Datsyerberger

I'd be all for going for Wadge-tech if it's cheaper than the 3.6 he was at. 2.5? 3? I'd consider those numbers. Guy has great talent and skills, good size too.

Wow, I guess those Preds fans really want to see the Nucks lose.

Regarding that deal, I'd rather keep Mursak, Abdelkader, and the pick. Anything I'd trade for Carter would not be good value for Philly. Way too many ???s about him.

On the other hand, even though there's not many in any year, it's a quality thing. This year's crop all has serious risks. Pitkanen: Defensive questions, drive/determination questions Wiz: Dumb penalties, lazy defense, personality questions Bieksa: Consistency, penalties, price (if Nucks even let him go) Ehrhoff: Probably safest bet, defensive questions but offense arguably worth it and so on Burns, Suter, Enstrom, and Edler are all way more attractive than those options. 2 each year. I think that 3/4 of those will sign with their current teams but I hope Detroit throws serious money at any of them that reaches FA. Some of the secondary options in those years are as good or almost as good as the primary options this year.

Carter has his upsides. He's good both defensively and as a goalscorer when he's on his game. The downside is that he's got questionable work ethic and consistency, and both show badly in the playoffs. He's got a bit of a bad rap for the Flyers choking, but I have no problem saying that he's been a large part of that problem (though it may be part of a 'clique' thing there, I wouldn't rule out that possibility). Honestly, I'd rather just have one of their d-men and look elsewhere/cheaper for forward. Carle's offense at 3.5? I can stomach that. Coburn at 3.2? Hell yes. Timonen at 6.3 for 2 years? That's fine with me.

Yep. And his career playoff stats are worse than Hudler's career playoff stats. His last 3 years playoff stats are worse than Hudler's playoff stats. Hudler's production in the playoffs * nearly 2x the cap hit + 9 more years + NTC = no thanks

Wow, I'm dying.

Nah, he isn't much of a playmaker. His skill set is more suited to a running back.

= = Carter playoff stats: 47 gp 13g 21p -14 34 PIM Last 3 playoffs' stats: 24 gp 7g 10p -10 12 PIM Carter's contract: Runs until 21-22, full NTC from 12-13 to 15-16, partial NTC thereafter. ~5.3m cap hit for Hudler-like playoff stats. Gag. Edit: FFS, Hudler's playoff stats are better: 61 gp 10g 31p +4 30 PIM Last 3 playoffs: 55 gp 10g 29p +2 26 PIM

On a hunch, I also decided to compare the Cats' attendance to the Ducks over the last 10 years: Pre lockout Florida: 15,529 Anaheim: 13,619 Post lockout: Florida: 15,545 Anaheim: 15,874 Total: Florida: 15,539 Anaheim: 14,973 Two things to keep in mind: 1. Attendance isn't end-all be-all; Florida has had their tickets on the cheap during most of that time and such is reflected in their lower revenue and franchise value. 2. Ducks won a cup during that period, whilst Florida has been in a record setting playoff drought. All things considered, I think the Florida management has done a fantastic job of keeping a team with abysmal on-ice product afloat. This may also be due to a better market than Anaheim. Both Tampa area (particularly southawrds) and southeast Florida are excellent markets with oodles of snowbirds, descendants of snowbirds, and northeast/midwest transplants (as well as their families). Hell, I'm one of them. My father is from Detroit. I was born/raised in Northwest Florida. My (deceased) grandfather is from Michigan and retired/died in southwest Florida. His wife (my natural grandmother died young), also deceased now, was Canadian. After is death she was a long-time snowbird, with dual residency in Ontario and Bradenton, FL for something like 15-20 years before she died. I can assure you this story is very much echoed in the Florida peninsula, and parts of NW Florida as well (due to very heavy military presence for the latter, and partly the beaches).

24 year old with Asperger's Syndrome. Close enough. f*** tact, give me 'fact'. Already had a good idea of the attendance figures, hence my estimation in the 1st post. 2nd post I used a bookmarked site to verify my numbers (most of which I keep track of fairly well mentally, go go gadget Aspergers). Guess I'm used to slapping people around with figures when they make (poor) assumptions. Indeed. I acknowledged that Anaheim has had more stable ownership. On-ice product has been roughly equal in a 10 year span. Off-ice product has favored Tampa Bay (though they're also in a better market). They also have much less of an identity crisis.

Just to restate my thoughts on Carters contract and his post season play:

Just because I don't support talking out of one's ass: Average attendances Pre lockout (starting 00-01) TBL: 16,248 ANA: 13,169 Post lockout TBL: 18,057 ANA: 15,874 Total: TBL: 17,328 ANA: 14,973 The Ducks only finished ahead of the Bolts once in this entire stretch, 2 years after their cup win (08-09), when TBL was in their 4th season of abysmal management. TBL finished 21, Ducks 17th. In fact, here's the record of those 10 years by attendance rank (starting with 00-01, descending to 10-11): TBL--ANA 25th--28th 20th--30th 16th--26th 12th*--24th 2nd---24th 3rd---20th* 8th---15th+ 21st--17th 21st--24th 18th--26th *=cup year, +=post-cup year (TBL's post cup year was during the lockout) Speak with knowledge, my friends.

Wrong. The TBL had a good run of success from the early 00s until the lockout, and have picked up again this last season. Lets say 4-5 years. The Ducks had an amazing run with Giggy pre lockout. Aside from that, 3 years or so post lockout. Again, let's say 4-5 years. TBL's average attendance has been much higher during the 00s. TBL's ticket prices have been higher during the 00s. TBL's profits have been higher during the 00s. ANA has had better ownership/management since the lockout. Until now. Aside from that, TBL has had a fairly solid identity since their inception, whereas the Ducks are using a fragment of the name of a team used from a Disney film; said name fragment has led to constant tweaking of the colors and logo because it's an extremely uninspiring and unfit name for a major sports team.

Carter's contract has an NTC through duration (Full through part and partial through the rest), his contract runs through 21-22, and his playoff production has been quite poor. Do. Not. Want. Coburn, on the other hand? Yes, please.. though Carle is much more likely.

The red cape would look great with the jersey! Oh wait... Montador. Darn.

Still thinking and hoping its the Ducks, if there's even any merit to this. They're really the only team that's had a brutal name and utter lack of identity since they were sold. Florida is going back to their old colors and such this next year, so don't think it's them. Tampa Bay has a popular nickname and has already announced uniform/etc changes, so doubt its them. Coyotes: Maybe. But there's nothing wrong with Coyotes as a name. Still, they're among my frontrunners. Ducks: Brutal name, meh logo, meh colors, org hasn't been able to settle on colors/logo/identity since they acquired the team. Frontrunner. Carolina: Nothing wrong with the Canes, aside from the logo looking like a flushing toilet bowl. Preds: They've worked way too hard to build an identity to change it now Stars: History, familiarity.. besides, don't mess with Texas Atlanta: Well, they're definitely a southern team that's getting a huge article, but I don't think they meant like this. So yea, Ducks or Yotes are the frontrunners if this has any merit to it.

I find your lack of Upshall disturbing.

Eh, wrong part of Florida for that joke. You could use a type of ray, though, to fit the name and the area...

Second line offensive players are by their very natures streaky. This is why they tend to be 2nd line players and not 1st liners. Filppula is a 2nd line C by every measure. In the top 60 centers for PPG, in the top 30 for ES PPG, and in the upper 1/3 of those players defensively. The reason Dats and Z get split up is because it's sometimes more favorable to be stacked incredibly deep and roll 3 scoring lines instead of frontloading the offense, to break up matchups. Next offseason, Burns would be perfect. No idea what's going to happen between now and then, but I'm cautiously optimistic. If we've gotta pay for him, so be it. Large guy, big shot, good D.. perfect partner for Kronwall for a top pairing. Kronwall re-signed anywhere from 5-6m a year, Burns a bit more, I could live with that honestly.

I think it's illegal to dig up graves, GMR.

Very good d-man when he's healthy. Breaks down more often than a Chevy Vega.

If this is true, please be the motherf***ing Ducks. Lame name, impossible to do anything that's a really cool logo, bleh colors. That team needs rebranding bigtime.

Carter has a full NTC that kicks in this offseason, runs until 15-16, then becomes a limited NTC for the duration of the contract.

Two things, Eva.. 1. Why does Vokoun sign in Phoenix? He's been stuck on a lame market, low budget team for the past few years and he wants to win. On top of that, he can go somewhere to win AND get paid and not have to deal with the uncertainty of Phoenix. 2. Ditto for Richards. The guy wants to both make money and win, something Phoenix may not be able to provide. Additionally, this is probably going to be his last big contract, so why does he sign somewhere with such uncertainty? And then this is also a guy that wants to avoid the media, and Phoenix is going to continue being a media circus with the possible relocation crap. Some lesser quality UFAs may sign in Phoenix, but there's no way 2 of the hottest items, both in their 30s, both wanting a big payday, both wanting to win, and both exiting teams that have lately been struggling financially/ownership wise, are going to sign with Phoenix.