Should Pekka Rinne Be On The Trading Block

[glenngineer]

Maybe, but I have no clue what he would fetch. We'd lose that deal massively. Call me crazy but I think Rinne will bounce back, I believe in him.

Take a pick and ditch the salary. We're gonna lose no matter what we do. If we keep him this isn't going to get any better. If we trade him, value isn't going to be there for him but maybe someone takes a flier on him and takes on his bad contract. Poile was able to unload Mason and his contract. Maybe he can do the same with Rinne. If he doesn't that $7 million a season is going to be a boat anchor for this team unless Saros is a superhero and we can keep Rinne as a backup. That's the only way we don't get killed on the contract. That's the beauty of ELC's.

 

[Jarnberg]

Should he be? Maybe. He isn't playing every well at all. But what team is going to trade for Pekka and offer up anything of value to us? With his contract, it would be very hard to trade him unless we throw in picks and/or prospects.

You aren't going to get anything but super low ball offers for Pekka. I can't think of a lot of teams that would be willing to take on the project of figuring out what is wrong with him and being able to take on that cap hit. Goalies also do not have a ton of trade value. I actually don't even know if we would get low ball offers. We may not get any offers with that contract unless we take on a ton of salary the other way.

The best bet for the Predators is to find some competition for the #1 spot, rest Pekka and try to build back his confidence and get a new goalie coach. So many people are quick to throw out how losing Korn caused all this. I'm not buying it. Yes having Korn would in no question be way better than Vanderflusterkluck but the type of drop-off we're seeing from Pekka cannot be coaching alone. That being said, maybe a new goalie coach is an answer but not necessarily Korn. There are other teams who have good goaltending without Korn.

Pekka is a goalie that cheats on plays and challenges shooters and then relies on his freak athleticism to make highlight real saves. Pekka has had some bad injuries the last few years, the hip thing (which goalies do not recover well from) and his knee injury last year. I think his age and injuries have caught up with him and have caused him to not be able to make the saves he's used to making. Combine that with the pressure of needing to make saves when the team isn't scoring and his confidence and you have a recipe for disaster.

Perhaps a new goalie coach is needed to help Pekka adjust his game because it doesn't look like he'll be able to do what he used to be able to do. That doesn't mean Pekka got here because of Korn leaving, but it certainly has hurt a bit since the new coach & Pekka haven't been able to adjust.

Getting Pekka to adjust his game to play like Carey Price wouldn't be a bad thing IMO.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

I refuse to believe Pekka can't turn this around.

 

[nomorekids]

Absolutely no one would take that contract right now.

 

[LCPreds]

I don't think we would even get a bag of pucks at this point. Maybe a bag.

 

[Byrddog]

Absolutely no one would take that contract right now.

We would have to add pretty significant parts to get someone to take the contract. The only real option is to rebuild Rinnie's confidence. But to do that you need wins something for the last 6 weeks have been at a premium.

 

[Enoch]

We would have to salary retain based on his current play. You might find a GM who would take him on at full salary, but finding a team ready to win, needing a goalie, with 7 million in cap room ..... I can't think of many teams in that situation .... Like zero.

 

[SlapshotMe]

I'm not so sure he couldn't fetch something. I think there's plenty of teams in need of a goalie who would take the chance on this just being a cold streak. It's really only been the last few weeks.

 

[nomorekids]

I'm not so sure he couldn't fetch something. I think there's plenty of teams in need of a goalie who would take the chance on this just being a cold streak. It's really only been the last few weeks.

No, it's more like a full year than "the last few weeks." He was decent in the playoffs, really good at the start of this season, has been downright bad everything in between.

 

[Armourboy]

I still don't think you trade him, not yet anyways. The main reason is you aren't going to get anything out of it, and it may actually cost you. If you know it's physical and not just mental then you do what you can to mitigate it. If it's all mental, well then you get his melon fixed. If that means finding a new coach then you do it.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

I'm not so sure he couldn't fetch something. I think there's plenty of teams in need of a goalie who would take the chance on this just being a cold streak. It's really only been the last few weeks.

If he was making $4-5 million for another year or two, I agree he could probably get something as a team could think they could coach him up a little bit and get him back to what he was. At $7 million for 3 more years. I don't think teams would take that risk.

Of course we could retain on him but I don't see what the point of that would be since we still wouldn't get very much for him if we did.

 

[Paranoid Android]

No, it's more like a full year than "the last few weeks." He was decent in the playoffs, really good at the start of this season, has been downright bad everything in between.

I generally agree, but he also had a terrific World Championship for Finland

 

[adsfan]

I generally agree, but he also had a terrific World Championship for Finland

That gives me hope for the future!

Look at the potential replacements:

Hutton: I have no confidence in him as a #1. He looked better in the AHL.

Mazenec: Got off to a slow start this season, but recently caught fire. Was the #1 goalie in Milwaukee last season, but the team won 4 of the last 26 games after the offense just collapsed, all on one fateful day.

Saros: Probably #1 in Milwaukee right now, but young with no NHL experience. He should play in Milwaukee this season and play a few NHL games next season.

Goalie X: Who can you get from another NHL team?