SwedeLundin77

He just rewarded a player with a solid contract for what? For turnovers, minimal offensive output, and not using his body? So this is the message we are sending? If you have an ounce of potential, you will be rewarded in hopes that you succeed?!? Terrible contract and Holland had better make a trade for a REAL top 4 d-man. If this is it, than my confidence in our GM will be seriously shattered. San Jose will run us over without even batting an eye. Look at the two teams that were competing for the cup, Ericsson does not represent that value in any way. You hit it spot on here. I agree completely.

I'm really questioning Ken Holland on this one. This is a terrible cap hit for a guy who doesn't deserve a cent over $2 million. I understand that the market is thin, but I'd rather just sign a plug for less than keep this hack another year. Can't score, can't use his size appropriately, plays poor defensively... how in the hell do you justify $3 million?!? Ken had better do something positive after this, otherwise my confidence in him being a good GM is going to be shattered. And no, this is not an overreaction.

So I know this may not be a popular idea with some or most of the people on here. But what if we could get Souray as a 4/5/6 guy... He's basically guaranteed the 5 million or so that Edmonton owes him. Maybe we could sign him for one season and see how it goes. I can't recall exactly how his defensive game is, but I know he's a positive guy to have for the PP and could help replace some of the offense if not all that Rafalski had for us. He may be willing to come inexpensive due to the injury issues of his past and the fact that he more than likely wants to find some sort of redemption. He could find it here. Any thoughts, or am I way off base?

There goes a right handed shot...

Seriously, right? I mean, I'm not familiar with his defensive game, but I never remember him being bad when we played against Nashville. I know we were looking to bring him in a few years back. The guy, if healthy and with the right line-mates, could put up 60 points. I think he just lost his way in Nashville the past couple of seasons. He's not a "goat" yet. If we lose Eaves and it comes down to Miller or Dumont at the same price, I'm pretty sure I take Dumont.

He could be a pretty nice pick-up, because only the past couple seasons has he seen a dip in production. He should be good for 60 points if healthy, and maybe a change of scenery will revive him. He's only 33 years old, so he's not to a point where he should be considerably slowing down. If we could get him in for 1.5 million, especially with Eaves possibly on his way out and Miller in questions, it might not be a bad pick-up. He could play on the second line, either wing.

That might mean that Miller will be back for good, as he had expressed it during the season. Possibly more playing time for him. I'd have to think, if we lose Eaves, that we will get a forward who is responsible defensively, but can also put up some points... Chuck Kobasew Marco Sturm Jamie Langunbrunner Joel Ward Scottie Upshall Vernon Fiddler Maxime Talbot Sean Bergenheim Those are just a few that I noticed as FA (salary from high to low last year).

I think if we are to lose Eaves and Miller to UFA, we should try and sign one of Stewart, Kennedy, or Chipchura.

I wouldn't necessarily call White a journeyman. I think he can be a strong player on a strong team. Here is how I honestly see things shaking out: Wizniewski - Kronwall Lidstrom - Smith Montador - Stuart Kindl Switch Kindl in for Montador and bring up Janik as our 7th as another option. Wizniewski signs for 4 years at 4.75 million per. Montador signs for 1 year 1 2.25 million. I would really like to see Smith make the team and learn from Lidstrom. I think it could really benefit him. And I just have a feeling that Ericsson's negotiation will fall through, I don't know why, just a feeling.

I would be completely baffled if Ehrhoff accepts a contract with NYI... they are perennially failures and aren't turning around anytime soon. He'll pick a contender to go to, in the end. If he doesn't and just goes for a cash grab, then he's not worth it anyway.

There is also the possibility that Jovo comes here to play with Bertuzzi, remember the two are close friends. Bert could sell him on coming in and also I could see them offering Jovo a bert-like contract.

Eh, I think Jovo will do fine here as long as he is replacing Salei's spot and nothing higher. He could actually play better here, in my opinion. Phoenix was good, but not THAT good.

Well do waiver rules apply in the off-season or is it first come? I would think Holland would at least try to pick him up at a 1.5 million hit. It will all boil down to whether or not we can obtain Ehrhoff, Wizniewski, or Pitkanen...

If we take him on re-entry, what would our cap hit be, and what would we be giving up?

The problem is that Eaves can contribute on a nightly basis on the third line and can perform spot duty on the second line with some powerplay time mixed in. He has the scoring touch, but he has been so converted to a defensive forward that he rarely sees the time. I want Eaves here, and I want him permanently on the third line. The only reason Eaves leaves is if he doesn't feel he can get adequate playing time or is platooning from the 4th line to the bench.

If he could stay healthy, him and Lidstrom would make quite the first powerplay duo... me thinks.

If you heard, share the source. And NO NO NO to Komisarek... yuck.

It would look something like this, more than likely: CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR FORWARDS Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) / Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Johan Franzen ($3.954m) Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) / Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.200m) Jan Mursak ($0.550m) / Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) Drew Miller ($0.850m) / Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) DEFENSEMEN Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / Brad Stuart ($3.750m) Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brendan Smith ($0.875m) Jonathan Ericsson ($2.300m) / Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) Doug Janik ($0.512m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Chris Osgood ($1.000m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $54,829,544; BONUSES: $0 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $9,470,456 There is no way we leave 9.5 million floating out there...

I like your style here. I think Gagne could be an excellent option as he put up 40 in 63 games last season, despite having a terrible start, and had 12 points in 15 playoff games. He could come for around $4 million, but if he stays healthy and meshes with Z or Dats, he could put up 30 goals and return to glory. I also like your D pairings. I wouldn't mind if we just signed Wiz or Ehrhoff as our top 4 guy and then went out and got Montador, Jovo, etc... as our 5-6 guy. It looks like Ericsson will be here though, so it may just be 1 guy we sign, who knows... I hope we make a big splash tough. The trade avenue has not closed yet, too, so I wouldn't close that door, but I cannot think of who we could target, aside from Gonchar or Kuba.

I don't know, Cheetah's is pretty classy.

I honestly don't care what he does. Would I think he could help here somewhat, yes, but I also don't know if he'll be any sort of game changer for us. I'd rather try Cole or Jokinen for a season or Laich or Bergenheim for potentially longer deals. We'll see in a few days.

Well seeing as I live in the US, this will probably not make much of a difference here as he is always on NBC/Versus broadcasts, but damn... why couldn't he just have been fired...

Ericsson WILL re-sign... which is okay, but he'll probably sign around 2.3 million, unfortunately. I would rather he take Jovo's spot in your scenario as that way we would keep Montador with is right handed shot and more than likely less expensive price tag. Oh and he's younger, too.

I can see that vantage point as well, but I think I read somewhere that next years UFA class is even less impressive than this one. Wizniewski could really find a home here finally, I truly believe that. He is also an example of that abrasive style we need to slowly incorporate into our system without sacrificing our identity as a skilled, puck possession team. I just think we need to add at least one right handed shot on Defense, preferably someone who will play the PP (like Raffi). All the players you have mentioned are all lefties, I believe. I almost wouldn't mind Kuba, but only if Ericsson somehow didn't re-sign, which all signs are pointing to that happening in the next couple of days.

I completely agree, aside from the long-term contract. I would sign him to a 1 year-2 year deal to see if he fits in well with our system first - Hossa type deal. Like you, I don't belive he'll land here. I'll be like a kid in a candy store if he does, somehow, though. Richards and Franzen together could potentially be gross... I kind of agree with you aside from the fact that we are fine offensively until we come up against a team like San Jose and all of a sudden we can't seem to climb that hill. Richards doesn't add anything really physical, but it's another scoring threat that could help anyway. I wouldn't mind him here, I'd be happy, but I would be wary of anything long-term to start. I'd say a 1 or 2 year deal around 7 million would be fine. I'm pretty sure Lidstrom won't be offended if we go out and sign a top 10 scorer and pay him a million more than Lids makes...