Cry_Havoc

AA scored the second most goals on the team, but with only 13 minutes play time. His shot percentage was 15%. For perspective here are the other scorers: Hank at about 9%, Tatar also at 15%, Nielsen at 10%, Mantha at 13%. AA is a future top line wing (or maybe even a center). So, to say he's worth a 2nd round pick is ridiculous.

90% of our shooters are lefties. Why? Am I the only person that sees that as a problem?

I mean... we can dream. Howard moving only makes sense if Mrazek can pull it together. Kronwall is done, and needs to go on LTIR; no one is going to take him. Ericsson moving is definitely doable... and since they picked up Witkowski who can play either D or Forward, maybe that's their plan? It's certainly one of the only ways they can sign AA without losing both Glendening and Sheahan. I think they need to keep one of them for the grind line.

Unhelpful comment... is unhelpful.

Ew, you're right, I'm dumb. I'll keep my Glendening and Mrazek comments though. If they can't move Mrazek right away then they're in the position where they have to move BOTH Sheahan AND Glendening. Which means we have no grind line... Good lord, we don't lose the Weiss contract buyout until 2021.

Witkowski might play if we have injuries, so I'm very skeptical of that choice. Bertuzzi is definitely jumping up this year and I'm also betting on Svechnikov since he's been featured in marketing packages. If you assume that, then we were planning on trading someone pretty early on this summer -- which comes down to them keeping either Glenny or Sheahan (Based on size I bet they chuck Glendening). Nielsen isn't moving from the second center position, based on play.

My ideal roster is two scoring lines (SL1, SL2), a grind line (GL) and a development/prospect line (PL) for forwards; Defense is similar but less complicated, and I'm not including them since our offense is what really needs adjustment. In a general sense the below lineup assumes that I would trade Glendening, which I talked about in a different thread. I also think Larkin needs more development before he's ready to center his own line, just like Hank needed. The lineup also takes advantage of some players ability to play different positions. SL1: Mantha / Zetterberg / Larkin SL2: AA / Nielsen / Tatar GL: Abdelkader / Sheahan / Helm PL: Bertuzzi / Nyquist / Svechnikov On reserve: Frk, Sproul (D), Witkowski (D or O) THE WHY: Abdelkader and Sheahan aren't skillful enough for the top two lines, but if they specialized in agitating and grinding they could be good at it, and every now and then they'd score but they'd be under no pressure to do so, Helmer is also a good agitator, but can obviously also score so the other teams would occasionally get caught with their pants down by him. It's a good place to put the three of them since you can't trade them. Larkin still needs some development and Hank is the guy to do that; so with Larkin on the wing he could spend more time learner how to be a balanced playmaking/scoring center from one of the best. AA was really good with Nielsen last year and is ready to prove himself. I personally think we should have dropped Tatar and resigned Vanek; so if AA needs to have a big-body in front of the net then maybe move Svechnikov up to SL2 and let him hang out down on the PL until Larkin is ready to Center a line of himself, Tatar and Svechnikov. Nyquist is currently a wing... but can definitely play Center. I'd put him down on the PL to both polish his center play and allow him to develop the two new scorers. I personally think Bertuzzi would actually end up swapping with Helm within this concept, but that's a decision we can only make after letting Bert prove himself.

And to clarify, many of you are calling for the Wings to Trade guys that have NMC/NTCs. This is what we're dealing with this year according to CapFriendly.com: No Trade Clause with no exceptions or Modifications: Nyquist, Abdelkader, Helm, Green, DeKeyser, Ericsson, Daley. Modified No Trade Clause (meaning the players can place restrictions on who they get traded to): Kronwall, Nielsen So, trading guys with an NMC/NTC means we would have to buy them out if they don't waive their rights, which is costly and comes with a Cap hit BEYOND THEIR CONTRACT.

So, the problem is you guys are thinking about STARTERS. First let me start by saying that my comments are within the context of the following goals: 1. Signing AA 2. Setting us up for future success So, who would I unload? I would start by unloading the following PROSPECTS/non-starters to free up space and maybe pickup some later round picks: McCollum, Street, Lashoff, Tangradi We picked these guys up when we were bulking up on late round picks thinking we could polish em up. They haven't worked out. These 4 drops frees up 2.5 mil, and could win us a few picks that might not even be that far down. That freed up cap space, in conjunction with the yearly LTIR of Franzen allows us to sign AA at a 2 year, 2 mil contract. 2 year because he won't want to sign long term until he's proven his potential, and we won't want to strap him to our back until we're absolutely sure he doesn't have attitude problems. Guys I give one year to prove themselves; these are the guys on the chopping block because of age: Lorito, Turner, Elson, McIlrath, Russo. Bottom line: we can sign AA without having to kill ourselves over the NMC/NTCs that are out there. HOWEVER... if we're really talking about trading a starter, I would trade: 1. Glendening. When you do a depth chart based on balanced lines of: 2 scoring lines, a grind line and a development line... Glendening is the odd-man out, and you can get a decent trade for him right away to any team looking for a 2-way forward with a never-say-die attitude. (CAP HIT: 1.8 mil) 2. Mrazek. Except I wouldn't trade him right away; nobody wants him right now because his play fell off so much. I would let him play, let him prove himself worthy of his contract... and THEN trade him. We could get a first round pick out of him if he started playing at top form again, or even close to it. I think he'll get there, and there's a few teams looking for a goalie. (CAP HIT: 4 mil) These two releases and the leftover .5 mil from the other trades gives you enough room to not only sign AA this year, but also re-sign Larkin and Mantha next year (Sheahan is RFA next year too, but has proven himself a grinder at best, so his pay would either drop or he would walk... and we have prospects that are ready to replace him).