Buppy

You're looking at the wrong Greene I think. Matt is signed for 3 more years in LA. Andy is the UFA. Though Andy is also a Michigan native, and pretty good in his own right. More of an offensive guy, but decent defense. Not one of my top choices, but I wouldn't object.

I'm aware of how the cap works. I'm also aware that Smith and Tatar both make under $900K in the NHL. Thus we would need only 5 days to pass without calling anyone up before we could call one of them up for one day. And for every 5 days without a call up we could have one of those guys for a day. Sure, there's some risk being that close. But it's also a 23 man roster, so we'd need 4 skaters (or a goalie) injured before we even need a call-up. And honestly, what would it really matter if we did have to play a few games here and there with a short roster. Really no different than someone getting hurt during a game. So, small risk of being slightly handicapped for a meaningless game or 3 and a better roster while healthy. I'll take that.

$200K is enough for Smith or Tatar to play ~15-20 games. If we need anything more than that we'd almost certainly be able to use LTIR.

FORWARDS Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Johan Franzen ($3.954m) Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) / Brooks Laich ($3.500m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.000m) Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) / Jan Mursak ($0.550m) DEFENSEMEN Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / James Wisniewski ($4.750m) Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / Brad Stuart ($3.750m) Jan Hejda ($3.000m) / Anton Babchuk ($2.500m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Brian Boucher ($0.950m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $64,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,792,044; BONUSES: $0 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $207,956 Bieksa and a cheap vet or Janik in place of Hejda and Babchuk could work too, and probably gives a better opportunity to Kindl. I'm just not completely sold on the idea of Kindl as a regular. Honestly, I kind of hope we trade him. Not that I hate him or anything, I just don't want to keep him stuck as a 7 but I don't want to depend on him as a 6 either. With my guys, Babchuk takes Stuart's spot for the 2nd PP unit; Hejda comes in for Wis for the 2nd PK unit. All 6 guys would get close to 20 minutes. I'm not in love with the forwards. I don't think any of the available FAs fit all that great with what we have. Cole, Upshall, Fiddler, and Jokinen would be other OK options, but nothing I'd get excited over. Laich I think would fit better next year assuming we part ways with Bert and Homer. I wouldn't even mind bringing back Miller in place of Laich if we had to pay more for the defense. Or even trade Emmerton and put Miller in his spot, then take a gamble on Zherdev or Jagr if they came cheap ($2M or less). Moving Hudler is maybe an option, but I still don't like any of the forwards all that much. There's some 4th liners I like; Hall, McCormick, Winchester, Dwyer... Maybe sign a couple of those guys, then try to somehow weasel a true top 6 scorer out of a Hudler, Emmerton, Kindl, + picks package. Maybe add Flip in there and move Bert or Cleary up. But in that scenario the only option that would fit for me would be Carter. Trades are too tricky to think about...

If Minny is looking to rebuild, Burns is a piece to build around. We'd need to send a similar building block (or package) back to get him now. And we don't have really have one. Something like Smith, Tatar, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, + next year's 1st is probably more like it. No harm in asking the price of course, but I really doubt he'd be available at all, much less for what we could afford. A more realistic hope is either as a UFA next year or hope that they don't trade him now, but fear losing him as a UFA so trade him at the deadline. Similar deal with Clusterf***. They have him cheap for two more years, and then he's an RFA. What could they gain by trading him?

Vancouver Sun Sounds like Bieksa's basically a lock to be back in Vancouver. Ehrhoff maybe more likely to leave, but I wouldn't be surprised if they both stay. I liked this though: "I think everybody takes less to play here," Bieksa said. "It's such a great organization that you want to be here, so if you want to be here you have to take less, that's just the culture. It's like Detroit. If you want to win, you have to take less to be here. Again, without making my agent's job too tough, I'm optimistic."

My short list of UFA defensemen, not counting ours. I'd like Nick back of course, and let Ericsson and Salei walk. That leaves three spots. Name Age Ht Wt S GP G A P +/- PIM H B EST SHT PPT TOI Cap Alberts 29 77 218 L 42 1 6 7 0 41 113 49 13.48 1.55 0.1 15.15 $1,050,000 Babchuk 27 77 212 R 82 11 24 35 14 32 19 156 13.26 0.5 2.56 16.34 $1,400,000 Bieksa 30 73 198 R 66 6 16 22 32 73 104 93 18.07 2.67 1.72 22.47 $3,750,000 Brewer 32 75 220 L 76 9 7 16 6 81 145 120 18.31 3.12 0.59 22.04 $4,250,000 Ehrhoff 28 74 203 L 79 14 36 50 19 52 54 108 18.28 2.13 3.55 23.98 $3,100,000 Eminger 27 74 203 R 65 2 4 6 -5 22 143 103 14.2 1.33 0.3 15.85 $1,125,000 Greene 28 71 190 L 82 4 19 23 -23 22 49 157 18.75 2.32 1.27 22.35 $737,500 Hejda 33 76 237 L 77 5 15 20 -6 28 152 158 18.12 2.83 0.13 21.12 $2,000,000 Mara 31 76 211 L 53 1 5 6 1 88 88 85 15.01 2.36 0.88 18.27 $750,000 Montador 31 72 207 R 73 5 21 26 16 83 86 138 17.27 2.07 0.37 19.72 $1,550,000 O'Brien 27 75 230 L 80 2 7 9 1 83 164 80 14.2 2.83 0.07 17.10 $1,600,000 Pitkanen 27 75 210 L 72 5 30 35 -2 60 66 130 19.73 1.15 4.12 25.02 $4,000,000 Vandermeer 31 73 214 L 62 2 12 14 -15 74 122 78 15.65 2.07 0.45 18.20 $2,300,000 White 27 70 200 R 78 4 22 26 3 26 59 144 16.73 1.08 2.16 19.98 $2,999,995 Wisniewski 27 71 208 R 75 10 41 51 -14 38 108 119 17.47 0.99 4.46 22.93 $3,250,000 I'd like two preferably RH shots that can play the PP, and at least one solid PKer who can block shots and hit. I'd want Kindl to at least have a shot at a regular spot in the lineup. For future considerations, I'd like to see deals that leave room to add Smith next year, while also keeping Kronwall and Stuart, and go after someone like Burns or Suter if Nick retires. Few, if any, of these guys would be interested in one year deals, but we could always look for a trade later. Wisniewski and Bieksa would fill our needs perfectly, and we could fill the third spot with anyone. Might not fit the cap though, and I have doubts that Bieksa will make it to July 1st. I think Hejda would be a great addition too, and maybe better value than some of the more popular guys. Anyways, figured some might like the stats for handy comparison. I can add other players to it, if requested.

I think you're tilting at windmills here. No one is suggesting we replace all our solid defensive forwards with offense-only forwards. We could definitely use another scoring forward, just to mesh with the personel we already have. You can't win with a team full of Helms, Eaves, and Millers either. We have enough solid defensive forwards that we can afford a few who aren't very good. Also, one person suggested Connolly. Pretty much everyone who responded was against it, because he doesn't add enough for what he costs. Zherdev though could be worthwhile gamble, if he were to come as cheaply as suggested by those in favor of him. If he produces, great. If not, we'd still have a solid 13/14 forward to replace him. Most suggesting him figure he'd replace Hudler, so we aren't really losing anything defensively anyway. I don't think anyone wants Zherdev at $3M+ or anything that would cost us improvements elsewhere. Finally, our defense has been good over the last decade and a half primarily because we have a great system anchored by one of the best defenseman of all time. Our struggles the past few years have not really been a matter personel. More because of regular season laziness, coaching, at times suspect goaltending, falling away from our system, and more teams now employing that system against us. In '07-08 we had the league's top GAA. We brought back essentially the same team and added a top-tier two-way forward but still our defense plummeted. Our new assistant coaches will be a big part of how our D performs. As will Howie and whoever our backup ends up being, and of course whatever new defensemen we get. I'd like to see some better shot-blockers on defense, and some guys that can be better at clearing the crease. Assuming we bring back Eaves and/or Miller, our forward defense is fine. I'd even expect Helm and Abby to be better, and Mursak gives another lightning-fast forechecker option. We have the players to put two very good defensive forwards on each line. We could afford to gamble on someone like Zherdev if he came cheap.

This year was as small step back I think, but last year was a definite improvement. I think some people just got it into their head that he was supposed to 'break out', and compared to those expectations his modest improvements seem disappointing. Especially combined with the injury last year leaving his raw numbers low. But I think the premise of the OP is way off. Skill and offense play a huge role in both the Selke and even moreso the Norris. Datsyuk, Brind'Amour, Yzerman were all high-scoring. Draper maybe wouldn't have won if he hadn't scored 24 goals in 67 games that year. Even guys like Lehtonen, Peca, and Madden have tended to win when their offense was better than normal. Norris almost always goes to a top scoring defenseman. I doubt Flip will ever get any serious consideration. Offense isn't good enough, he doesn't stand out on faceoffs or takeaways, and he's not used in shut-down role. I could see Helm being a finalist and even winning a couple though.

Hossa was a premier 2-way forward well before he came here, and I'd wager most people here were pretty big fans. I'd like Zherdev at your price; I think we can afford the gamble, but he doesn't comapre to Hossa at all. Not a big fan of Connolly. He may be a RH center but he sucks on faceoffs. I'd rather someone more physical for a third line center and I'm not sure how well he fits the roster moving forward. He costs a bit much, but we're in good shape so that's not a huge deal. There are better options. A depth player like Adam Hall would give us a decent RH faceoff guy if we really think we need it. Wis and Babchuk won't likely come that cheap, but you have room to spare. I'd like both guys.

I disagree. I didn't see any lack of effort. Nor do I see his comments then and now the same way. I think you have a low opinion of him because the season didn't work out, and that opinion is coloring your interpretation of his comments. "I don't think I've completely shut the door on that," "I'll think about it the first two weeks of July, see if anybody calls. If not, then I'll say that's it. But it depends where and with whom -- what the opportunity is." "you think about how you want one more shot at it, one more chance, how you want to go through that experience again. It would be fulfilling." "I'm going to take my time and really consider what I'm going to do," "I'm still healthy but, to me, it's more motivation." "For me, it's just finding that motivation to go through that off-season training and get ready for another year,"

God, what a bunch of *******. He's 41. He's just being honest. Obviously still has the desire to play, but is uncertain if he really wants everything that goes with it and he's willing to accept retirement. Essentially the same things Lidstrom has been saying the past two years. You're just pissy because things didn't go well here.

I think his choice of wording and his manner made it seem like a dig. Regardless, still funny coming from a guy who let in more goals in one game than Thomas has all series. I'm really hoping Boston can pull the upset. Not because I like Boston or dislike Vancouver. I just think Boston fans are less likely to spend the summer on here trying to convince us how great they are like Pittsburgh/Chicago fans did.

I don't know. Carolina gave Ward $6M last summer, but he's a Cup winner with a fantastic playoff record. You have two high-priced Vezina finalists in the finals, either one a potential Conn Smythe winner. On the other hand 6 of the top 11 highest paid goalies (not counting Huet) missed the playoffs, 3 more lost in the first round. Philly has tried the 'cheap' route with little success. Seems they're willing to spend now. I don't know that Bryz will get $6M+, $5-5.5M seems more likely.

I don't know about that. Neither is really essential, and a RH shot on the point on the PP is very valuable but that can be done by a forward. Aside from that, I'd say having at least a couple RH shots up front is even more important than on defense. I recall several instances this year where fantastic scoring opportunities were lost just because someone had to take a pass on their backhand.

The lack of goal scorers would be a concern. We should be trying to add a potential 40g scorer, not trade one. Burns would be a great pickup but not at that price. A better option would be to aim for him at the deadline, when the cost would likely be cosiderably lower. Maybe if he already had new deal, but you're risking losing Mule and two high picks plus Kindl for a one year rental.

No doubt Philly would rather have Flip. Right now I'd say every team in the league would. But I don't think faceoffs are that big a deal. Carter was only 5th on the team in draws taken. They seem more than happy to let Giroux and Richards take them. The real reason for Flip (or a good-but-cheap option like Helm or Abby) is that without one of them, their line options are more limited. Hudler needs to be on a scoring line and pretty much limited to the wing, the other three are much more versatile. I'd still pull the trigger on the deal I suggested with Flip in Hudler's place. Maybe downgrade Tatar to Emmerton or HTD or something though.

When Philadelphia jerks off, they're fantasizing about you as an NHL GM. No doubt the 8th pick + rights to Voracek would be a great deal for Philly. Frankly, the Jackets would be dumb to make that deal if they weren't getting more than Carter in return. If Philly can get that deal good for them. But that doesn't mean that other suggestions that make both teams better are unreasonable. It's pretty unlikely we'll see the cap go down. If we do, it would almost certainly be as part of the new CBA which would also bring an across-the-board salary reduction and/or cap-free buyout options; same as the last CBA. As it stands, we are in great shape to fill holes even if the cap stagnates. We can easily afford to upgrade Flip/Hudler to Carter without risking our future, or having to skimp on defense. You can't win now if you're constantly obsessing over what's going to happen in the future. Carter could feasibly be an elite player for another 8-10 years. He could turn to s***. But there's also risk in every other move you make or don't make. As we are now with our cap space and the prospects we could see in the next 2-5 years, if the cap keeps going up and all the good players keep signing 5-10+ year deals, there's probably as much risk of us wasting cap because we can't acquire anyone worth paying as there is risk of running over the cap.

Regardless of how much better those guys are than what's available this year, they can't help us this year. We need someone this year who can fill Rafi's spot...PP QB, preferably (but not absolutely) RH shot, leading the breakout. Bieksa doesn't really fit, but maybe compensates in other areas. The other three (and maybe add Kaberle, Markov, and Babchuk to that list) would fill our need. We have fantastic flexibility in the next few years. We could add any one of those guys for even the high-end of their market value and fill the rst of the roster with quality role players and still have the freedom to go after Burns or Suter next year. Nor do we have to offer a long-term deal. Make a two year offer at a little higher rate and then we have the ability to go after Enstrom or Edler the year after next.

I'd rather have Meech for a 7th. I really have no idea why everyone seems to love Janik so much... That said; Montador, Eminger, Harrison, Hejda, SOB, and even Salei are all solid bottom pair guys. We should have plenty of room to add two of them and not worry about borderline NHLers at all. Not sure what the natural side is for all those guys (or Kindl for that matter). My preference would be one naturally opposite Kindl, and one (or both I guess) comfortable either side.

As I mentioned in the other thread, something that may be overlooked is Laperriere's status. He's on a 35+ deal, LTIR'd for all of last year, and last word was basically that playing again could be life threatening. He has a cap hit of $1.16 that the Flyers may be stuck with. If that happens, the cap goes up to $63M, they sign Bryz for $6M, and dump Versteeg, Carle, and both of their other goalies they'd have $7.85M to sign an entire 3rd line + 4th line forward + 3rd pair D + backup goalie + 1-3 depth players. It's a tight fit. Maybe they think having say Hudler + Leino for the same price as Carter + a minimum wage plug would be better. Maybe add a cheap but attractive prospect like Tatar who could either fill a third line role or be sent to the AHL, and a cheap defenseman with some upside... Hudler, Tatar, Kindl, 1st, + 3rd (plus maybe Emmerton or Andersson) for Carter and Carle. I think it makes both teams better (though I don't know what prospects Philly already has to fill holes cheaply, so maybe not). FORWARDS Ville Leino ($3.000m) / Daniel Briere ($6.500m) / Scott Hartnell ($4.200m) James Van Riemsdyk ($1.654m) / Mike Richards ($5.750m) / Andreas Nodl ($1.250m) Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Claude Giroux ($3.750m) / Tomas Tatar ($0.840m) Blair Betts ($0.700m) / Zenon Konopka ($0.750m) / Darroll Powe ($0.950m) Jody Shelley ($1.100m) / Ian Laperriere ($1.166m) DEFENSEMEN Kimmo Timonen ($6.333m) / Chris Pronger ($4.921m) Braydon Coburn ($3.200m) / Andrej Meszaros ($4.000m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) / Sean O'Donnell ($1.300m) Oskars Bartulis ($0.600m) GOALTENDERS Ilya Bryzgalov ($6.000m) / Brian Boucher ($0.950m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $63,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $62,673,928; BONUSES: $1,110,000 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $326,072 ---------- FORWARDS Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Jeff Carter ($5.272m) / Johan Franzen ($3.954m) Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) / Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Drew Miller ($0.850m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Patrick Eaves ($0.950m) Kris Draper ($0.750m) / Jan Mursak ($0.550m) DEFENSEMEN Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.000m) / Brad Stuart ($3.750m) Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / James Wisniewski ($4.500m) Jay Harrison ($1.500m) / Matt Carle ($3.437m) Derek Meech ($0.550m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Chris Osgood ($0.750m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $63,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $62,160,605; BONUSES: $0 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $839,395

Of the current roster and prospects expected to be with the team, we have 10 players signed beyond next year, for about $28M. We can probably figure a cap number around $62-65M, assuming the hard cap stays in the next CBA. We have great long-term flexibility, even if we get a couple higher priced guys this year. We could be looking at something like this in two years (I didn't bother to look up the FAs, so I just filled in prices mostly. And I think my raises and FA prices are pretty liberal.): FORWARDS Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Brooks Laich ($4.000m) Johan Franzen ($3.954m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Tomas Tatar ($0.840m) / Helm ($2.500m) / Some Guy ($2.000m) Jan Mursak ($0.550m) / Abby ($1.750m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.250m) / Some Guy ($0.850m) / Some Guy ($0.750m) DEFENSEMEN Kronner ($5.000m) / Brent Burns ($6.500m) Stuie ($4.500m) / James Wisniewski ($4.750m) Brendan Smith ($0.875m) / Some Guy ($2.000m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Some Guy ($0.750m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $65,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $64,536,211; BONUSES: $260,000 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $463,789 So we can pick up Wis and Laich, who would both fit our needs nicely this coming season, AND still sign a premier defenseman next summer AND keep our key FAs AND add a couple decent role players, if not even more. And that's not even considering the ability to trade someone to free space.

They were already in pretty bad shape, probably needing to trade someone to re-sign Leino and fill the rest of the roster. Assuming the cap goes up $3M and they dump Leighton, they'd have about $5M to sign Bryz, Leino, 2-3 more forwards and a defenseman. Then they have Laperriere to figure out. If they LTIR him again they'd gain another $1.16M to fill his place. The league might not let them LTIR him if it's obvious he can't play again. If he's forced to retire they're stuck with his hit. If they LTIR Lappy, move Versteeg and Carle, get Bryz for his current salary, and Leino at a pretty conservative $2.5 it would give them around $6M to fill 5-7 spots...I think they have to move someone else. Maybe they move Bobrovsky and/or Shelly to save a few bucks. Maybe dump Mesz instead of Carle. They struck gold with one Fin Wing, maybe they'd be interested in another...Flip, 1st, Kindl, + maybe another pick for Carter? Probably not, but Kenny should at least be making a call.

And Hudler scored 10 goals in the whole season, and never dominated any game. What is your point? That Franzen is better? I can agree with that.