UFA Flea Market, Bargain Basement

[Chainshot]

So the RFA qualifying thread had me thinking about what the best low-cost options are for depth adds this summer. DBTB did me one better by writing up an article today on defenseman UFA, touching on the possible best bargain find out there: San Jose RHD Tim Heed who could be a quality add, especially if they open up a spot on right defense.

I was looking for replacement to the possible departing Group 6 UFA guys like O'Regan and Leier who also could have a little use in the NHL up front. A few Knights come up when looking: Daniel Carr and Brandon Pirri both have filled in decently for Vegas this past season and do work as part of the Wolves' AHL roster. Potential 4th line depth add Ryan Carpenter should be do a raise on last year's $650,000 but should be an NHL roster add, not necessarily a tweener 14/15 player. Another possible value add would be Group VI local boy Andrew Poturalski, who didn't contribute to the Canes directly but tore up the AHL for the Checkers.

Another guy who I'd kick the tires on looking for cheap filler is Jet spare Par Lindholm. He got buried in d-zone starts 70% of the time this year, split between Toronto and Winnipeg. And despite that, he was okay as a defensive player.

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[SnuggaRUDE]

Buffalo’s filler was uninspiring but generally game last season.

They need a second line. I don’t see that being scrapped from the bottom of a barrel.

 

[Jame]

Par Lindholm... he who garnered a better trade return than Nathan Beaulieu ... from the same team

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

Fedun would be better than Hunwick as a 7/8.

 

[Fjordy]

I like the option with Tim Heed, and in general all these options look quite interesting.

 

[sba]

 

[Chainshot]

Buffalo’s filler was uninspiring but generally game last season.

They need a second line. I don’t see that being scrapped from the bottom of a barrel.

That wasn’t what I was implying. The idea is that they have group VI UFA’s like Leier and O’Regan to replace at the AHL level with an eye for some recall duty. And this doesn’t preclude looking for other talent, this is just an exercise and trying to find inexpensive options for the 12/13/14 forwards. We can talk about more than one thing at one time.

 

[Icicle]

O’Regan wasn’t given a fair chance. He has ‘it’ and should be kept around if they can entice him to.

 

[Zip15]

Par Lindholm... he who garnered a better trade return than Nathan Beaulieu ... from the same team

I went to a Jets/Avs game in Denver in early-April. One guy kept making plays every time he was on the ice during the first two periods. I had no idea who it was based solely on his number. I looked him up and it was Lindholm.

 

[Royal Thunder]

Some names I might throw into the mix...

Hathaway, Gibbons, Smith-Pelley, Paajarvi, Lovejoy, Lindberg, Gunnarsson, Krueger. Tanev and Nemeth are very intriguing to me as well but I don't consider them bargain bin guys.

 

[DJN21]

Some names I might throw into the mix...

Hathaway, Gibbons, Smith-Pelley, Paajarvi, Lovejoy, Lindberg, Gunnarsson, Krueger. Tanev and Nemeth are very intriguing to me as well but I don't consider them bargain bin guys.

I'm all for adding Hathaway. He reminds me a lot of Cody McCormick albeit not a center.

 

[Chainshot]

Some names I might throw into the mix...

Hathaway, Gibbons, Smith-Pelley, Paajarvi, Lovejoy, Lindberg, Gunnarsson, Krueger. Tanev and Nemeth are very intriguing to me as well but I don't consider them bargain bin guys.

I've looked at a few of those:

Hathaway had a productive scoring season and his underlying metrics aren't all that good.

Smith-Pelley's underlying metrics are really bad, even across his time with the Caps. As a regular player, stay away.

Lovejoy has been tossed around a bit previously, but again, he was over $2.5M this year and he's now 35, unlike 31 when he had a coming out with the Pens as a shutdown guy. Interested, but perhaps scared.

Kruger I didn't include because his salary last season and I think he'll get a payday from a team that appreciates what he can do in the same way Tanev and Nemeth will.

Paajarvi though... oooooh, that's some interesting use and he was pretty good at suppressing shots. Nice find.

Gunnarsson is like Lovejoy in a way, coming off nearly $3M per and over 30. I don't think of that as a possible bargain at this point. Regular pickup though, roster thread material certainly.

 

[wunderpanda]

Jamie McGinn should be cheap & got along with Jack before. Not really a fan of McGinn but something about him worked with Jack's style. Getting Jack a cheap wingman would create options for other lines.

Ben Lovejoy may be old and slow but that means cheap & short term (and all we really need is somebody to fill in when Bogo gets injured and/or traded at deadline)
-or-
Luke Schenn is less old, but could be a handy, cheap RHD for 3rd pair after Bogo gets injured & traded and through Borgen's ELC deal.

Not worried about adding a puck mover, focused on a right shooting crease clearer & shot blocker.

I'd like Haley personally. Won't pretend he is an energy guy or a pest and will concede he will take 100 minutes in penalties but he gives the other team something to think about. Jack & Skinner are polar opposites of Haley, coach can play chess with line matching. Where do you put the grinders, are they bodyguards, are they playing shutdown, burn them on resisting Haley & Jack faces fluffy-soft opposition.

Nathan Walker, the Australian guy. Open up the Australia merch market, send guys down for the koalapuck season (runs during our summer), purely business & a 13th forward to (potentially) replace the Zemgus/Latvia market.

If Larry & Zemgus are gone, Letetsu or Hendricks for that 4C/PK role.

 

[Jame]

Kenny Agostino

 

[jcbeze]

If Skinner walks, this will be the most active thread on our forum....

 

[Zip15]

Chain brought him up in the OP, but Poturalski would be a nice add. He'll be a UFA and I think he can be had for <$1MM if he's given a one-way deal. He could be the type of "found money" acquisition this team needs. And he's a Williamsville native, so if the Sabres come knocking with a one-way deal, they may be tough to beat - it's rare that we can say that, but it may actually be true in this case.

I'd offer him a 1yr/$800k one-way contract. If he works out, great. If he can't hack it in the NHL, he's an expensive AHL luxury.

 

[Weltschmerz]

Tyler Ennis anyone?

 

[Buffaloed]

Jordan Nolan
Chris Thorburn
Forget that nonsense about ROR leading the Blues resurgence. It's the plumbers like Thorborn and Nolan.

 

[DJN21]

Jamie McGinn should be cheap & got along with Jack before. Not really a fan of McGinn but something about him worked with Jack's style. Getting Jack a cheap wingman would create options for other lines.

Ben Lovejoy may be old and slow but that means cheap & short term (and all we really need is somebody to fill in when Bogo gets injured and/or traded at deadline)
-or-
Luke Schenn is less old, but could be a handy, cheap RHD for 3rd pair after Bogo gets injured & traded and through Borgen's ELC deal.

Not worried about adding a puck mover, focused on a right shooting crease clearer & shot blocker.

I'd like Haley personally. Won't pretend he is an energy guy or a pest and will concede he will take 100 minutes in penalties but he gives the other team something to think about. Jack & Skinner are polar opposites of Haley, coach can play chess with line matching. Where do you put the grinders, are they bodyguards, are they playing shutdown, burn them on resisting Haley & Jack faces fluffy-soft opposition.

Nathan Walker, the Australian guy. Open up the Australia merch market, send guys down for the koalapuck season (runs during our summer), purely business & a 13th forward to (potentially) replace the Zemgus/Latvia market.

If Larry & Zemgus are gone, Letetsu or Hendricks for that 4C/PK role.

Just sign Hathaway and leave Haley behind, at least he can play a normal shift. (not that id be opposed to watching haley punch lots of faces for us)

 

[Chainshot]

Tyler Ennis anyone?

Hmmmm... maybe. Perhaps if the deal is cheap enough and he isn't a complete suck defensively (tall order).

Jamie McGinn should be cheap & got along with Jack before. Not really a fan of McGinn but something about him worked with Jack's style. Getting Jack a cheap wingman would create options for other lines.

I'd rather they shoot hire than McGinn for Jack's wing. McGinn might be cheap and he was certainly well liked by some members of the press as well as being a good teammate, but he still has a wonky back and is on the wrong side of 30. And he's a pretty crap player in his own zone, which seems like a need if Eichel and Skinner are going to be paired together again as a RW option.

Ben Lovejoy may be old and slow but that means cheap & short term (and all we really need is somebody to fill in when Bogo gets injured and/or traded at deadline)
-or-
Luke Schenn is less old, but could be a handy, cheap RHD for 3rd pair after Bogo gets injured & traded and through Borgen's ELC deal.

Not worried about adding a puck mover, focused on a right shooting crease clearer & shot blocker.

Lovejoy maybe, Schenn no. Ben's over 35 and in terms of a value deal, is he taking less than his $2.667M this year to be a 6/7? Schenn seems like he is now too slow for the current meta.

I'd like Haley personally. Won't pretend he is an energy guy or a pest and will concede he will take 100 minutes in penalties but he gives the other team something to think about. Jack & Skinner are polar opposites of Haley, coach can play chess with line matching. Where do you put the grinders, are they bodyguards, are they playing shutdown, burn them on resisting Haley & Jack faces fluffy-soft opposition.

It feels like enforcer roleplayers are a thing of the past.

Nathan Walker, the Australian guy. Open up the Australia merch market, send guys down for the koalapuck season (runs during our summer), purely business & a 13th forward to (potentially) replace the Zemgus/Latvia market.

Interesting reasoning. His season with the Bears was kind of ho hum.

If Larry & Zemgus are gone, Letetsu or Hendricks for that 4C/PK role.

Letestu seems like he's done as an NHLer, but maybe in the Porter role. Certainly not as a top-9 minutes guy on an NHL club though. Matt Hendricks is going to be 38 and didn't make it into 30 games this year. Since Larry plays more than just 4th line minutes, again, it seems like neither of those guys would be up to the task.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Some names I might throw into the mix...

Hathaway, Gibbons, Smith-Pelley, Paajarvi, Lovejoy, Lindberg, Gunnarsson, Krueger. Tanev and Nemeth are very intriguing to me as well but I don't consider them bargain bin guys.

If you are frustrated by Risto, you will have an aneurism over Nemeth. Physical but throws the puck around blindly.

I'll take Gunnarsson instead.

 

[wunderpanda]

Hmmmm... maybe. Perhaps if the deal is cheap enough and he isn't a complete suck defensively (tall order).



I'd rather they shoot hire than McGinn for Jack's wing. McGinn might be cheap and he was certainly well liked by some members of the press as well as being a good teammate, but he still has a wonky back and is on the wrong side of 30. And he's a pretty crap player in his own zone, which seems like a need if Eichel and Skinner are going to be paired together again as a RW option.

True. Just thinking of bargain basement players & the possibility Botts is in his final year as GM. McGinn is damaged goods, but could help Jack just by being positive in the locker room as Botts trades off expiring contracts.

Lovejoy maybe, Schenn no. Ben's over 35 and in terms of a value deal, is he taking less than his $2.667M this year to be a 6/7? Schenn seems like he is now too slow for the current meta.

Was thinking Lovejoy at 2m for the season & Schenn at league minimum for 2 or 3 seasons. True Schenn is slow & Ben is old, but the right partner and usage could mitigate that. Like tetherball, they would be the pole for the partner that zooms around.

It feels like enforcer roleplayers are a thing of the past.

Yes, but antagonists are useful. He can get under the skin of Tkachuk, Evander, Subban & other emotional star players. He can punch Bruins in the face too.

Interesting reasoning. His season with the Bears was kind of ho hum.

If his 9,000 twitter followers each buy a Walker jersey it would cover his contract

Letestu seems like he's done as an NHLer, but maybe in the Porter role. Certainly not as a top-9 minutes guy on an NHL club though. Matt Hendricks is going to be 38 and didn't make it into 30 games this year. Since Larry plays more than just 4th line minutes, again, it seems like neither of those guys would be up to the task.

Agreed about the top 9, was thinking 4th line-13th forward, injury replacement players. Even a bad Hendricks for 30 games seems better than miscasting Nylander to 4th line or the pressbox is all.

 

[Chainshot]

True. Just thinking of bargain basement players & the possibility Botts is in his final year as GM. McGinn is damaged goods, but could help Jack just by being positive in the locker room as Botts trades off expiring contracts.






Was thinking Lovejoy at 2m for the season & Schenn at league minimum for 2 or 3 seasons. True Schenn is slow & Ben is old, but the right partner and usage could mitigate that. Like tetherball, they would be the pole for the partner that zooms around.




Yes, but antagonists are useful. He can get under the skin of Tkachuk, Evander, Subban & other emotional star players. He can punch Bruins in the face too.





If his 9,000 twitter followers each buy a Walker jersey it would cover his contract




Agreed about the top 9, was thinking 4th line-13th forward, injury replacement players. Even a bad Hendricks for 30 games seems better than miscasting Nylander to 4th line or the pressbox is all.

Solid points. I particularly like the idea of someone to punch Bruins in the face.

 

[Chainshot]