Off-Season Thread: Free Agency & Trade Talk

[newfy]

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.

His boat anchor contract that will take him to the ripe old age of what, 32, 33? He'll probably retire after this contract at that age, pension will be topped up nicely

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

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?

Yeah, people here would. They are losing their minds about Zetterberg's deal and if Franzen didn't have the bad fortune to get concussions, people would have continued to go on about how crappy that deal was. There is no way that Hossa would be looked on favorably had he signed the deal instead of Franzen. People would be looking to castrate him just like we have obey doing for Zetterberg, 99% of the board for Franzen before he got taken out by Klinkhammer, the majority of the board for Kronner and Howard and Ericsson.

Particularly if we chose that way and Hossa was putting up 50 point seasons while Hudler was putting up 70 in Calgary.

 

[vladdy16]

Wow, Bench and Noodle, thanks a million. Great write ups, feel like I have a much better grasp of the situation now.

Can't say I'm any less concerned though.

 

[HisNoodliness]

Wow, Bench and Noodle, thanks a million. Great write ups, feel like I have a much better grasp of the situation now.

Can't say I'm any less concerned though.

Yeah Stammer is sure to be a polarizing figure until he steps on the ice again and we get to see exactly who he is.

Also no problem at all. I've watched the guy since he came into the league and I am happy to share my opinions on him especially because a lot is lost if you just stat watch the guy.

 

[Yemack]

Am not really familair with Stamko's game but Noodles's observation seems to somewhat match my vaguest idea of him, at least what I remember from last time I saw/scouted him. He is more of a finisher rather than someone who can be counted upon to solve the puzzle in the middle and in heavy traffic.

I really want Wings to be aggressive on elite talents but I'm not sure if Stammer is really what Wings need. Wings need someone who can make plays in tight space and win enough battles on his own. His lethal shot would be nice but at 9 million or whatever for 6, 7, 8 years.. a huge gamble for sure.

Im not saying Wings should stay the hell away from him. I'm just ambivalent about it. He will help the team no doubt though. He is an elite player with his shot alone. Who knows? maybe Stamkos and Larkin will hit it off really well?

 

[vladdy16]

imo the Wings need to get Larkin's growing pains at C over with asap.

 

[Dotter]

I'll do no more than 5x5 only if he converts to a winger. Anything more is just idiotic.

 

[Heaton]

I'll do no more than 5x5 only if he converts to a winger. Anything more is just idiotic.

You would offer Stamkos a 2.5m paycut and expect him to sign here? What's the point?

 

[Bench]

I'll do no more than 5x5 only if he converts to a winger. Anything more is just idiotic.

That's what Weiss got... so... ok.

 

[ricky0034]

think I misread that oops

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

I hate to be that guy but what's the point of signing Stamkos if you are going to keep rolling out such a terrible defense? I doubt the guy is going to excel on a team which basically lives off of broken plays.

If you sign Stamkos, you need to have a plan in place to add a piece to the defense.

 

[chances14]

I hate to be that guy but what's the point of signing Stamkos if you are going to keep rolling out such a terrible defense? I doubt the guy is going to excel on a team which basically lives off of broken plays.

If you sign Stamkos, you need to have a plan in place to add a piece to the defense.

with datsyuk leaving, wings need another elite center. signing stamkos doesn't mean you still can't upgrade the defense

plus i'm sure illitch wants a shiny new toy to market going into the new arena next year

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

I'll do no more than 5x5 only if he converts to a winger. Anything more is just idiotic.

Stamkos at 5M? Are you insane?

I don't care what you think he's worth. That's irrelevant. Stamkos has a 60 goal season and hasn't scored under 25 since his rookie year. I don't give a crap what metric you want to measure him by... you aren't signing him for $5M.

He is an elite talent and to refuse to give him more than $5M per year is the idiotic move. You don't have to want to give him 10M, but if you wouldn't sign Steven Stamkos to a 6M per deal for 7 years (till he's 33), you're not going to be a very good hockey team, because you're passing over a clear way to make your team a great deal better than it is right now.

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

with datsyuk leaving, wings need another elite center. signing stamkos doesn't mean you still can't upgrade the defense

plus i'm sure illitch wants a shiny new toy to market going into the new arena next year

I agree and hope we do sign Stamkos. I just don't think it's going to be nearly as impactful unless we find a way to retool the defense a bit more. It's just frustrating... I really hope we can just one more talented piece to the back end.

 

[Yemack]

Currently Wings will get about 10 million cap space by not re-signing Quincey, Helm, Miller, Richards. Obviously Wings need to fill in those spots with lesser contracts and DK and Mrazek are due for a sizable raise. This does not leave alot of room to acquire a player. Hence moving Datsyuk's contract is priority number 1 and I'd say trading Ericsson is a close 2nd. From what I've seen, Ericsson does not really work with Blashill's system unless this team goes back to multiple layer defence system from years prior. (at the cost of breakout speed) If we can move both contracts, then Wings have enough rooms to acquire a high level talents.

If Howard is traded as well, and I believe moving him will be easier than Datsyuk or Ericsson because Howard is still a pretty decent goalie, it gets more interesting. I just went over to Ducks offseason thread and it seems like they really are keen on moving someone from their D. Maybe if Wings sweeten the pot a bit more with a pick, it might work?

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Currently Wings will get about 10 million cap space by not re-signing Quincey, Helm, Miller, Richards. Obviously Wings need to fill in those spots with lesser contracts and DK and Mrazek are due for a sizable raise. This does not leave alot of room to acquire a player. Hence moving Datsyuk's contract is priority number 1 and I'd say trading Ericsson is a close 2nd. From what I've seen, Ericsson does not really work with Blashill's system unless this team goes back to multiple layer defence system from years prior. (at the cost of breakout speed) If we can move both contracts, then Wings have enough rooms to acquire a high level talents.

If Howard is traded as well, and I believe moving him will be easier than Datsyuk or Ericsson because Howard is still a pretty decent goalie, it gets more interesting. I just went over to Ducks offseason thread and it seems like they really are keen on moving someone from their D. Maybe if Wings sweeten the pot a bit more with a pick, it might work?

Ducks have absolutely zero interest on Howard. They'd be looking to trade a D if they were gonna make a move at all, so Ericsson is a no go. Datsyuk won't play cause he's retiring.

So, no. Without even touching on any value of players, Anaheim won't make a trade with us. Unless they only want draft picks.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

Ducks have absolutely zero interest on Howard. They'd be looking to trade a D if they were gonna make a move at all, so Ericsson is a no go. Datsyuk won't play cause he's retiring.

So, no. Without even touching on any value of players, Anaheim won't make a trade with us. Unless they only want draft picks.

the ducks would certainly be interested in a guy like tatar

unless someone is going to give up a top 10 draft pick this season for vatanen or fowler, the ducks want a player to hep them win now who also isnt expensive, tatar is a great fit

what has to be added to tatar is where the discussion starts

 

[Syckle78]

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.

That's nice, Chicago also has a defense and a hart trophy caliber player in Kane. This team is nowhere near contention and isn't in a position to pay a player through the nose for production he provided another team previously.

 

[Syckle78]

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?

Yes I'd rather do nothing at all and rebuild the team already. But hey let's overpay for a big name and embrace more mediocrity.

 

[The Zermanator]

That's nice, Chicago also has a defense and a hart trophy caliber player in Kane. This team is nowhere near contention and isn't in a position to pay a player through the nose for production he provided another team previously.

So you're expecting all these pieces to fall into place at once then? Maybe you add Stamkos, then add other good pieces as they become available? Then you might actually build a team.

I mean, a superstar is available, the amount of naysayers around here leaves me dumbfounded. And those who will say he's not a superstar anymore, well he's a star at his very worst. So he's had a couple 'down' seasons (where he scored way more than anyone on our roster is capable of)? Let's remember he's the same age as some of our 'prospects', to say that he's done or on an irreversible decline is just silly. I swear, the many years of conservative Holland have left some around here with some weird version of Stockholm Syndrome.

 

[Yemack]

So you're expecting all these pieces to fall into place at once then? Maybe you add Stamkos, then add other good pieces as they become available? Then you might actually build a team.

I mean, a superstar is available, the amount of naysayers around here leaves me dumbfounded. And those who will say he's not a superstar anymore, well he's a star at his very worst. So he's had a couple 'down' seasons (where he scored way more than anyone on our roster is capable of)? Let's remember he's the same age as some of our 'prospects', to say that he's done or on an irreversible decline is just silly. I swear, the many years of conservative Holland have left some around here with some weird version of Stockholm Syndrome.

I guess I will have to agree with you. The perfect guy will never show up as UFA, so it's kinda dumb waiting for such opportunity. And if such perfect player does show up, the bidding war is going to be crazy and chance of acquiring that player is slim. There is always a chance it will not pan out but you have to gamble to win anything big. I'd rather we go for elite talents and then worry about how to make it work when it doesn't.

 

[Ezekial]

Yes I'd rather do nothing at all and rebuild the team already. But hey let's overpay for a big name and embrace more mediocrity.

If only it were so easy.


Let's just rebuild now, suck 2-3 years and we'll be right back on top!

 

[taylorjonl]

I am not the hugest fan of going after Stamkos but the worse thing that could happen is we go after him, he leads us on, then after all the other UFAs sign, he signs somewhere else. It will be Sutter all over again...

If we don't have very high confidence we have an agreement before 7/1, we have to move on quickly.

 

[njx9]

I am not the hugest fan of going after Stamkos but the worse thing that could happen is we go after him, he leads us on, then after all the other UFAs sign, he signs somewhere else. It will be Sutter all over again...

If we don't have very high confidence we have an agreement before 7/1, we have to move on quickly.

I'm not as worried, because I don't think there are more than a couple of UFAs we should really be going for. Sounds like we're already talking to Radulov. Then what? Maybe Demers? Maybe Okposo? I'm not sure there are really all that many guys I'd be worried about missing out on, if Stamkos makes everyone wait a while. 'Worst' case, we sign no one and have to bring up some more bodies from GR. Better than panic-signing a guy like Staal.

 

[Frk It]

If no moves are made up front, I want Tatar-Larkin-Nyquist to be the first line next year.