Friedman: Players teams are watching to see if they get qualified: Kase, Bear, Gurianov, Kapanen, Strome, Wood, Zacha

[VanillaCoke]

Zacha or Kap will be a canuck

 

[Captain Mountain]

Wood has a 3.5m QO and is recovering from a hip injury. Certainly possible they walk away, tbh

People keep talking about the QO, but it sounds like the arbitration number teams are projecting is the bigger concern.

 

[Lays]

I remember when the Rangers didn’t want to qualify Buchnevich last season they traded him for Blais+2nd which in hindsight makes sense but we got roasted for it and still do. I’d be blown away if someone like Zacha doesn’t get qualified or even a pick in a trade.

The only guy I consider a keeper on this list however is Miles Wood. He’s a guy who if has a healthy season, can return a 1st round pick. Tampa loves guys like him and I would’ve expected them to go after him this past TDL if he were healthy

 

[TheHelmet]

I remember when the Rangers didn’t want to qualify Buchnevich last season they traded him for Blais+2nd which in hindsight makes sense but we got roasted for it and still do.

As you should
It was a brutal trade.

 

[Lays]

As you should
It was a brutal trade.

When you look at it with context it’s not. RFA’s don’t fetch huge returns. Especially average top 6 wingers, which is what Buchnevich was seen as

 

[kerrabria]

I hate being right... Such a waste of a top pick in a historic draft. Set us back years.

I distinctly remember Pierre saying that if anybody was going to have a better career than McDavid/Eichel, it would be Zacha lol

 

[hamzarocks]

I hate being right... Such a waste of a top pick in a historic draft. Set us back years.

Even if you guys had hit by taking Barzal/Meier/Rantanen for instance over zacha I don't see it making a bit difference for the devils.

Those guys come in and it results in the devils being a bit better but not greatly so. They lose hischier and drop to 4-8 range in 2017, which results in not a great improvement to the devils.

The devils needed to bottom out. They been an elite team since the mid 90s till 2012.

When your that good for so long and trading picks routinely the period after will be a lengthy rebuild.

We are seeing it with the Red wings now as well who after 20+ years of playoffs and elite play have been in a lengthy rebuild since 2017.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I distinctly remember Pierre saying that if anybody was going to have a better career than McDavid/Eichel, it would be Zacha lol

Oh Pierre... Dude was so obviously a tools but no toolbox guy. Could never process the play and react to new information once he got his feet moving.

 

[kerrabria]

Zacha can play both C and W at an NHL level, and he has a very diverse toolset. If he was on his second or third team, I could see the lack of interest, but give him a fresh start with better coaching, and he could be a very valuable bottom 6er at $3m AAV. Easily worth a mid-round pick.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Even if you guys had hit by taking Barzal/Meier/Rantanen for instance over zacha I don't see it making a bit difference for the devils.

Those guys come in and it results in the devils being a bit better but not greatly so. They lose hischier and drop to 4-8 range in 2017, which results in not a great improvement to the devils.

The devils needed to bottom out. They been an elite team since the mid 90s till 2012.

When your that good for so long and trading picks routinely the period after will be a lengthy rebuild.

We are seeing it with the Red wings now as well who after 20+ years of playoffs and elite play have been in a lengthy rebuild since 2017.

If we take Barzal we still draft Hischier, as he didn't even play until after Hischier was drafted. We probably don't get Hughes, but we wouldn't need him, and maybe could have drafted a guy like Knight or Boldy instead. And if we had Barzal - Hischier in the last few years, we are probably pretty competitive.

 

[MakoSlade]

Devils will certainly qualify both Wood and Zacha, makes zero sense for them not to

Absolutely. Cap isn't an issue for the Devils and both players have value. And Wood was so missed by the team last season...there will be high hopes for his return to form.

 

[hamzarocks]

If we take Barzal we still draft Hischier, as he didn't even play until after Hischier was drafted. We probably don't get Hughes, but we wouldn't need him, and maybe could have drafted a guy like Knight or Boldy instead. And if we had Barzal - Hischier in the last few years, we are probably pretty competitive.

Is barzal better than Hughes is right now?

Barzal makes it in 2018 where the devils get a big boost for sure

2019 though with hall injured most of the year they miss Hughes like you said but don't get an elite talent to replace

2020-2022

Barzal + Hishchier is good but not good enough to lift tbe devils to the playoffs as 2021 and 2022 Barzal and Hughes have been simular in production.

2020 Barzal was quite a bit better as Hughes was a rookie who struggled in his first NHL year

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

That's fair i guess. If they really just want to clear space for prospects to push in. That's also dangerous though. Just penciling young guys in, sort of "gifting" them roster spots, rather than making them force somebody out.

And it still seems unlikely to me, that they wouldn't be able to find a market to just move someone like Zacha, even if for pennies. On pedigree alone, there would surely be teams worth trying for another "Sam Bennet redemption arc". The tools are obviously all there, if you can get the motivation and fit right. I know cap space is tight around the league, but not every team is going to land their "top UFA targets" for that last wedge of cap space. And there are too many teams looking for a big, skilled forward like that, to not find someone willing to try to get him on track.



If the Devils want to go out and make another big splash in UFA this year, sure...maybe it makes sense to just clear the decks of redundant players to make room. If they're confident they're going to land that target. But otherwise, if it's next year they're eying...it's not like you can "roll over" or "bank" that extra cap space this year to use for the next summer. So next summer should be pretty irrelevant to these sort of "arbitration fears".

Well kinda, sure they cant bank the cap but it's pretty unlikely that the "redundant" players will only take 1 year deals

 

[kerrabria]

If we take Barzal we still draft Hischier, as he didn't even play until after Hischier was drafted. We probably don't get Hughes, but we wouldn't need him, and maybe could have drafted a guy like Knight or Boldy instead. And if we had Barzal - Hischier in the last few years, we are probably pretty competitive.

Was going to be either Zacha and Barzal? Were Rantanen, Crouse, Connor, or a d-man not in the cards?

 

[biturbo19]

Well kinda, sure they cant bank the cap but it's pretty unlikely that the "redundant" players will only take 1 year deals

Some of them, maybe. But when it comes to a QO that we're talking about for guys like Zacha/Wood, that's a 1-year gig. Same with an arbitration award if desired. If you're still not happy with their salary/performance ratio next summer, and want to make a big splash then...you cut them loose for free at that point.

I just don't see the urgency to let them walk this summer, unless NJD really are gearing up for another Dougie deal, or Subban trade. This summer. Which i guess they very well could be. Though i don't know who that would be for.

Forsberg? Malkin? Letang? Bergeron? Giroux? Klingberg? That's pretty much it as far as "big fish" i can think of this summer, and a lot of them are very likely staying put with their previous teams. The offensive-oriented RHD also don't really make a ton of sense to me, given what they already put down on Hamilton.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Was going to be either Zacha and Barzal? Were Rantanen, Crouse, Connor, or a d-man not in the cards?

Barzal was my preference. I liked rantanen and Meier too. Who knows what Conte was thinking, but I think they were going for a C, so my guess is Barzal.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Is barzal better than Hughes is right now?

Barzal makes it in 2018 where the devils get a big boost for sure

2019 though with hall injured most of the year they miss Hughes like you said but don't get an elite talent to replace

2020-2022

Barzal + Hishchier is good but not good enough to lift tbe devils to the playoffs as 2021 and 2022 Barzal and Hughes have been simular in production.

2020 Barzal was quite a bit better as Hughes was a rookie who struggled in his first NHL year

I think they're fairly comparable honestly, despite what this year's production would suggest. Devils were bottoming out anyways, I'd rather not get back to being at least semi competitive ASAP. It's not good for the organization's culture to have a bottoming out period for an extended period of time.

 

[SwedishFire]

Pretty sure all but Strome and Zacha gets qualified. Zacha probably gets qualified, because he is young. Owners often is very hard to GM in hindsight if they havnt qualified young players, no matter their abillity to reach their high potential is high or low. SO I see Zacha will be qualified but a trade would make most sense from what I get.

Strome, there is and interresting case. He now is what he is, and the question is if he is useful enough IF a player of his caliber already has been dumped, hes value is not that high. If I was Strome, I would go for a 2 -3 million dollar contract MAX. He is a one dimensional third liner.

 

[PettersonHughes]

Canes fans, regarding Bear is there a reason why he was a healthy scratch during the playoffs?
Stat line wise, he looked solid enough. What would be the ask to move him?

 

[GirardSpinorama]

I wouldn't mind Avs going for zacha, feels like another burakovsky that we can at least use in the regular season.

 

[spockBokk]

Canes fans, regarding Bear is there a reason why he was a healthy scratch during the playoffs?
Stat line wise, he looked solid enough. What would be the ask to move him?

He had surgery on a foot at the end of the regular season, was on crutches still just days ago.

 

[Puckclektr]

Zacha is a product of not living up to his potential. I'm assuming his QO is around $3M. There is no reason not too. Does he struggle a little. Yes.
Lets not forget he led the team in Goals, GPG Points and PPG last year and was on pace for 60 points.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

Zacha is a product of not living up to his potential. I'm assuming his QO is around $3M. There is no reason not too. Does he struggle a little. Yes.
Lets not forget he led the team in Goals, GPG Points and PPG last year and was on pace for 60 points.

he had 17 goals in 50 games last year. Its nothing to write home about.

Its time to cut the dead weight and he is #1 on that list

 

[BKarchitect]

Don’t feel like any of these names are all that shocking. Not that they aren’t or can’t be good players in the right situation. But injuries, lack of fit or signs of stagnation on their current teams combined with QO’s that GMs think can be money best spent elsewhere - in todays analytically driven world with a cap that is just now starting to creep upwards - there isn’t a lot of wiggle room to play footsie with some theoretical upside or performance level that hasn’t materialized.

In a few cases - one man’s trash can be another man’s treasure but more often it is space that can be targeted in better ways. GMs want to enter the off-season with as much flexibility as possible.

 

[StreetHawk]

People keep talking about the QO, but it sounds like the arbitration number teams are projecting is the bigger concern.

Arbitration is a big deal. Teams can pull comps and have a rough idea of what an arbitrator would award. And from there decide if that is too much for the player.

QO with the new rules is less of an issue today.