SwedeLundin77

I understand the hesitation with Staal, but why not give him a chance on a 1 or 2 year deal at a lower cap hit. Low Risk, High Reward. Hearing Nielsen at 5-6 years at 30 million, ugh

So Lorito is, at best a 3rd of 4th liner in the NHL. Cause we need those. Also, he's 5'9" 181 lbs.... I've taken s***s bigger than that.

Elliotte Friedman ‏@FriedgeHNIC 2m2 minutes ago Some other stuff: Patrick Wiercioch probably going to COL. An interesting AHL free agent, Matt Lorito, looking at DET. Who in the hell is Matt Lorito??

I just hope to the Gods that Helm is not in the top 6. If we're using him as a center, he had better be on the third line at most. Just sucks because this takes away from AA's playing time. Holland is a moron, Helm deserved no more than 3 million over 3 years. At least he's been relatively healthy over the past 2 seasons.

My dream scenario is that we add 3 players, and trade for a top 4 d-man (or sign Demers at least) and trade some extra pieces for picks. Right now I am hoping we can sign Staal, Okposo, and McGinn. If I had a candidate for trade, it would be Nyquist as I feel that Tatar is a better scorer and plays a more passionate game (in my opinion). I'd also be okay with Vanek on a 1 year, 3 mil or less. Boedker is an interesting case as he's never cracked the 20 goal mark, or 51 points. Although he has now hit 51 points twice. He is more of a playmaker and I feel we already have enough playmakers. We need guys who can put the puck in the net more often. If Boedker is not super expensive, maybe it makes sense, but he'll probably be asking for north of 4.5 million and that's a hard pill to swallow for a guy who hasn't produced a ton of points. I'd rather look at McGinn (just scored 23 goals) and plays with an edge. That would be my only point with Staal, and it's the main reason I want us to go for him. He had a couple of down seasons, but a down season for him is 39 points on a garbage team for most of the season. He's already come out and said that he understands he may need to take less money/term. We desperately need a stop-gap 1C/2C and he is the only center out there that could possibly rebound and pot us 65+ points. Prime definition of low risk/high reward.

I think we have a decent chance, but it certainly seems that if Minnesota wants to take him on, they will win. I hope Holland at least gives it a shot, as I think Okposo is a forward that makes us deeper and adds a different dimension.

I'm fine without Lucic.... I'd rather have Okposo anyway for the same term/cap.

It just depends on our other depth players. I think the argument could be made that Miller at 1.025 mil is a depth signing. He could just as easily get injured again and this conversation may be moot. Also, the way Frk played last season in GR and throughout the playoffs as well, I'd like to see him given a chance to make the club. He played with an edge and I think he'd be solid to start out at right wing on the 4th line who would be capable of potting 10-15 goals (potentially).

Sorry, natural centers.

I was saying this the other day, what about this Shipachyov guy from Russia. Good stat line in the KHL and seems interested in coming over to the NHL now.

I would argue that Svetchnikov has the potential to be a top-liner. Time will tell.

I would argue that adding a player like Okposo would make us a better team. Contenders, probably not, but better and then you add pieces as you go forward, but you don't ignore talent when it presents itself. A 28-year-old 60+ point player with size and a righty to boot, sign me up. I've also been looking a little deeper into the FA market and what about a guy like McGinn? A gritty guy who just put up 23 goals and is 27 years old. And just for clarity, I'm personally arguing for Staal or Backes on a short term contract for a more affordable cap hit instead of Nielsen at 5.5 for 5 years. I'd even consider Nielsen more, but only if we could get him for 3 years or less. The fact of the matter is that we need centers. If we can buy Larkin a little more time as well as keep Zetterberg on the wing, it'll benefit those players. But then that leaves Sheahan and Glendening as your natural wingers, so there, you need two wingers to fill those roles potentially.

There is no honor in tanking. It's a terrible idea to purposely tank and I cannot comprehend how some of you suggest it as an option. There are other ways to get back and we'll find our way there.

You don't know that and you can't dismiss someone of his caliber over two bad seasons on a terrible team that he was probably sick of. I'm not saying Staal is my dream signing, but we desperately need centers, true centers. There are very few that can put up the possible points that he can. You're looking at Staal who has scored 40+ goals twice, 30 goals three times, 20 goals four times, and had 18 in the lockout season. He's only had less than 30 assists in 2 seasons (his rookie year and last season). He'll be 32 at the start of the season and I believe still has plenty to prove. I'm not saying he's guaranteed, but there are worse options, and if it's a 3 year or less deal for around 5 million or less, why not? I'd rather take a risk on him over Nielsen. Nielsen has pretty much shown his ceiling (right around 50 points). I'm personally between Staal and Backes at this point for our center need/s. We really really need to lock up Okposo. Shoots right and adds a different dimension to our present wingers. Hopefully, we don't lose another one to Minny.

"We've got cap space. We'd like to sign somebody. We got to let this system play itself out," Holland said Wednesday. "Some of these guys might re-sign with their teams. I think there's probably 10 or 12 teams doing the same thing we're doing and we'll see what happens over the next week." - Ken Holland He just sounds defeated and I think that's the wrong attitude to take when you've said so many things about improving the team and adding 2-3 players in the past few weeks. He needs to do everything in his power to bring in Okposo with that cap. I just feel that's the best use of it. Bring in a center as well and try to trade for a top 4 D. Let's say Holland completely strikes out, gets no one. This would be our lineup options: Tatar - Larkin - Abdelkader Svechnikov - Zetterberg - Nyquist Athanasiou - Sheahan - Mantha Miller - Glendening - Jurco Pulkkinen Frk The top 6 have potential, although I hate Z at center. The bottom six kind of makes me want to puke. Especially the 4th line. Although, if Frk comes in and beats out Jurco, Pulkkinen, he played with a bit of an edge last season in GR so maybe he helps and moves his way up the roster a little bit. This just really shows the importance of making a trade for D while we have assets, and bringing in some proven scoring/grit.

The more and more I think about it, we need to push hard for Okposo. We are also in need of bonafide centers. If we can get Eric Staal here on a low cost/low term contract, I say go for it. He's 31, he's had a couple of off seasons, but I just don't believe someone with that much skill and talent just loses it when they're 29/30. He was on a terrible Carolina team with limited line-mates that could really do much in terms of scoring and I have to believe he just got worn down by years and years of playing on a poor team. I'd also like to see us look at Ladd. I would like to steer clear of Nielsen as he's already 32 and doesn't really add anything different to the team. Holland needs to package Nyquist + for Fowler or Shattenkirk. I've got a bad feeling by his comments today, after Stamkos's decision. One other thought is if picking up Nielsen helps us pick up Okposo - then I guess that's okay, assuming Nielsen won't cost too much. They can play on the same line as they have in NYI.

Yeah, give Nyquist, sign Okposo for around 6 million, boom. Upgrade for just under 2 million more.

That would be ludicrous.... I mean, 2 million is even pushing it.

I saw that, too. From what I was watching earlier on Sportsnet, the speculation is all it would take is a pick most likely. They mentioned a 1st rounder, but then said that that seems like overpayment for a sign and trade.

Ruh roh... Wings were aggressively pursuing him in 2012. I wonder if they still feel he'd be worth it. I can see, if they can sign him to no more than a 2 year deal for $3.5 or under, that he might be worth the risk. This is all if they strike out on any other d-men. He and Smith were defensive partners at Wisconsin for one season.

VADIM SHIPACHYOV.... Elliotte Friedman ‏@FriedgeHNIC Jun 26 who we were told could not come to the NHL for 2016-17, may still be a possibility. Let's see where this one goes, too. Elliotte Friedman ‏@FriedgeHNIC Jun 26 Since my KHL news from earlier today was so well-received, let's try another. There are rumblings tonight Vadim Shipachyov... 105 retweets134 Anyone know anything about this guy? Seems he may be available to come to the NHL this upcoming season. He's a center who has pretty good stats in the KHL.

Nyquist for Shattenkirk is where I would go. Then you sign a UFA winger to replace Nyquist in the lineup, preferably Okposo. The only thing that worries me about Shatty is that he is only signed for a year.

GAH, my freakin' brother got me excited, he didn't do his due diligence and I didn't check the date. My bad.

I almost wonder if we might get our big forward via trade, maybe. Edmonton has a few expendables...

http://www.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/breaking-insider-reports-something-big-is-coming-from-stamkos-today?ref=jo McGuire seems to think something is going to happen today... TODAY!