xtrememachine1

This is a perfect case in point of just one team overpaying for a player and we're out. With UFA defensemen dropping off the board and signing with their old teams, that makes the pool a little smaller and a guy like Wisniewski even bigger. Someone with a need for a defenseman will overpay for him. A lot of people are saying we should get Wiz for $4.2 to $4.5. Someone will throw $5.5 or more at him.

Brooks Laich signs six-year contract extension with Washington Capitals $4.5 mil per season for Brooks Laich? There's some serious overpayment.

Yeah, I'm a little pissed that their old GM is taking all these bad contracts off their hands. I was watching NHL Network last night and they were interviewing Tallon and he was saying how great Campbell was and how he'll help the younger defensemen and lure in other free agents. Whatever. Since when did Brian Campbell become Bobby Orr? A defenseman that the Blackhawks couldn't get rid of fast enough will lure in other free agents? He's going to help Florida reach the cap floor and at the same time get Tallon back in the Blackhawks good graces. Is he going to trade for Cristobal Huet next? When Hossa gets too old and starts to be ineffective, will he take on that contract too?

I'm not sure what Jagr is thinking, but if I was in his position I would sign with Detroit. His agent has been in contact with Holland and Babcock a lot, they clearly showed the most interest by already making an offer and offering the most money. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh is thinking and debating, showed little interest in the beginning, is expected to offer around $1 mil. I would want to go where I'm most wanted. Also the Wings are more committed to winning this year because of Lidstrom's potential retirement, while the Pens won't go crazy and will make moves to ensure long term success. Maybe its because I hear a lot of "Jagr is going to Pittsburgh" talk around here, but I have a bad feeling that's where he's going even though I think Detroit would be the better fit at this time.

In another thread I suggested trading for Gonchar and Kuba since both are on the block. I would rather get a couple of band aids than overpay long term for someone on the FA market. http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/topic/69921-trade-speculation-talk/page__st__120

They are older and yes, short term for these guys, but I think we should go with more of a band-aid approach to this off season than long term solution. I don't see this FA class being all that strong and a lot of teams are looking for defensemen, which means overpaying to get people. Wiz is a good defenseman, but I just read Bieksa signed with Van, so there's another off the board and that drives up Wiz's price. Raffy was a $6 mil player. If we traded Hudler to Ottawa, for Kuba and Gonchar, we replace Rafalski with two players and it pretty much evens out salary wise. Kuba will be gone after one year and Gonchar will be gone in two years, which would actually work out if Nick retires next summer because then we would still have a PP quarterback. Sign Jovo or Hannan to help out on our PK and then focus on forwards which is more flexible since we have some younger players ready to step up.

I just read that Ottawa is looking to move Gonchar and Kuba. I wonder if either of these players are options for us rather than overpaying for someone on the market. Gonchar is somewhat injury prone and commands a $5.5 mil salary, but before he was with the Sens, he had some very impressive numbers in Pittsburgh. He would really boost the PP. I think if we unloaded Hudler, it would really lessen the cap hit that would come with Gonchar. Kuba is a $3.7 mil cap hit and he sounds like a Wings type of defenseman... "Has terrific size and mobility from the back end. Displays both decent offensive instincts and a sound defensive approach. Is also a low-maintenance defender." per THN.

I like the defense. Very solid, but I have a hard time seeing some of those players going that cheap. Here's what I'm thinking/hoping, with Jagr signing with us. Line combos too. CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR FORWARDS Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Jaromir Jagr ($2.000m) Johan Franzen ($3.954m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Patrick Eaves ($0.750m) / Jan Mursak ($0.550m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) Drew Miller ($0.650m) / Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) DEFENSEMEN Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / James Wisniewski ($5.000m) Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Scott Hannan ($4.500m) Jonathan Ericsson ($2.500m) / Brad Stuart ($3.750m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Jean-Sebastien Giguere ($1.500m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $62,117,044; BONUSES: $0 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $2,182,956

I thought that too. It would bring back that "we don't want to lose a good winger to Detroit" feeling to the Pens. I would like to believe that the reason Jagr wants to come back is because he wants to play alongside all the talent we have, but he has no connection to anyone in Detroit and the only thing we're offering is more money at this point, which Jagr said didn't matter. Unless Hasek can talk Jagr into going to the Wings, going back to hang out with Mario for another year is what he'll do. As for Bergenheim, great player, would fit our system, and would be a good replacement for Clearly, I think but somebody will overpay for him and it won't be us.

Honestly, I would rather get outbid than overpay. There will be plenty of people available at the trade deadline if we don't get the guy we want now. TB has tons of available cap space and a hockey genius running that club, Stamkos isn't going anywhere. The only question on everyone's mind should be, how much are they going to pay him and for how long?

That is highly unlikely. Holland would never go that high with other big holes yet to fill. Plus, if we actually were offering $3.75, Jagr wouldn't even be talking to the Pens who only interested in spending around a $1 mil.

Yeah, when I heard he can't officially sign with anyone till July 1st, I thought, "So he'll just announce who he'll sign with whenever and then make it official on that day." It won't be a mystery on July 1st as to which team Jagr is playing for.

$2 mil?! Whoa. He's scored a grand total of 22 goals in his last three seasons combined. He came up big against us in the playoffs, but he hasn't done anything since. He's average defensively and he can't play in the top 6, which is why the Pens are letting him go. The Pens had no serious intention of signing Talbot and just sent him a lowball offer and see if he takes it. On Pittsburgh sports shows, Talbot and Kennedy have been considered to be cap casualties for months now, so this is no surprise. He is probably looking for something like $2 mil, but he won't get it or at least, shouldn't get it. Especially not from us either.

Voracek, 1st and 3rd rounders TSN

The NHL was unbalanced in the 1980's with its conference alignment where there was one extra team in the East, so I don't think that's a deal breaker. These eastern time zone teams NEED to move out of the West. Maybe it wasn't such a huge deal when the Wings moved out West in the 80's with teams like Chicago, Minnesota, Toronto, St Louis all nearby but there are a lot more teams on the west coast now (Anaheim, SJ, Dallas, Phoenix) which makes this flying across the continent over and over again ridiculous. Its time for a change.

My guess is that the Northeast, Detroit, Columbus and maybe part of the Atlantic will be the East division. Most of the Atlantic and the Southeast will be the South division.

I'm not sure why he'd move both Detroit and Columbus to the East, while just one team is going West. The conferences would be slightly imbalanced, but that's the way it was back in the 1980's, the East had one more team than the West. He's even going back to the 4 divisions. It'd be better if he gave those divisions meaningful names like Patrick, Norris, Smythe and Adams. I like it and for once I'm hoping Gary gets his way.

Second time in three years with the Flyers. The NY Rangers? I avoid watching their boring games at all costs, now they're being put on a national stage. They better get Brad Richards or hope Gaborik stays healthy for that game or they won't have anyone worth watching. Really dumb choice of teams, IMO. They're teams playing in big markets and they'll sell a ton of jerseys in those markets, but for the hockey fan outside of those cities, no one will care. This might be the first WC I don't watch.

I was pretty high on Bouwmeester last year when he was a UFA. I felt like he would be a great fit for the Wings, but I don't know if I'd want him at $6.6. Not that he'll ever fill Lidstrom's shoes someday, doesn't his Hockey News profile sound like Lidstrom years ago? ASSETS: Has incredible skating ability, a keen sense of when to join the rush, size and hockey smarts. Is a capable shutdown defender. FLAWS: Doesn't play enough of a physical game to dominate in that department, despite impressive physical attributes. Is too reserved to be a vocal team leader. CAREER POTENTIAL: Mobile big-minute defenseman with stellar defensive ability.

The Trib is almost like a joke paper. They "broke the story" that Russ Grimm was the Steelers new head coach too. Umm... whoops!

Again, Modano got injured and missed half the season. Its tough for ANY player to get up to speed after missing that much, not to mention he was 40 and on a new team, learning a new system. As for signing aging vets, its a strategy that's worked many times in the past. We signed Hull when he was 37, Robitaille when he was 35, traded for Hasek when he was 37, re-signed him years later when he was 42. Guys like Yzerman, Shanahan, Osgood, Lidstrom, Chelios, Larionov, Fetisov were all re-signing in their late 30's, mid 40's and were very effective for us. Giving up on signing older players because this ONE player got injured and didn't work out isn't a good idea.

So the Wings have actually already made an offer to Jagr? Interesting. $1 mil or less? Not gonna happen. If a phone call from Mario can convince Jagr to come to Pittsburgh for a million or less, he's the best salesman in the world.

Apparently, none of this is true anyways... Ryan Smyth denies he’s asked to be traded back to Oilers (per Edmonton Journal)

If the Pens really want him, they're just a Mario Lemieux phone call away from getting him.

It would be interesting to see Jagr on Crosby's line, but if I'm Jagr, would I want to play on the Penguins? The fans always jumped on him everytime they lost when he was with the team, booed him everytime he touched the puck when he was with someone else, he and Crosby appeared to not get along very well when he was with NYR, Orpik hit Jagr in the head with a cheapshot after Jagr scored a goal in Game 4 of a playoff game with the Pens up 3-0 in the series. Its been 3 years though, so the bad blood is probably gone. As for the fans, Mario could come out and say he endorses the signing and all the yinzer fans will fall in line.