots are getting blocked. Still his slap shot finds its mark more often than not, is very hard and very fast. He releases it with almost no delay which is a huge key to his success IMO. Goalies really struggle to stop it even when they have enough time to get across.

This brings us to the blood clot though. The pre-blood clot, post-broken leg Stamkos is an elite player IMO.His shot is still so good to cover up his other deficiencies. Without the clot I think he'd be worth a 7×7 deal and I'd give him a 7×9 because the wings are starved for talent and you have to overpay for a star like this.

However this injury is very worrisome. He had a rib removed and has to change the form for his slap shot. He can't rely on his arms as much and has to pull some of his power from his upper back. It might work but if Stamkos's shot is ten percent worse he his not going to be a good player to have. Also these clots have a tendency to be recurring especially in people who work out a lot which being a hockey player...Stammer does. Honestly signing Stamkos to a 7×9 deal is a risky gamble that's a bad idea IMO. Signing him to the 7×11 contract he wants is a terrible idea. If we get him (which according to the insiders is a very real possibility) I'll suck it up and hope that I'm wrong. I'd love to have 60 goal dominant Steven Stamkos on this team, but I expect to have a very different player out there.

Good post. This is my primary concern with signing Stamkos. I'd be curious if anyone has additional information or links to articles regarding his injuries and their likely impact on his future. Or a doctor with knowledge of the subject / his particular injuries. If they're believed to be something he could eventually recover from then it changes everything. He might return to elite form. If not, a max contract at market prices is very risky.

 

[Marky9er]

I think Stamkos has a NMC for this season? So he'd have to agree to have his rights moved, I think.

I was talking about Demers, but I'm not sure if any clauses for any free agent. Stamkos is much more unlikely for that scenario considering division, though.

 

[newfy]

Do not want Stamkos. Or Radulov for that matter.

Signing a big contract player for the money he will want is a bad move.

My targets for UFA:

Matt Martin
Brian Campbell
Jason Demers

Theres not much anyone can say to convince me signing a 26 year old, thats a top goal scorer in the league and has scored 60 goals without giving up assets is a bad move. I agree that I would love Matt Martin though. Him and Abdelkader in a physical playoff series would be a huge boost.

Who are these players that the wings need to save Stammers moey for? I would rather have one stud instead of 3 depth guys and Stammer is exactly that, a stud. A lot of wings fans took your exact position when it came down to a choice between Hossa, or Hudler, Franzen and Samuelsson (I think Sammy was the third). Is there anyone that would actually rather have those three than Hossa right now?

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

Theres not much anyone can say to convince me signing a 26 year old, thats a top goal scorer in the league and has scored 60 goals without giving up assets is a bad move. I agree that I would love Matt Martin though. Him and Abdelkader in a physical playoff series would be a huge boost.

Who are these players that the wings need to save Stammers moey for? I would rather have one stud instead of 3 depth guys and Stammer is exactly that, a stud. A lot of wings fans took your exact position when it came down to a choice between Hossa, or Hudler, Franzen and Samuelsson (I think Sammy was the third). Is there anyone that would actually rather have those three than Hossa right now?

THIS

the Wings WILL NOT have anyone worthy of stamkos level money anytime in the next 5 or 6 years and if by chance we do then well fantastic we hit the jackpot and we will do what other teams do and make room

but hoping for a fairy princess one day isnt the best way to run a franchise

 

[The Zermanator]

That he isn't worth the money he's going to get.

This thread will be a nice bump when he ends up with a boat anchor contract.

And I'm sure Chicago fans are just crying into their Cheerios every morning at Toews' contract, and he barely cracks 70 pts in a good year. Give me a break, Stamkos would be our best player by far, and likely for the duration of this 'boat anchor' contract.