Proposal: Which would you rather

[Chex LeMeneux]

Why should we overpay players to fit our obsolete PP scheme? Lids and Homer are gone. The coaching staff needs to move on and get creative or get out.

And I'm surprised so many are penciling in Dan Boyle. San Jose fans seem to want him back about as badly as this board wanted one more year of Rafalski.

The way I view it is, an offensive minded d-man who can man the point is a good weapon on just about any PP, no matter the scheme. The reason people are suggesting Boyle (and Zidlicky for that matter) is because whoever we bring in shouldn't block any of our young guys going forward. It'll take a few years before most of them will be ready anyways, so where is the harm? I personally am for getting Niskanen even if he asks for 3+ years as well, but that seems like a far less popular opinion.

 

[Avery Rule]

I think they get Thomas as back up, target Niskanen but end up with Boyle.
Not to sure forward wise, would like to see get Gaborik or Vanek, my gut feeling says Gaborik but would not be shocked if they get Heatley cheap for the bottom 6.

 

[NyquistIsMyGod*]

Have no idea what Niskanen would get around. Left off Gaborik because I forgot about him, and Vanek I see no realistic shot.

Jonas Gustavsson is going to belooking for a multiple year deal easily. Signed at 2 years comnig in, and his stock has raised since then. He made the olympic sthis year, outplayed Jimmy Howard in the regular season and playoffs.

 

[YostisHome]

Dan Boyle is a shell of himself now. Don't want any part of that.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

this team needs to stop thinking the answers lit at the bottom of the waste bin.

cheap old slow bottom pairing playing sheltered minutes will not make us contenders, which is what we want to be.

get a proven top three dman capable of holding that spot beyond one season and add some grit to the top 6 that can also ease the purden on dats and zetts.

sign emery as the backup

dump quincey, kindl and lashoff. if ouellet, sproul or backman are so good in another year or two then trade away any dman not as good.

 

[detredWINgs]

Sign a defenseman
Marek Zidlicky - 1Y/4M
- Although I think he gets 2 years at 5M per.

Sign a forward
Matt Moulson - 5Y/28M
- Even despite that price tag, I can't help but the love the idea of a Holmstrom "replacement"

Promote a forward
Nothing Above
- I'd keep both Pulkkinen and Mantha in the A for at least half the season

Promote a waiver
Mitch Callahan, F
- Would add a different dimension to our 4th line. I like what he brings to the table more so than Ferraro
Adam Almquist, D
- At least give him ~20 games in the bigs as the 6/7th guy before giving up on him
- This assumes that we waive Lashoff, trade Kindl, and pass on Quincey


Promote a defenseman
Alexey Marchenko
- He's not my favorite of the bunch, but given his age, handedness, and experience in the KHL, I think its time he sees regular NHL time.

Back-up goaltender
Sign Al Montoya - 1Y/1.5M
Sign Tim Thomas - 1Y/2.2M
- I'm torn here. Definitely not Gus, because I think he's earned a 2-year deal and I don't want our back-up standing in the way of Mrazek for more than a year.
- As for Montoya vs. Thomas, I'm torn between the lesser ego in Montoya versus the more experienced guy/bigger name to push Howard in Thomas.

 

[detredWINgs]

Dan Boyle is a shell of himself now. Don't want any part of that.

If Boyle were still playing as though he were in his prime, the Sharks wouldn't let him hit free agency. This opinion being bandied about that he's a #5 defenseman who is "done" when he lead the Sharks in TOI in both the regular season and the playoffs is an extremist viewpoint heavily influenced by the way the Sharks fell out of the playoffs. In reality, he's a #3/4 guy who would likely thrive hiding behind the match-ups that Kronwall, Dekeyser, and Ericsson receive.

 

[odin1981]

Why should we overpay players to fit our obsolete PP scheme? Lids and Homer are gone. The coaching staff needs to move on and get creative or get out.

And I'm surprised so many are penciling in Dan Boyle. San Jose fans seem to want him back about as badly as this board wanted one more year of Rafalski.

Sadly I think cause we know Kenny Holland and how he operates. I don't want Boyle either cause jensen/sproul/marchenko can do more with 60+ games of nhl developement but he literally screams kh signing.

I would much rather have a kid learn the nhl and improve over the season than have a #5 puck mover vet ufa that has to play protected minutes. Hell I would make a strong case Sproul whether he is ready or not would gain more learning in the nhl than Boyle or some other band aid fix would only compound the problem we will have over the next 2-3 years.

The main issue I feel is we can put in 3 young d next year and start them growing into the nhl and pro careers to compete for a cup not next year but year 2 and 3 of Datsyuks contract. If Marchenko and Sproul come up we get 2 rh defense men on entry level and they start learning there trade. Marchenko could probably fill into the second pairing and take pp and pk time. Sproul can be protected in the third pairing but also can start learning how to quarterback a pp unit. Then for kindl you slot in one of XO or Backmen and then you have a steady young defense men to pair with Sproul.

If we get a dumb band aid ufa fix for 1-2 years you make the problem worse with us having a bunch of young defenders coming into the mix that wont have proper time to learn the game at the nhl level. Also all band aid fixes are declining 35+ guys so they could really backfire on us by showing up useless and blocking a prospect from getting time to develope into a red wing or build his trade value up if we have to cut ties because a player doesn't fit into our plans long term.

 

[icKx]

If Boyle were still playing as though he were in his prime, the Sharks wouldn't let him hit free agency. This opinion being bandied about that he's a #5 defenseman who is "done" when he lead the Sharks in TOI in both the regular season and the playoffs is an extremist viewpoint heavily influenced by the way the Sharks fell out of the playoffs. In reality, he's a #3/4 guy who would likely thrive hiding behind the match-ups that Kronwall, Dekeyser, and Ericsson receive.

He was already hiding behind Vlasic and Braun. Boyle faced the weakest QoC and his ice time is misleading since he gets so much on the PP -- he ranked 3rd in 5on5 TOI.

Why are we going to pay a guy $5 mil to be a PP specialist and play sheltered minutes. We don't need expensive geezers, we need the coaching staff to pull their heads out from their *****.

Smith averaged 10 seconds of PP time per game this season. Let that sink in.

 

[NyquistIsMyGod*]

Am I the only one that wants to see all three kids up for 10 games? Maybe not all playing, but up. I'd rather see what they have in a game or two, practice over 25 days and then make the decision there. You're waiving the player regardless, so there really isn't muc harm in waiting until October.

What did you guys think of the price tags I used? I hope they weren't too far off.

 

[Frk It]

Am I the only one that wants to see all three kids up for 10 games? Maybe not all playing, but up. I'd rather see what they have in a game or two, practice over 25 days and then make the decision there. You're waiving the player regardless, so there really isn't muc harm in waiting until October.

What did you guys think of the price tags I used? I hope they weren't too far off.

Which 3 kids?

 

[NyquistIsMyGod*]

Which 3 kids?

Landon Ferraro, Mitch Callahan, Adam Almquist.

 

[Petes2424]

Moulson.

Call up Backman and Marchenko.

Call up Mrazek.

Mrazek needs to play every night in the AHL. I think they'll pursue a scoring forward come UFA. On D, if they can't get a specific guy, I think they're fully prepared to go with even more youngsters this year.

Moulson is the perfect fit. Scores every different way on a normal basis from the circles down. A lot of people will be all over getting Gaborik but he's a scary guy when he's under contract and he's battled injuries in recent time.