kliq

Are you saying Tyronn Lue are Steve Kerr are NOT the best NBA coaches of this generation!!! I have to agree with Cady here, Larkin is not untouchable. I have zero desire to trade him, but if the right offer came along, I'd move him. With that said, the chances of that happening are pretty much slim to none.

Makes sense from a fan perspective, I was thinking the same thing. It all comes down to how the Flames feel about David Rittich, and what their internal scouting staff see's from him. At the end of the day the kid is playing like a top 10 goalie right now, but its definitely a risk to take essentially a rookie into the post season when you could be the #1 seed. I'd take a Smith like package for Howard, 2nd and 3rd round pick.

They can trade his "rights", it just happened in the Jake Muzzin trade: JANUARY 28: Toronto Maple Leafs acquire defenseman Jake Muzzin from Los Angeles Kings in exchange for forward Carl Grundstrom, rights to defenseman Sean Durzi and 2019 first-round pick.

I think you're pretty spot on. Only chance Howard brings in a 1st is if a high end starter or two go down at the same time.

What do you all think the return for Howard is going to be? I was thinking about it, and when I break it down, here is how I look it. Here are the teams that are currently in the playoffs, and their starting goalie: Tampa Bay - Andrei Vasilevskiy Toronto - Frederik Andersen Montreal - Carey Price NYI - Robin Lehner Washington - Braden Holtby Pittsburgh - Matt Murray Boston - Tuukka Rask Columbus - Sergei Bobrovsky Winnipeg - Connor Hellebuyck Nashville - Pekka Rinne Dallas - Ben Bishop Calgary - David Rittich San Jose - Martin Jones Vegas - Marc-Andre Fleury Minnesota - Devan Dubnyk Vancouver - Jacob Markstrom I cant see TB, Toronto, Montreal, Washington, Pittsburgh, Boston, Columbus, Winnipeg, Nashville, Dallas, San Jose, Vegas, or Minnesota trading a 1st for Howard as all these teams have definitive starters who are either at the same level, or at a higher level then Howard. I know guys like Murray and Holby are struggling, but I can't see their respective teams bringing in Howard for a 1st, and moving these former cup winning goalies into a backup role. That leaves NYI, Calgary, and Vancouver. Lehner definitely has not shown through his career that he is at Howards level, however this year he ranks #1 in both Save % and GAA, so I cant see them trading for Howard unless he takes a nose dive in the next month. Calgary is in a similar situation, Rittich is no household name, however he is a top 10 goalie this year. Lastly that leaves Vancouver, if they were legit contenders, I could see it as Howard is definitely an upgrade over Markstrom, however they are also a re-building team, would they really give up a 1st so they can MAYBE win a round or two, if that. Unless one of these goalies gets hurt for the season, I think the return for Howard is going to be low, and I think people should lower their expectations. I hope I am wrong, but when you break it down, I just cant see a scenario (again baring injury) where he lands us a 1st, or even a 2nd. I think he likely goes for a 3rd, or if its even worse then that, maybe Holland just hangs on to him. I guess the wild card is a team on the outside looking in making the move. Maybe an Edmonton, Colorado, or Carolina? But for any of those teams to give up a 1st, it just seems like a bad move. It would be funny though if Carolina made a move, reuniting Howard with Mrazek lol. What does everyone else think?

Sucks, but for a life time Wing about to hang up the skates, I think respecting his wishes is the right move. I wouldn't burn bridges with a lifer who sacrificed his body the way he has for a 3rd, 4th, or 5th round pick.

He blocked a trade last year to Toronto. I remember they were talking about it on 97.1, this is all I could find. https://tipofthetower.com/2018/02/26/toronto-maple-leafs-rumors-mike-green-blocked-trade/

Ill give credit where credit is due, he's playing well this year. Not close to 10.5mil caphit, but he's finally producing like an average first liner.

You're the one who said: But I have been reading that he could get all of a low first, a prospect AND a roster player. Can you blame anyone for asking where you actually read it?

Back in the summer it was being reported that he had offers on the table, but didnt accept them because of lingering issues from his concussion.

This is a weird story....I’m curious what happened here.

Sucks that he is not back to 100%, but I’m happy that he is retiring. Can’t help but think of Franzen and how he is struggling now. Franzen tried to comeback and just kept getting concussed again, I don’t want to see that happen to Nash.

I think Philly just needs to modify a few things here or there, and with a new coach should be able to be contenders very soon. LA needs to blow it up.

For sure, I'm just pointing out how much better he could be production wise if he had snipers like that. Lets hope Mantha/Zadina hit their ceilings, as that is huge for us in the development of this team..

Agreed.....look at what he's putting up playing with Nyquist, Abby, Helm or whoever else is put on his line. Imagine if the kid was playing with actual elite wingers like Patrick Kane, Ovie etc.

I have a feeling Ottawa will grab him anyways, but I wouldnt be opposed to it. If it doesnt work, we waive him.

I think this is fair.....though I would just add that for me to consider someone elite, I need to see this level of play for a few seasons in a row. Many guys have been top 5 players at their position for 1 year only to drop off the next season.

I have no desire to sign Matt Duchene. I would bet that he ends up signing a massive contract that in 3 years whomever signs him is going to be looking to dump. All the warning signs are there. The last 3 seasons the guy has been roughly a 0.5 - 0.7 PPG type players, and now in a contract year he is scoring over a point per game. What this tell me me is that he is a talented player who struggles with motivation, and its been pretty well documented that there are issues with his attitude. Now if we could get him for say 5x5, I'd take him in a second, but I think @krsmith17 is right and he will go for 8mx7. The other thing about him, is its one thing to be scoring like this on a basement team, I'm not sold he would be doing it on a top team. I remember back when we acquired Lang, guy was leading the NHL in points on a garbage Washington team. He was getting a ton of minutes, all the top PP time, and had the ability to play to score often because his team was always playing catch up. Once he comes to Detroit, his PPG dropped dramatically. This screams that type of situation to me. I get this anecdotal evidence, but that's what my gut tells me.

Glad to see Mantha back! THE most important thing for us right now is that players like Mantha play and get better. Work out the kinks now, so when we are ready to contend they are ready to go at a high level.

If we were a cup contender, I see where you are coming from. The way I look at it, there is no risk because if he's hurt and doesn't play, it doesn't actually "hurt" us. I like him being here because his skill set will help these kids develop (someone has to create offense from the back end to help out these young forwards). Plus, you have to think his offensive abilities are something the kids on D are picking his brain about.

Damn....this s pretty telling about Green's value to the team: Mike Green: A GP: 23 G: 3 A: 13 PT: 16 Green has been an offensive spark plug when healthy. Problem is, he missed the first nine games with a virus and won't return until mid-January at the earliest due to a foot injury. The team is 13-8-2 with Green and 2-11-5 without him. He leads team defensemen in points and all players in plus-minus rating (plus-10) and average ice time (21:56).

Abby?

If healthy, no doubt. The problem is that Datsyuk at 35 couldn't stay healthy playing the NHL game, Datsyuk at 41 will almost surely be injured, and it will likely just become sad to watch.

Didn’t New Jersey do the same thing with Damien Brunner?

Leivo has 4 goals and 6 points this year, I really don't think he would require much of a raise. I dont believe this move has anything to do with cap. The only cap casualties for Toronto will likely be Hainsley & Gardinar, and MAYBE Marleau if they need to buy him out.