Speculation: Trade Ideas & Free Agency IV

[Avder]

Letting:
Andrew Brunette
Owen Nolan
Antii Miettinen
John Madden
Chuck Kobasew

I'd like to know how you realistically get value out of those guys if you're the GM. Bruno was at the end of his career. Nolan went on to play a year in Switzerland before retiring. Mittens couldn't hit a net at point blank range and went to play in Europe before ending up being snagged by the Jets off re-entry waivers pretty much because he was a free body. Madden was also at the end of his career to be realistic. And Kobasew? He had 30 points in 105 games with us. Not a whole lot of value there.

 

[vitogor]

Clearly, Chuck Fletcher has cost us many, many Cups. Someone double check my math, but this deadline alone has cost us:

2 [nd round pick] + 2 [nd round pick] + 4 [th round pick] = 8 Stanley Cups

 

[TZM]

Clearly, Chuck Fletcher has cost us many, many Cups. Someone double check my math, but this deadline alone has cost us:

2 [nd round pick] + 2 [nd round pick] + 4 [th round pick] = 224 Stanley Cups

You're no good at math.

 

[Kari Takko]

Brad Staubitz
for
5th round pick

Craig Weller
2nd pick
Alexander Fallstrom
for
Chuck Kobasew

Kim Johnsson
Nick Leddy
for
Cam Barker

Jeff Penner
rights to Mikko Lehtonen
for
Anton Khudobin

Darroll Powe
for 3rd round pick

The Burns trade is up in the air, it looks like a win/win for both teams as long as Coyle and Phillips continue to develop.

As for signings:
Torrey Mitchell
Martin Havlat
Niklas Backstrom (extension)
Eric Nystrom
Zenon Konopka

Look bad. There are some others as well, but most noticeably.

Letting:
Andrew Brunette
Owen Nolan
Antii Miettinen
John Madden
Chuck Kobasew

All walk for nothing.

Is he a bad GM? No. Is he a great GM? No.

He's a good transition GM that makes okay moves. He set this team up in a weird direction (more like no direction) and we're still trying to iron out a few things.

On the flip... and this is off the top of my head

Brodziak for a 4th

Lattendresse for Pouliot

Havlat for Heater (Havlat + Mitchell deals free up almost $7mil this summer)

Pominville for Zadorov/2nd/larsson/hackett...Pominville extension

Nino for RFA Clutterbuck and a 3rd

Matt Moulson/McCormick for 2 2nds and Torrey Freakin Mitchell

Signing Parise and Suter!!!!




I'm sure there are more good trades and signings, but again, this is off the top of my head. Take a look at the last 4 deals he's made. Backup goalie, which was a necessity. He added offensive depth through 3 lines, and he acquired a potential all star talent for a song.

 

[MuckOG]

On the flip... and this is off the top of my head

Brodziak for a 4th

Lattendresse for Pouliot

Havlat for Heater (Havlat + Mitchell deals free up almost $7mil this summer)

Pominville for Zadorov/2nd/larsson/hackett...Pominville extension

Nino for RFA Clutterbuck and a 3rd

Matt Moulson/McCormick for 2 2nds and Torrey Freakin Mitchell

Signing Parise and Suter!!!!




I'm sure there are more good trades and signings, but again, this is off the top of my head. Take a look at the last 4 deals he's made. Backup goalie, which was a necessity. He added offensive depth through 3 lines, and he acquired a potential all star talent for a song.

Here's a few more:

- Getting Spurgeon for nothing.
- Getting Fontaine for nothing.
- Getting Prosser for nothing.
- Drafting Kuemper in the 6th round.
- Drafting Haula in the 7th round.

 

[TZM]

Fletcher has a + record, IMO.

 

[Foxlockbox]

Here's a few more:

- Getting Spurgeon for nothing.
- Getting Fontaine for nothing.
- Getting Prosser for nothing.
- Drafting Kuemper in the 6th round.
- Drafting Haula in the 7th round.

Haula was drafted under previous reign if I'm not mistaken.

 

[mnwildgophers]

Haula was drafted under previous reign if I'm not mistaken.

Haula was drafted in 2009, Fletcher's first draft. He acquired the 7th round pick from dropping back from 12th overall to 16th overall. He got a 3rd also in that trade which ended up being Matt Hackett.

 

[MuckOG]

Haula was drafted under previous reign if I'm not mistaken.

2009 was Fletcher's first draft, so Haula was drafted under Chuck.. Albeit Tommy Thompson was still around.

 

[DANOZ28]

I'd like to know how you realistically get value out of those guys if you're the GM. Bruno was at the end of his career. Nolan went on to play a year in Switzerland before retiring. Mittens couldn't hit a net at point blank range and went to play in Europe before ending up being snagged by the Jets off re-entry waivers pretty much because he was a free body. Madden was also at the end of his career to be realistic. And Kobasew? He had 30 points in 105 games with us. Not a whole lot of value there.

avder, there was trade deadline interest in some of those players, example credible sources said nuckers wanted madden for their 2nd #60 pick, i have a article quoting CF saying we dont just trade our players for picks. my responce why not?

 

[rynryn]

weren't the playoffs within reach at the deadline? other teams wanted those guys at rentals for their playoff push; we wanted to keep them for the same reason. can't just look at it with hindsight.

 

[DANOZ28]

weren't the playoffs within reach at the deadline? other teams wanted those guys at rentals for their playoff push; we wanted to keep them for the same reason. can't just look at it with hindsight.

and my responce to this ? has always been if you cant trade one player & still make the playoffs (as a bubble team) you werent good enough. we are talking about ufa who were going to walk in the summer. gm's should always have one eye on the future.

 

[Generic User]

and my responce to this ? has always been if you cant trade one player & still make the playoffs (as a bubble team) you werent good enough. we are talking about ufa who were going to walk in the summer. gm's should always have one eye on the future.

That's a pretty broad statement. Are you saying we should be able to trade away either our 1st line center or our 4th line grinder who is an oft-healthy scratch and if we're a good team the results should be the same?

And yes, GMs should always have their sights set on the future, but if they knew for a fact what was going to happen, 29 teams would be sellers. Players like Madden are very necessary in the playoffs anyways. Playoffs are rough and hard-hitting. Teams that win the Cup have deep lineups with gritty 3rd and 4th liners.

 

[Bazeek]

and my responce to this ? has always been if you cant trade one player & still make the playoffs (as a bubble team) you werent good enough. we are talking about ufa who were going to walk in the summer. gm's should always have one eye on the future.

Russo's latest blog about the Moulson trade has some quotes and tidbits from Fletcher, including...

But he felt he owed it to the players to kick some tires and try to improve the team and “reward†them for a job well done the past few months. He said it’s important to send messages in this business.

My guess is his reasoning at the time was that trading Madden was like telling the team "I have no faith that this team will go anywhere this year." Would it have been worth a pick? Debatable, but I'm not losing any sleep over it.

 

[MuckOG]

and my responce to this ? has always been if you cant trade one player & still make the playoffs (as a bubble team) you werent good enough. we are talking about ufa who were going to walk in the summer. gm's should always have one eye on the future.

Most playoff-bound teams are not sellers at the deadline. Besides, it sends a bad message to the team if you trade away a guy for picks as they are gearing up for a post season run. Shows that you as a GM don't have much confidence in them.

 

[DANOZ28]

Most playoff-bound teams are not sellers at the deadline. Besides, it sends a bad message to the team if you trade away a guy for picks as they are gearing up for a post season run. Shows that you as a GM don't have much confidence in them.

didnt dallas just trade somebody? arent they in a playoff hunt? not all gms think alike. ps dallas has won a cup , we haven't. just sayn.

 

[tomgilbertfan]

didnt dallas just trade somebody? arent they in a playoff hunt? not all gms think alike. ps dallas has won a cup , we haven't. just sayn.

Dallas won a cup under different management and that is in no way relevant.

 

[MuckOG]

didnt dallas just trade somebody? arent they in a playoff hunt? not all gms think alike. ps dallas has won a cup , we haven't. just sayn.

That's why I qualified my response with "most". The exceptions don't prove the rule. And the fact that Dallas won a Cup 20 years ago under different ownership/management lends no credibility to moves they are doing now.

 

[State of Hockey]

many Cups. Someone double check my math, but this deadline alone has cost us:

2 [nd round pick] + 2 [nd round pick] + 4 [th round pick] = 8 Stanley Cups

Hey, who knows. But clearly our weak prospect pool is taking more and more hits. We're looking at pretty dry years coming up. I thought that was why we wanted a change in management, but I guess those reasons changed. Subjectivity feels better than objectivity I guess. Win-now mode feels good as long you're in the playoffs.

Here's a few more:

- Drafting Kuemper in the 6th round.
- Drafting Haula in the 7th round.

Kuemper and Haula were drafted under TT and old DR gang. They did very well that year. Arguably the best draft year for the franchise considering the lack of high picks. It was reported that Fletcher had little to nothing to do with who was drafted. He just made the trades.

 

[DANOZ28]

Hey, who knows. But clearly our weak prospect pool is taking more and more hits. We're looking at pretty dry years coming up. I thought that was why we wanted a change in management, but I guess those reasons changed. Subjectivity feels better than objectivity I guess. Win-now mode feels good as long you're in the playoffs.




Kuemper and Haula were drafted under TT and old DR gang. They did very well that year. Arguably the best draft year for the franchise considering the lack of high picks. It was reported that Fletcher had little to nothing to do with who was drafted. He just made the trades.

was that the cuma draft yr? short list of guys i would have traded madden , harding (b4 ms) , theodore, i know there was one or 2 more i believe i could have landed a 2nd 4. just image how stocked our shelves would be w 4 more 2nds?

 

[Al Lagoon]

I'd like to know how you realistically get value out of those guys if you're the GM. Bruno was at the end of his career. Nolan went on to play a year in Switzerland before retiring. Mittens couldn't hit a net at point blank range and went to play in Europe before ending up being snagged by the Jets off re-entry waivers pretty much because he was a free body. Madden was also at the end of his career to be realistic. And Kobasew? He had 30 points in 105 games with us. Not a whole lot of value there.

Not the first time they let him go - he had 63, 83, and 59 points his 3 seasons with the Avs before coming back.

 

[Generic User]

was that the cuma draft yr? short list of guys i would have traded madden , harding (b4 ms) , theodore, i know there was one or 2 more i believe i could have landed a 2nd 4. just image how stocked our shelves would be w 4 more 2nds?

Cuma was 2008. And you don't get credit for saying what you would have done. The theme of this discussion seems to be hindsight. Obviously we now know what we would have/should have done. Now that we know that the playoffs didn't happen for us that year, Harding got diagnosed, Theo walked, etc., d'uh -- it would've been wise to trade them. This is in the same vein as "Oh I would've drafted <overachieving late bloomer> instead of who we drafted." Things become clearer over time and then the shoulda, coulda, woulda crowd comes out.

 

[MuckOG]

Kuemper and Haula were drafted under TT and old DR gang. They did very well that year. Arguably the best draft year for the franchise considering the lack of high picks. It was reported that Fletcher had little to nothing to do with who was drafted. He just made the trades.

Fletcher was the GM during that draft, and as you said, made the trades to get the picks that led to Haula getting picked. None of know (you included), how much say he had in who ultimately got selected.

 

[MuckOG]

was that the cuma draft yr? short list of guys i would have traded madden , harding (b4 ms) , theodore, i know there was one or 2 more i believe i could have landed a 2nd 4. just image how stocked our shelves would be w 4 more 2nds?

Dano, the Wild have more oganization depth now than they have had at any time...ever! Right now, there are no roster spots available at the NHL level for young guys to take. We have players like Jason Zucker in the minors because we have no room for another top 6 forward. Next year we will have players like Dumba (and possibly Oluffson, Gabriel and Lucia) filtering in to Iowa as well. We also have prospects playing college hockey like Gilmour, Draeger, Seeler, Labbe, Soucy, etc.

The days of having to call up a Warren Peters to replace Mikko Koivu on the first line are over. Fletcher has taken a barren cupboard and filled it up with a ton of prospects, most of whom are graduating to the NHL. Now, he is turning his focus on restocking those shelves. It's a continual process.

 

[tomgilbertfan]

"We found out, to our chagrin and surprise the other day, we had been told the cap was going to be $71 [million] and now with the Canadian dollar having tanked, that the cap could be as low as $68 [million]. That's a huge swing,"

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-nhl-trades-elliott-20140306,0,7143483.column#axzz2v5Vrg2m4