Speculation: Trade & Free Agency Talk XXXIV

[AKL]

I don’t care if they trade Donato over Greenway because they decided Greenway is going to be the better player, but if they trade Donato over Greenway because Greenway is better in a bottom six PK role than Donato is, that’s idiotic. That would be like trading Zucker instead of Larsson in 2013 because Larsson was a better bottom 6 PKer.

You can find bottom 6 defensive players in free agency every year.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Lucky for him, the plan is to move a winger or two this summer.

Because Kaprizov is coming in and pushing either Fiala or Zucker down to the 3rd or 4th line. Or possibly both. They will need to at least trade two this summer if they want to have Kaprizov in the top 6.

There is as much potential for Donato to get top 9 or top 6 minutes as there is for Greenway.

Unless the Wild are going to roll 3 scoring lines (which would be interesting), I'd rather keep the traditional top 6 and then a checking line. Donato hasn't shown much in terms of playing defense to be a checking line winger. Greenway has shown to be a better top 9 winger than Donato, because he doesn't need to be sheltered.

There's a difference between being a better fit and being a better player. Considering your whole argument is that Greenway is a better fit, I would think you'd know that.

And Donato is a better fit, but that doesn't mean he isn't a better player than Greenway. As well, Greenway may be a better fit on the PK than PP.

Passable defense is all that's needed for a scoring left winger. I don't need Donato to play the PK, I need someone that can score.

And we'll have Kaprizov coming in for that, not to mention Parise, Zucker and Staal have all looked good this season and signed for another season. Not to mention Fiala has shown some flashes of offense. And fans are expecting big things for Kaprizov, so we'll need to move a winger or two to ensure Kaprizov gets the time in the top 6. So, unless you're assuming that Fiala is going to get demoted to the 3rd/4th line and we roll this:

Parise - Staal - Zuccs
Donato - Mittelstadt - Kaprizov
Fiala - Eriksson-Ek - Kunin
??? - Rask - Hartman

So, either Donato or Fiala are wasted on the 3rd line, unless they want to push Eriksson-Ek/Kunin to play more offense, which would be a waste of Ek's burgeoning talents.

 

[Bazeek]

I don’t care if they trade Donato over Greenway because they decided Greenway is going to be the better player, but if they trade Donato over Greenway because Greenway is better in a bottom six PK role than Donato is, that’s idiotic. That would be like trading Zucker instead of Larsson in 2013 because Larsson was a better bottom 6 PKer.

You can find bottom 6 defensive players in free agency every year.

I like Greenway's offensive potential just fine, but the Donato situation frustrates me as well. The most straightforward way to make room for him is to trade Zucker, but that's a pretty dicey bet when Zucker's been doing a good job of backing up the idea that last year's dip was mostly luck.

You never hope for injuries, but assuming we have a karmic quota to fill this year I wouldn't be heartbroken if a LW missed a week or two.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I don’t care if they trade Donato over Greenway because they decided Greenway is going to be the better player, but if they trade Donato over Greenway because Greenway is better in a bottom six PK role than Donato is, that’s idiotic. That would be like trading Zucker instead of Larsson in 2013 because Larsson was a better bottom 6 PKer.

Except, hockey isn't played exclusively on offense. We also had a better bottom 6 when Larsson was traded. Greenway's size and ability is also very intriguing. It'd be like trading Brodziak over Setoguchi, because Setoguchi is a better fit in the top 6.

You can find bottom 6 defensive players in free agency every year.

Again, why is it that the Wild top 6 has been relatively stable, but the bottom 6 has had almost new players every year and it isn't due to contract issues?

 

[AKL]

I like Greenway's offensive potential just fine, but the Donato situation frustrates me as well. The most straightforward way to make room for him is to trade Zucker, but that's a pretty dicey bet when Zucker's been doing a good job of backing up the idea that last year's dip was mostly luck.

You never hope for injuries, but assuming we have a karmic quota to fill this year I wouldn't be heartbroken if a LW missed a week or two.

I don’t believe Greenway has the offensive potential Donato does. Donato has been a better producer at virtually every level, including the NHL.

I’d be fine with trading Zucker and keeping both Donato and Greenway for certain reasons, but my entire point is that the idea that Greenway is on another level than Donato is ridiculous. The idea that we’re trading Donato because Greenway is a better fit in the bottom 6 and on the PK is ridiculous. Keep the player with the better offensive upside. They’re left wingers, I don’t care about defense.

 

[Bazeek]

I don’t believe Greenway has the offensive potential Donato does. Donato has been a better producer at virtually every level, including the NHL.

I’d be fine with trading Zucker and keeping both Donato and Greenway for certain reasons, but my entire point is that the idea that Greenway is on another level than Donato is ridiculous. The idea that we’re trading Donato because Greenway is a better fit in the bottom 6 and on the PK is ridiculous. Keep the player with the better offensive upside. They’re left wingers, I don’t care about defense.

I disagree with basically none of this.

Mostly I just want to see all of these guys get a fair shake at showing us (and potential trade partners) what they're capable of before decision time comes this summer. Looking at our top-9 winger options for next year...

Parise
Zuccarello
Zucker
Fiala
Kaprizov
Greenway
Kunin
Donato

I could blindly pick any 6 of those guys and be happy with the results, so there's no "wrong" answer in that respect. I just don't want to waste any opportunities.

 

[AKL]

I disagree with basically none of this.

Mostly I just want to see all of these guys get a fair shake at showing us (and potential trade partners) what they're capable of before decision time comes this summer. Looking at our top-9 winger options for next year...

Parise
Zuccarello
Zucker
Fiala
Kaprizov
Greenway
Kunin
Donato

I could blindly pick any 6 of those guys and be happy with the results, so there's no "wrong" answer in that respect. I just don't want to waste any opportunities.

Yeah, I get Boudreau thinking about putting the lineup out that he thinks is going to win, but at this point, Donato is going to get moved for nothing because he’s only playing 9 minutes per game. Then maybe he does go on to have a 60 point season with a team that actually gives him a chance to succeed.

Of course, when we were sucking, we should have been giving him an opportunity to play up. Now that Parise, Zucker, Fiala are all playing well and the team is winning, there’s probably no chance we see Donato outside of injuries. So you’re right. An injury to a winger or two probably wouldn’t be the worst thing in that regard. Get Kunin, Donato, Greenway and Zucker as much opportunity as possible to see which one is the best option to keep going forward.

 

[TaLoN]

And next year when Boudreau is gone

I don't think this is a given. I think a lot of the recent turnaround, BB should get some of the credit for getting these guys playing the way they should.

JMO

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I'm going to not hope for injuries to anyone.

 

[Bazeek]

I'm going to not hope for injuries to anyone.

I mean likewise, obviously. It's just an acknowledgement that that and trades are the only realistic opportunities that pop up mid-season.

 

[Hockeyfan200]

I mean likewise, obviously. It's just an acknowledgement that that and trades are the only realistic opportunities that pop up mid-season.

Wild are going to have to open up a place for Kaprizov and Alexander Barabanov, or Mikhail Grigorenko.

 

[2Pair]

Wild are going to have to open up a place for Kaprizov and Alexander Barabanov, or Mikhail Grigorenko.

What's the story on Barabanov?

 

[Bazeek]

Wild are going to have to open up a place for Kaprizov and Alexander Barabanov, or Mikhail Grigorenko.

Signing a guy that got 1/3 of his goals in the game you happened to attend seems rash. Especially since Kaprizov didn't sound all that nervous about moving to the NHL.

 

[TaLoN]

Wild are going to have to open up a place for Kaprizov and Alexander Barabanov, or Mikhail Grigorenko.

No reason to sign either of them.

 

[AKL]

Can we just sign the entire St Petersburg roster and dump everyone on our current roster for futures? Then maybe, finally, Kaprizov will be comfortable here.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Can we just sign the entire St Petersburg roster and dump everyone on our current roster for futures? Then maybe, finally, Kaprizov will be comfortable here.

SKA has a few Swedes/Americans I believe, so I think a mixture of SKA & CSKA Moscow would be best so we could get exclusively Russians to make Kaprizov feel comfortable

 

[DeagleJenkins]

Would alex galchenyuk be a worthy 2c? buried in pit right now, possibly could buy low on him and they are trying to trade him.

 

[Bazeek]

Would alex galchenyuk be a worthy 2c? buried in pit right now, possibly could buy low on him and they are trying to trade him.

Galchenyuk's one that I've been thinking about since Staal went down. If Staal's okay it's probably not worth considering, but for the sake of discussion...

Pros:
- Probably relatively cheap to acquire
- UFA this summer, so no long term commitments
- Has played center in the past, produced there, and claims to prefer playing there
- Good on the powerplay

Cons:
- Hasn't actually played center much the last few years
- If he doesn't work at center he'd just be exacerbating our LW "problem"
- Not very good 5v5

Buffalo seems to be interested and the names that have come up are guys like Miller and Sheary, which doesn't seem all that expensive. Hunt's having a good year, is pretty cheap and I think they need left-shot defensemen not named Jack Johnson...

If either Staal or Koivu was going to miss more than a few weeks it's not the worst option.

 

[DonatoisDaddy]

I said Galchenyuk a couple of weeks ago and got roasted because people didn't realize he still plays center.
Edit: And it was you Bazeek who disliked my suggestion... mind must have changed eh?

found it Speculation: - Trade & Free Agency Talk XXXIV

 

[Bazeek]

I said Galchenyuk a couple of weeks ago and got roasted because people didn't realize he still plays center.

I do stand corrected on his time in Arizona. He either spent a lot of time at center or took a lot of faceoffs for a winger.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I do stand corrected on his time in Arizona. He either spent a lot of time at center or took a lot of faceoffs for a winger.

Looks like Pittsburgh is using him as a wing. His 30 goal season seems so far ago too. Wonder what Pittsburgh would want for him? Zucker?

 

[DonatoisDaddy]

Looks like Pittsburgh is using him as a wing. His 30 goal season seems so far ago too. Wonder what Pittsburgh would want for him? Zucker?

Ok Zuck seems like a bit of an overpay to me, but I don't know

 

[Bazeek]

Looks like Pittsburgh is using him as a wing. His 30 goal season seems so far ago too. Wonder what Pittsburgh would want for him? Zucker?

Zucker is way too much.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Ok Zuck seems like a bit of an overpay to me, but I don't know

Yeah Zucker for Gal would be overpay, and Galy looks like everything else we have, so Fiala? Donato +?

 

[TaLoN]

Looks like Pittsburgh is using him as a wing. His 30 goal season seems so far ago too. Wonder what Pittsburgh would want for him? Zucker?

Pretty sure Zucker listed the Penguins on his no trade list since they tried getting him once already.