Richdg

Youth movement yet get rid of one of our better young players. Odd to me. He has played 2.5 seasons and has gotten better each year. In the minors he has had better numbers than Helm, Mursak, Emmerton etc.... he is one of the top 3 or 4 fastest skaters on the team. Not sure where the slow stuff comes from. Mickey raves about his speed during the broadcasts. When dealing with young players, it is the 3/4th years that truely start to see what you have. Same was true with big E. Go back and watch Chelios rave about him at Nickeys retirement PC. fact is it takes time for guys to adjust to the higher level. It hasn't helped that the RW haven't settled on a position for Abby either. Is he a wing or a center. They need to make up their minds and let him play. The best guy to compare Abby to is cleary. No he doesn't have the most talent on the team. But he works hard and gives you everything he has. That is perfect from 3/4 line guys.

It is at this time that Holland will make or break his career. He has been very good at maintaining what Jimmy D gave him. The question I have for Holland is he willing to take the big risks and gambles? Not sure he is. Holland has siad many times that he would retire when Nick does. Now maybe that was in jest, or maybe he is going to step down in the next year or 2. far to often long time successful GM's-in all sports, refuse to take risks late in their careers. Why rock the boat becomes their lifestyle and bi-words. if Holland takes a further plug and patch approach I would bet on a retirement soon. To me all options should be looked at and explored. Other than the 3 guys with no trade clauses.

Trades of course take value. But what is better? a 23 year old Smith that has played 14 career games, or a 25 year old Yandle who is an AS caliber Dman? if your team has cap issues, you may wish to stick with the younger unrpoven guy. We don't have cap issues. In this case i want the proven performer. If I could a do a Smith, Emmerton, Tatar for yndle trade, it would be done so fast peoples head would spin. Yes prospects are nice. But that is all they are: propects. There are no guarantees they will ever work out. Yandle has however PROVEN he can play at a very high level and is still very young.

After being left at the alter by Parise and Suter, we RW fans are worried, and we should be. The question becomes what should we do next? From the day I joined this forum I said I didn't expect to get either of parise and Suter, even though I really hoped we would get Suter. To many teams with to much money out there to expect anything in FA. One of the things that hurts the RW is Detroit. Yes the RW are a great organization with legions a great loyal fans. But the city of detroit is a giant dump. Suburbs are nice, but the city itself sucks big time. Way to high of taxes, corruption, crappy schools, crime etc..... Yes most of the pro athletes live in the burbs, but who really wants to spend 2 hours a day driving back and forth? Anyone who does it will tell you it sucks. Less time with your family's. But back to the point. When i joined I start off by saying we need to fix the blueline this year. I expected Lidstrom to retire-he did and Stuart to leave-he did. That has left 2 huge holes that must be filled. We currently only have 6 Dmen on the roster, so we are already short. problem is/was the UFA pool was very shallow. just not many out there. All of which are now signed. That means we have to make a trade. But what pieces do we have to make a trade? Of course to get someone of value we have to give value up. We don't have much to trade. Many are talking about getting Yandle. great! Love to have him. But what do we have to move? If you where the Yotes GM, and are looking to move yandle would you do a dal for Emmerton, Mursak and Abby? hell no. No GM in his right mind are going to trade an AS Dmen for some checking line players. Maybe we through in our 2013 1st round pick? But that pick could very well be a lot higher than many think and hope. As our team sits today, we are a borderline playoff team. if heaven forbid we have any serious injuires to Z, Dat, or Kron, we are screwed. we have no depth to replace them. We could have a top 10 pick next season. So moving that pick may be far more valuable than we think or want. The last thing to consider is the 2013 UFA class. it is loaded! It is in our best interest to make sure we have lots of money to spend next year. We also will have holes to fill up front. if we still have needs up front this year, go after 1 or 2 older vets that we can sign short term to keep us competitive and allow money to be available next off season. of course, if we can pick up any of those potential 2013 UFA's via trade while their value is lower, do it! getting them on the team greatly increases our chances of resigning them. Other than Hossa, how many big name players that have been here wanted to leave? They want to play here for ever, use that to our advantage. Thoughts and rant over..... good day!

Nash is a question to me. yes he is big young and scores goals. But there have been more than one person question his will to use his size and he seems to think D is optional most nights. Maybe it is a product of being on a bad team. Or maybe that is who he really is. Do I think we can get him? Nope. Being in the same division we would have to pay the most. We simply don't have the parts to move for this big of a deal.

With options declining, prices will go up.

While I am sure it got a mention in the Draft thread, glad you posted it here. This is one move that I would have loved to see us make. Big young talented 2 way C's are hard to find. woulda's coulda's shoulda's......

looks good.

There are and have been some rumors around that the Sabers are looking for a true C. They have several good young wingers, but have a gapping hole in the middle. They are also a small market team that has to watch its pennies very carefully. We on the other hand have lots of cash and C's. if we load up at the C position, Filppula would be our number 3 C behind Z and Dat. Point is, there could be some deals that benefit both sides here. if Buf really wants to free up cash, Filppula for vaneck comes to mind. In his 7 year career he has averaged 33 goals per season. has decent size as well. Gives us another scoring winger and them a true number 1 type C. They also have 2 1st round picks. So we could try a Filppula for Stafford and their second 21st (IIRC) pick. Point is, they need what we have and we need what they have. Could be a good dancing partner.......

Untouchabe? That is a little much. Yes good checkers are always needed. But so are stars that can take your team to the promised land. A team of stars isn't going to get it done, nor is aa team fo checkers. But there are packages where helm could be moved. But we are talking about picking up stars. If the pens were to offer us Staal for helm and others, I would do it in a heartbeat. No, I am not saying we can do that, but as an example it mkes the point.

On that we agree. We need good young RH D's, and he is one. Sign Schultz this year and maybe Widmen? That would give us 3 RH D this year. White is a UFA after this season, so down to 2 again. Dekeyser would be a nice pickup. he does need a season in GR.

Forums are so damn funny. First glad helm is back. very good checker. But a month ago I said, and I quote "it is going to take around 8 million per season to resign Helm, Abdelkader, and Quincey". Everyone on this forum, and I do mean everyone said I was nuts. no way that was going to happen. Now after the first signing, its all "great deal" or "should be a bargin in 2-3 years" etc....

We need more 20 goal scorers. How many goals would Stafford score if he had a C to get him the puck? As for vanek, he is about the same as parise. Both are scorers first and formost. We don't need great passers. We need guys to put the puck in the net. Vanek will end up being CHEAPER as well.Also keep in mind both Howard and Filppula are UFA's next year. Stafford would be a good 2line winger for us, and is signed for a few more seasons. Thus leaving some $$ on the table to get Howard resigned.

MSU's season was over when Abby signed.

LOL....gotchya

Some thoughts.... IIRC dekeyser is going back for his senior year. So not someone we can sign this year. If the cap goes down-which it may, money will get tight real quick. But we will not know this untill well after Juy 1st. That will be interesting to watch, how many teams push right up to the 70 million mark, with an unknown future cap.

The best powerplays have the same things in common. On D you need a LH and RH shot. You need a F that can stand in front of the goal, and 2 other forwards that are good at passing AND shooting. We have some short comings here. Only 1 RH D on the team. Not sure who is going to stand in front of the net, and what F are great shooters? Great passing and plenty of LH D we have.

He is a RFA. Listed as 6-2/228 and only 24 years old. has scored 25+ goals in the past. Would the Blues move him to a division rival? My guess would be no. But yes, he is a guy like Folingo that we should be talking about. Could very easily be a guy that play 10+ years for us while adding 25 goals per year. In fact think of that as a 3rd line: Folingo-Abby-Stewart. Me likey a lot!

You can disagree all you want, but that doesn't change the fact it is true. Franzen gets hot for 15-25 games every year and score 50% or more of his goals in that time frame. the rest of the year he just floats around the ice like he doesn't even care. yes when hot he is one of the best around. But on the other hand, this a guy who after 8 + seasons has never had a single 60 point season. What was he lat=st year? 96th overall in scoring IIRC. I understand that scoring comes and goes. Most scorers are streaky. But that does not excuse the lake of hustle, skating hard, checking, and playing D the rest of the time. When hot Franzen does all of thsoe things. When he isn't he does none of them.

Have I ran an aduti on their books? Nope. But the jets themselves-read the above link by the Win. newspaper, were happy they made their goal of 100 million in rev. That is what the Jets have said publicly. The rest I said based on experience. I have degrees in business management, and 15 years in upper management expereince at various companies. I have great knowledge of what it take to make a company run. Not to mention what things like overhead and payroll run, and at what % those are normally at. This is the real world. Not thoughts and opinions on some forum. Why do you think the NHL fought so hard to hold the players at 57% of revenue in the last CBA? Just some random number? No. Becasue that is the line that they believe they start losing money. Now is 57% the same for every team? No. Big revenue teams can go much higher. A team that makes 200 million only spend 35% on payroll, with a 70 million $ cap. A team that makes 100 million-like the Jets, can't go to 70 million because it puts them into the red. The best way to judge the Jets hasn't happened yet. It is 2 years away. Look at the numbers after year 3, when all the shine has worn off. If the hold or decrease, they will not make it long term. Inflation will hamper them. if they increase at the inflation rate or greater, they will survive.

Man, some of you are showing your age. How about HOF radio man Bruce Martyn? 1964-1995 and never won the cup........

On paper what you are saying makes sense. But Franzen doesn't play 80 games like a guy 6-3/220. he does for 20 games or so and the other 60 games he plays like an 70 year old grandmother. Perry will get cheaper everyday we get closer to the trade deadline. he is a UFA they can't keep (IMHO). so they will move him.

Since neither of you have any knowledge about business, let me explain. If a team has 100 million in revenue, which is what the Jets have, they may repeat may have 45-55 million to spend on payroll. Out of the 100 million they have to: pay taxes, pay for their front office, pay for their minor league teams, give the ownership some form of profit, pay the vendors for the beers, dogs, brats, popcorn, etc.... Pay the rent to the arena, and so one. This is the high water mark. They will never sell as much mer. etc.... because they are not the hot new thing anymore. Everyone has a jersey already. The arena they play in lacks the lux. suites needed to rake in the money needed. They may be allowed to spend 70 million in payroll, but they will never have the money to do it untill: they get a wealthy owner that only cares about winning. Maybe then they will be able to. Untill such time they will have to operate like a small market baseball team does. Go wathc the movie moneyball. That is what the jets will have to do, and make zero mistakes along the way to win. That being said, I hope they do make it. It is good for the league.

Ok, nothing new about what he said. He understands that a tuned up is needed, so we don't have to go into a major rebuild. he publicly said we need to add 5 new players to the mix: 1 top six forward, 1 gritty bottom 6 forward, 2 d men, and a new backup goalie. Currently we have the following forwards: Dat, Z, Mule, Burt, cleary, filppula, abby, helm, miller, eaves, mursak, emmerton, and Nyquist. That is 13. 1 spot open. On D we have Kronwall, E, Quincey, Kindl, White and Smith. 6 guys, so 1 spot open. Goalie we have Howard and McDonald. 0 spots open. So with 2 open spots and 5 targets coming in, some players will be moved. Now the tougher part. Who goes, who comes in, and how? Start at goalie, it is the easiest to answer. McDonald will be gone and a UFA will come in. McDonald has zero trade value, so either will be cut or become a throw in on a deal. There are several veterans goalies that could be had this year. No major changes in the roster, cap, or status of the team. If possible I would try to extend Howard now, rather than risk him next offseason. Defensemen. This starts to get trickier. We have 6. yes Quincey could be allowed to walk, but that is a pretty big risk to take. There are 4 or5 real good UFA's, but then we have a fairly big drop off to the next group. We have to get 1 of those top 4 or 5 just to stand pat with Lidstrom retiring. I expect Quincey to be resigned. he can always be traded later on if we fail in our goal to sign 2 UFA Dmen. In a perfect world, we sign 1 of the Suter/garrison/Carle/Widemen group, keep Quincey to start the year, and sign Schultz. Trade Quincey once Schultz is ready. be it this year or next off season. The only other thing i would do with the BL corp is extend White now. Forwards. This is far more challenging. There is one top 6 forward available via UFA: Parise. After him, most of the top UFA forwards are 2nd and 3rd line guys. Or they are C, and we are pretty deep at C if we so choose. Dat, Z, and Filppula is a pretty good 1-3 C rotation. helm at the 4th line C is perfect for the checking role. There are many names we can add for the 2nd and 3rd lines, that can be counted on for 20 goals. But where do we go if we miss out on parise? The million dollar question. If we fall to sign him, that means a trade. But where is the valueable players for us to trade? they are all on our roster already. Trade value. Ok, of the 21 guys on the roster as of today, who can be moved, and who has value? Dat, E, and Burt all have no trade clauses. Leaves only 18 names left. Eaves (injury), Miller, mursak, Emmerton, Cleary (knee surgery), McDonald and Kindl really don't have much value for trades. keep in mind we need a top 6 forward. That leaves a group of guys with value, that we would prefer to keep. Kronwall, White, Smith, Howard, Filppula, Z, Nyquist, Helm, and Abby. That leaves 2 guys left that everyone has mixed feelings about: Franzen and Quincey. So, now what palyers do we use to go after a top 6 forward? The entire group of Eaves, Miller, Mursak, Emmerton, Cleary, McDonald, and Kindl isn't going to be enough. Even if you add Quncey to that mix, you still don't have enough to get a top 6 guy. Not to mention you would have to cancel the Griffins season, just to have enough body's to fill out the roster. If you use guys like Filppula, Z, and Kronwall, you are opening other holes up, that you now need to fill. So that brings me back to the question. If we miss out on parise, where do we go? grab 3 20 goal per year guys? Try to swing a major trade and open up another hole? maybe even bank the money untill next year, which is a much deeper class?

You are the one who seems very confused. Last year the Jets were supported by the league to stay viable. See the story linked above were their owner "shocked" everyone by telling them they may no longer need the help. yes the cap may be high, but that does not mean they have the ability to pay that much, and in fact through this past season they did not. Thus the payments from the league. In there first year, they did great. But that was because they were the hot new thing. The question that no one knows the answer to is: will it last. I would bet no. Win. is just to small of a market to keep them going. That is why the jets-now yotes moved in the first place. Now you can spew whatever you want about me untill your fingers hurt. i really couldn't care less. But at least try to have any proof or evidence in anything you say when you do it. Which to date you do not. have a good day. Here is the link, Bombshell was the word used..... http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Jets-will-not-need-NHLs-revenue-sharing--146445605.html