Speculation: Who should the Isles pursue this offseason and what should we give up for them?

[IslesRock4]

If you trade Nielsen for this mystery defenseman, what about signing Vermette to take his place?

Would fill a similar void to Frans but is money on draws (but may also cost too much).

If we trade Nielsen, I'd rather slide Grabovski to center. I thought trading Nielsen would be more of an option because of Petrov coming over (is he even coming over!?). Vermette will be probably getting close to $5M, and he doesn't contribute more offensively than Grabo and Kulemin. I think we have enough of that. Would hang on to Frans over adding Vermette.

 

[leeroggy]

I have no problem with going into the season like this:


Bailey / JT / KO
Lee / Nelson / Strome
Petrov or Grabs / Grabo / Kulie
MM / CC / CC

Leddy - Boychuck
Martinez - Hamonic
de Haan - whoever earns the spot

Halak
Backup

 

[seabass45]

You guys clearly have a misguided perception of Emelin. He is garbage, especially with that contract. I don't think there's any current contract on the Isles even close to as bad as Emelin's.

I can't say I know his game much but the first article I read about him came from SBNation and it was about how they should trade him before his NTC kicks in, so there's that.

(His NTC has kicked in, so I doubt he'll be traded)

 

[seafoam]

I'm more on board with this too. Emelin brings a dimension we don't have, and I feel he'd be awesome either on a shutdown pair with Hamonic or sheltering Pulock.

Whatever dimension Emelin has, it surely isn't a good one.

Considering the hatred for Brian Strait at <1M per, I don't think I would be able to withstand this board employing a defenseman as bad as Emelin at 4+M per.

 

[seafoam]

I can't say I know his game much but the first article I read about him came from SBNation and it was about how they should trade him before his NTC kicks in, so there's that.

(His NTC has kicked in, so I doubt he'll be traded)

Montreal has some pretty terrible contracts. P.A. Parenteau is their 3rd highest paid forward.

 

[seafoam]

If we trade Nielsen, I'd rather slide Grabovski to center. I thought trading Nielsen would be more of an option because of Petrov coming over (is he even coming over!?). Vermette will be probably getting close to $5M, and he doesn't contribute more offensively than Grabo and Kulemin. I think we have enough of that. Would hang on to Frans over adding Vermette.

You're right, Vermette would probably cost close to 5M per, if not more. But hey, I like to toss around scenarios. If the Isles landed someone like Martinez, their top four sits at just under 20M per on the cap for at least five years. Knowing that, I believe it would open of TONS of options for Snow up front.

Also, if Nielsen were to be traded, sliding Grabovski back to center makes the most logical sense, but I just don't see him as someone you pencil in for 75 games a year anymore. Personally, I loved the Grabovski-Nelson-Strome line at the beginning of the year, but Nelson and Strome could also be candidates for Tavares' wing ahhhh so many options it!

 

[seafoam]

Nelson's ripped it up on the wing at the WCs for two years in a row now. When I saw him live last year early in the season, he was a serious puck hound. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a tour on Tavares' wing early in the season. He just didn't seem ready at center last year.

Nelson-Tavares-Strome
Bailey-Nielsen-Okposo
Lee-Grabovski-Kulemin
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

That's just one of the many possibilities.

 

[seabass45]

Nelson's ripped it up on the wing at the WCs for two years in a row now. When I saw him live last year early in the season, he was a serious puck hound. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a tour on Tavares' wing early in the season. He just didn't seem ready at center last year.

Nelson-Tavares-Strome
Bailey-Nielsen-Okposo
Lee-Grabovski-Kulemin
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

That's just one of the many possibilities.

After seeing Grabbo play center in the playoffs, I never want to see him on the wing again.

 

[BroadwayJay*]

After seeing Grabbo play center in the playoffs, I never want to see him on the wing again.

I've always wanted him at C. He's just so good there. He's such a better player than he gets credit for, often even among us.

 

[Crispy385]

Really didn't think keeping Sekera was an option, especially with the contracts being given out lately. Richards stays on the books no matter what, right? I'm looking at it now and it's tough, but they figured out a way to stay under the cap last year so who knows.

He stays on the books as long as someone doesn't trade for him. Which won't happen, without them eating at least part of his salary. If we were able to grab Martinez, that'd solidify the back end and would ensure only one rookie would be playing.

Leddy Boychuck
Martinez Hamonic
de Haan Pulock/Reinhart/Mayfield/Lubo


Strait

I'm amazed LA didn't use a compliance buyout on him. Would have been a nice way to dodge this bullet.

 

[MatthewBarnabysTears]

I have a soft spot for Martinez because he eliminated the Rangers. I'm against dealing Nielsen, but something centered around Martinez would make me consider dealing Nielsen given our center depth.

 

[PK Cronin]

I have a soft spot for Martinez because he eliminated the Rangers. I'm against dealing Nielsen, but something centered around Martinez would intrigue me given our center depth.

Tavares, Strome, Nelson are all off limits for a guy like Martinez.

You're left with Nielsen, Grabovski, Cizikas. I take Grabo over Nielsen at this point and Cizikas won't get a deal done. It has to be Nielsen if we're trading a center.

 

[WangMustGo]

Im not against trading Nielsen, but i feel like a lot of you guys are only remembering what he did in the playoffs. Let's not forget he was playing with a sprained ankle. Trading a Nielsen will leave a hole on offense that won't be easy to fix. The guy is great at nothing (save for shootouts) and good at everything.

 

[MatthewBarnabysTears]

Tavares, Strome, Nelson are all off limits for a guy like Martinez.

You're left with Nielsen, Grabovski, Cizikas. I take Grabo over Nielsen at this point and Cizikas won't get a deal done. It has to be Nielsen if we're trading a center.

Yeah I wasn't clear, I meant I'd consider dealing Nielsen if Martinez is available.

 

[First Blood]

You only trade Nielsen if you are going to upgrade him in the lineup or get a similar player in return.

Martinez is a #5

 

[seafoam]

You only trade Nielsen if you are going to upgrade him in the lineup or get a similar player in return.

Martinez is a #5

Martinez is LA's #4.

 

[First Blood]

Martinez is LA's #4.

I would rather Sekera then Martinez

 

[seafoam]

I would rather Sekera then Martinez

You're probably going to have to pay Sekera 6.5M+ per just to get him listening. I don't want 6M+ tied up to two older defenseman (Boychuk). Martinez makes pennies compared to what you'd have to pay Sekera. Garth has shown he's willing to pay the price for players he feel fits the direction the Isles are going in. Martinez being younger, under contract for longer & cheaper fits the bill more than Sekera. Plus, he has rings.

 

[islesjuncky]

I would rather Sekera then Martinez

Sekera would cost alot more......... but we cant trade him everyone is forgetting about what he does for us during the season. Playoffs he sucked but he was injured. Cant get to the playoffs without the reg season

 

[GrandmaSlices51631]

I just accidentally clicked on the NJD thread instead of ours, it's almost like walking in on your parents doin it, hybrid of surprise and disgust.

On topic, I don't think theres many worth pursuing. I think the solutions are in-house... If we can get a nice return on Frans, then we should do it. It does feel wrong, he's bled blue & orange but business is business and it's unlikely he'll fit into our cap structure with so much young talent on the come up. Plus, if we part with him, Grabo could be put back at C, which I feel would be wise. Hopefully we see a bounce back year from him and he can stop skating into the John Scotts of the world.

 

[JZCislesHockey]

I think I'd do Nielsen for Martinez, despite our glut of young D.

 

[Tavares2TheRescue]

Whatever dimension Emelin has, it surely isn't a good one.

Considering the hatred for Brian Strait at <1M per, I don't think I would be able to withstand this board employing a defenseman as bad as Emelin at 4+M per.

Yep, Emelin is freaking terrible.

 

[GrandmaSlices51631]

I think I'd do Nielsen for Martinez, despite our glut of young D.

Of Course You Would. Lombardi won't though, it is certainly a good pipe dream.

 

[rikker]

I think I'd do Nielsen for Martinez, despite our glut of young D.

not a big problem, IMO. we then trade a young defender for a young forward.

 

[VT Isles Fan]

You guys clearly have a misguided perception of Emelin. He is garbage, especially with that contract. I don't think there's any current contract on the Isles even close to as bad as Emelin's.

Thanks to my better half, I watch a lot of Habs games, and I agree, we don't want Emelin. Besides making way too much money, he hasn't been the same since he came back from knee surgery. The only games I can recall him playing well were against the Bruins and he was shaky in both of the Habs' playoff series this year.