Speculation: Trade and Free Agency Talk XLIX

[Bazeek]

Agree with this 100%. Make an offer of Fiala, 2021 1st and Boldy and that's about it. No chance I include Rossi in the offer and if that's what it takes then I walk away from the table. I would rather see Guerin hang up the phone than gut this team.

I might be the only sicko on here that'd put Rossi in the offer before Boldy, but other than that I agree.

 

[Spurgeon]

I might be the only sicko on here that'd put Rossi in the offer before Boldy, but other than that I agree.

Nah. I’d prefer Boldy over Rossi at this point. Rossi has a lot of question marks & if Fiala is going the other way, we’ll need Boldy on the wing. An Eichel - Ek Top 6 would likely work just fine too.

Zucc - Eichel - Kap
Boldy - Ek - Greenway (?)

 

[grimmel95]

Nah. I’d prefer Boldy over Rossi at this point. Rossi has a lot of question marks & if Fiala is going the other way, we’ll need Boldy on the wing. An Eichel - Ek Top 6 would likely work just fine too.

Zucc - Eichel - Kap
Boldy - Ek - Greenway (?)

I legit think Rossi is going to be a borderline star player in this league and could be that top 6 center for us over the next 10 years. Only way I flip Rossi for Boldy is if Buffalo retains a portion of Eichel's contract (1-2 million).

 

[Spurgeon]

I legit think Rossi is going to be a borderline star player in this league and could be that top 6 center for us over the next 10 years. Only way I flip Rossi for Boldy is if Buffalo retains a portion of Eichel's contract (1-2 million).

You won’t be able to afford Rossi, Eichel, and Ek though if that’s the case.

 

[AKL]

Dreger and Guerin are right so I wonder if Guerin is trying to get Dregger to do this

What do you mean?

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

What do you mean?

I mean I wonder if Guerin is in Dreger to say this to try and downplay our interest

 

[grimmel95]

You won’t be able to afford Rossi, Eichel, and Ek though if that’s the case.

Marco is on his ELC through 2023-2024 so it's possible to bridge him and then give him a big contract after the 2024 season when all the dead cap falls off. Sure things will be tight but it's not impossible -- just look at TB on how they've dealt with the cap over the last couple of years (not talking about the playoffs where cap doesn't matter).

 

[57special]

I might be the only sicko on here that'd put Rossi in the offer before Boldy, but other than that I agree.

two of us. About the Rossi/Boldy choice, I mean.

You're on your own when it comes to the sicko business...I just don't know what you are into.

 

[HotDish]

Pens not protecting McCann. In the past I wanted the Wild to make a play for him. I think Seattle would take him or a Zucker. I wonder what a package would be to get McCann instead of losing him for nothing.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Who the hell is Friedman?

 

[AKL]

Who the hell is Friedman?

I don't know who he is, I had to look him up, but it sounds like Pettersson and Matheson have worn out their welcome/contracts, and Marino is exempt I believe. Not a lot to protect in Pittsburgh.

 

[HotDish]

Who the hell is Friedman?

I had to look him up too. AHL RD rfa that was with the flyers until this last year. Judging by cap friendly, they must be hoping Seattle takes on of their more expensive players.

 

[Webster]

Sounds like the Rangers are among the front runners on Eichel. It's interesting because he wouldn't even have to leave the state, but he would play a lot against the Sabres.

This would really make sense if Zibanejad agrees to a Wild deal

 

[Spurgeon]

Regarding Menell:

It’s believed he was hoping for either a two-year contract (two-way the first year with a lucrative minor-league salary, one-way in the second year) or a one-year, one-way contract.

I can’t believe that BG wouldn’t accept that 1st contract.

 

[AKL]

Sounds like the Rangers are among the front runners on Eichel. It's interesting because he wouldn't even have to leave the state, but he would play a lot against the Sabres.

Thank you for this brand new update.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I think people need to relax a bit about the RFA stuff. Even during the normal league calendar, a lot of RFA deals don't happen until August/September. Right now is the equivalent of mid-June.

 

[Spurgeon]

I think people need to relax a bit about the RFA stuff. Even during the normal league calendar, a lot of RFA deals don't happen until August/September. Right now is the equivalent of mid-June.

If this is regarding Menell, Russo followed up that with this:

It sounds like the Wild have made their final and best offer, so Menell may be in a position where he’ll either have to accept the contract, hope Seattle takes him in the expansion draft, hope the Wild trade his rights somewhere or return to Europe next season.

 

[Bazeek]

I think people need to relax a bit about the RFA stuff. Even during the normal league calendar, a lot of RFA deals don't happen until August/September. Right now is the equivalent of mid-June.

I think the only wrinkle is the degree to which those contracts affect their plans for next year and beyond. Still, they apparently had Kaprizov at a pretty high number for 8 years so that can only go down on a 4-5 year deal. And they sound pretty willing to ship Fiala out if they can't come to an agreement there, so maybe that doesn't matter too much either.

So yeah, agreed.

 

[Webster]

Thank you for this brand new update.

Keep reading my posts.

 

[kfan22]

down to 2.5 days for a trade for Eichel to happen, rest of today and next Thursday and Friday!

 

[RussosBurner]

I actually like the fact that Guerin isn’t beating around the bush with Buffalo. Put your best offer forward and if they decline, you move on. There are many other issues with the roster to focus on

 

[AKL]

So in Russo's latest podcast with Guerin, one of the listener questions is asking Guerin to describe this team next season in one sentence, and he says something to the effect of "the team will look different, and be very competitive."

My question is, ignoring the part about being competitive, because it's his job to say that, what about this team can possibly be that different? Obviously players like Bonino and Johansson probably won't be back, and Parise and Suter are gone, but what else would be coming? Just looking at forwards for now, the core really doesn't look terribly different as of yet.

Kaprizov-X-Zuccarello
Boldy-Ek-Fiala
Greenway-Hartman-Foligno
Rask-Sturm-Bjugstad

You still have all the usual suspects, with the lone addition of Boldy.
Presumably, Kaprizov, Zuccarello, Ek, Hartman, Foligno, Bjugstad, Sturm, Rask will all be here, that's no different.

Obviously the two names I left off are Fiala and Greenway, who are both important pieces in their own right, but they would also be the two most likely to be moved. I know Guerin knows something we don't, but I'm curious to what degree he's speaking to that either one or both of those guys WILL be gone.

It's one thing to say, yeah Fiala is available for the right price, we'll move him if the right player comes along, but when he says the team will look different, I wonder how much it means he's going to move Fiala regardless? Or if you open it up to the defense, maybe Dumba is moved regardless?

 

[Bazeek]

Haven't heard the radio spot, but I guess Friedman's backing up this Foligno Family Reunion idea.

 

[Minnesnota]

Haven't heard the radio spot, but I guess Friedman's backing up this Foligno Family Reunion idea.

All the reports said the Wild were interested at the deadline. I wouldn't care if it's a 1 or 2 year deal at his brother's money but I would like to stay away from adding some of these older guys if your goal is to lean on your youth. I'm sure N. Foligno is a great leader and locker room guy (I haven't heard anything different), but is he a necessity?

Feels like a luxury move a team like Tampa would make to replace someone like Gourde, not something Minnesota should make given their current outlook.

 

[Spurgeon]

Haven't heard the radio spot, but I guess Friedman's backing up this Foligno Family Reunion idea.

How the hell is Hyman a $6M player in a flat cap world?