YoungGuns1340

Its not about it being lopsided in Hossa's favor. Its about the fact that you could TRADE Malkin, and you cant do that with Hossa. If you keep Malkin, and let Hossa go, you gain nothing except some cap space for the pathetic free agency pool this year. If you keep Hossa, you get him for 7 years in his prime at a discounted price, AND you can offer up Malkin for a slew of goodies. Its not about Hossa vs. Malkin, its about whatever you trade Malkin for + Hossa vs. Malkin.

Are you serious? Sydor sucks so bad that the Pens couldnt even GIVE him away when they wanted to get his ridiculous contract off their books. He would add NOTHING to our squad and would be lower on the food chain than any of Lebda, Chelios or Lilja, and all the youngsters. God no. Last thing we need to do is give Pittsburgh a helping hand with their big mistakes.

I dont think anyones thinking theyre going to be weakening our team and strengthening theirs by stealing away Downey or Mac. At this point in their careers, Downey and Mac are more valuable to the Wings than to any other team.

http://www.rds.ca/senateurs/chroniques/253730.html Thats a step in the right direction for the Sens. The fact that he got bought out pretty much secures the idea that he had no takers for his contract. Not even traded for future considerations. Any ideas on destinations? Im thinking somebodys going to get desperate for a decent tender, but before you say it, I heard during the season that LA wanted no part of Emery.

Tucker has a lot more talent than some of you are conceding. However, I dont think the close-knit group that the Wings have formed will be able to accomodate a guy like Tucker. Hes not exactly a low-key guy. He comes with a lot of attention, has a big mouth, and oftentimes doesnt know his place. I think this sort of addtion would cause a distraction.

Seems to me there somewhat of an unwritten code amongst GMs about players on waivers. I dont think GMs have the intetions of poaching players as viciously as we seem to think. Mac and Downey will be fine if they are to be exposed to waivers.

Thats a different situation. Mats isnt looking to continue his career in another location. Hes looking for one more year. Max two years. Not to mention, Chelios was coming to an established team loaded with talent that had tons of money to offer and a roster poised to win the cup. And the Detroit-Chicago rivalry in 2001 is NOTHING compared to what the Montreal-Toronto rivalry was and still is. Chelios also wasnt a Hawk from the beginning, let alone the face of the franchise for the past 15 years. Its very much a different situation.

Spectors - a prett reliable source - suggests that Yashin still wants what he wanted last year: 4 million. Im sorry but thats just disgusting. For the mediocre player that he is today (all things considered), fleecing the Islanders for 6.2 million per year would be downright theft.

Theres always commodore. Thats all I have to say. Ive wanted that guy in a Wings jersey since he manhandled us against calgary, what, 5 years ago? And he had a pretty s***ty go of it in Ottawa. That could drive his UFA price down a bit. Hed shine in Detroit. Detroit makes all defenseman look better.

http://blog.dispatch.com/cbj/2008/06/tremo...d_tidbits.shtml The Pens have apparently offered the rights to Ryan Malone to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Its not a sign and trade, so I doubt the BJs will give up much to get Malones rights. This info was apparently confirmed on a Pittsburgh news broadcast. If the Jackets dont sign him, hell become a UFA. The Pens apparently are going to use Malones space to re-sign Hossa. I dont mind this move myself. Columbus needs a legit center before they become a big threat, and Malone wont help there. And this just means a key piece is gone for the Pens who are looking real top heavy and wont have any top 2 picks in the 1st round to bulk up on young talent anymore.

Kindl was NOT ready to be on the Red Wings roster 2 years ago. He had a bad season in GR because he was finally playing professional hockey and wasnt in juniors anymore. He had a chance to make the roster in training camp, just like any youngster does and almost always doesnt make the cut. He needs more time to develop. Ericsson, Quincey, and Meech will get time ahead of Kindl easily.

Technically speaking, Ericsson is actually higher on the "seniority" list. Hes a month older than Meech and a year older than Quincey.

To me, theyre trying to have their cake and eat it too. By that I mean, theyre trying to hoard offensive skill and still bank on filling out their roster to maximum depth potential. If you ask me, Shero is letting his business instincts get in the way of things. Boasting a Crosby-Malkin 1-2 punch is simply sick. No one can argue that. For flashiness, excitement, and marketability, there is no better slogan than saying you have the best 1-2 hockey punch in the entire world. The fans love it, the league loves it, Shero and the entire Pens organization loves it. It gets them big money, fans in the seats. Its absolutely the ideal situation for a team that had severe financial issues in the past which still hover overhead. I personally think their defense is a lot weaker than it seemed. Orpik, Gonchar, Scuderi, and Gill (post trade) all had either career years or one of their best performances to date in the playoffs. And I think thats going to come back and bite them in the butt. Especially with the way they are likely going to be cutting out responsible defensive players in Malone and Orpik only to make way for more offensive oriented guys. I know Ill get hosed for this, but I dont think it would be a bad idea for Pittsburgh to look into trading Malkin. I know, I know. Its crazy to trade a 22 year old that can hit the 100+ point mark, but I think theyre in a rare position. They already have the NHLs golden boy who also happens to be arguably the best pure offensive player in the NHL. I'll prep myself for the flames, but Pittsburgh would be smart to take up trading partners with Florida. Florida has some of the the most underrated players in the game. To Florida: Malkin - an incredible young center whom theyd have the cap space to re-sign and a player they could create a huge marketing scheme around To Pittsburgh: Jokinen - possibly the most underrated 1st line center in the game. Hes got size, is easily good for 35 goals and at least 80 points a year, and plays a gritty game. Hes locked up for two more years at a reasonable 5.25 million and when hes a UFA at age 32, pittsburgh could sign him to a similar contract. For example, on a 4 year contract, Pittsburgh could offer Jokinen around 6.5M in the first two years (til Jokinen is 34) and offer him 4.5 in the last 2 years (until Jokinen is 37) for a cap hit of 5.5, at least 3 million less than what Malkin would be making. And Horton: At 24 years old, hes already an upgrade over Malone. Hes been close to or hit the 30 goal mark for the past 3 seasons and can easily hit 65-70 points next season. And the best part is his contract. Hes signed at 4 million for the next 5 years. Whereas keeping Malkin means getting rid of Malone AND Orpik, getting rid of Malkin means adding Jokinen, Horton, AND having money to re-sign Orpik. Or Bouwmeester: This guy is one of the most underrated defenseman in the game. He led the entire league in TOI this year. The fact that next to no one knows that stat says enough as it is He may even be the most underrated player in the game. He is currently a RFA, but hes also vastly underrated and doesnt have great linemates to support him, thus he doesnt have the stats of a RFA who could demand a ton of money. Thereofore he could probably be signed to a longterm contract for around 5M, which would make him Pittsburghs current #2 Dman and easily their #1 in a few short years if not sooner. Having Bouwmeester and Jokinen would still give them a big three up front with Crosby and Hossa, but would give them an incredible boost on the back end too. To clarify, I meant Jokinen AND Horton for Malkin (plus the 2009 florida 1st rounder) OR Jokinen AND Bouwmeester for Malkin

And just to add to your point, clearly if they are reducing the maximum as a measure to increase scoring, then it is a clear indicator that maximum padding = reduced scoring.

Its not really about this season upcoming season though. Its about the season after that. And if Shero isnt smart about THIS season, hell screw himself over for the next, unless he has some serious talent in the Wings that he can use to replace the likes of Gill, Sykora, and Dupuis who are ALL going to get raises after next year. Pittsburgh has ONE season to repeat with their current roster. Dupuis - currently 880k, market price will be at least 2M after playing on Crosby or Malkins wing for a season ( he had 11 points in 13 games after being traded to the Pitts) Sykora - same deal as dupuis, except with his reputation, he could easily see 3.5-4M Fleury - hell get around 5M, and the closest comparison to him is Lundqvist. Most other tenders of Fleurys calibre have outdated contracts signed under lower caps. Not to mention, they can only sign him to one or two years if they do make it to arbitration. If they choose to sign him to a one year contract, they could be in even deeper trouble come the 09-10 season. Hossa - 7.5 is a good figure Malkin - 8.5 is a modest estimate here Orpik - he made 1M this year, but he became vastly overrated in the playoffs alone, and could see 3M Staal - theyll lock him up to a long-term contract, which at his age, likely means hell be overpaid in the beginning years. Hes already made 2.2M with bonuses. Staal will be banking on signing his contract with his full potential in mind. The kid could see - as crazy as it sounds - 4-5 million. A this point in his career, hes a young Patrick Sharp, whos nearly at that 4M mark as of now. Gill - His stock has already risen significantly. He could earn a 500k raise easily should he have another strong performance next year. 09-10 Dupuis (2) - Crosby (8.7) - Hossa (7.5) Talbot (1.2) - Malkin (8.5) - Sykora (3.5) Kennedy(800k) - Staal (4) - Ruutu(1.2) Roberts (1.5) - Hall (800k) - Laraque(1) 13th (500k) Gonchar(5) - Gill (2.5) Whitney (4) - Orpik (3) Letang (835k) - Scuderi (1) 7th (500k) Fleury (5) Sabourin (800k) Total: 64M Now lets say they only get Staal for a great deal at 3.3M or so long-term, Roberts retires and is replaced with some youngster making 700k, and Orpik is let go and replaced this season with Goligoski, who will make around 1M (he made 984k this year). Thats still a salary hit of nearly 61M per season. Also keep in mind that replacing guys like Sykora and Dupuis - should they choose that route - with guys of equal calibre that will take significantly less pay is nearly impossible unless done through a trade with a team that is rebuilding. Even then, if they manage to cut salary elsewhere and can cut a million or so, thats still nearly 60M in salary on your basic 22. Not only would that projected 09-10 team have either little or no room to move or be over the cap limit (the cap going up 5-6 million next year would be unlikely), but they'll have a weaker team than whats shaping up to be the 08-09 squad as well as this season.

Yeah thats when it starts. Its all but set in stone however. Chicago wanted to pull of a Khabibulin for Emery trade if Im not mistaken, but Ottawa wouldnt take it. Im betting Chicago targets him like they did Lalime. Denis Savard is exactly the type of coach that can keep the kid in line. Not to mention, Savard is a boxing fan, so he and Emery will have stuff to bond over.

They want to sign him for 7.15M? He can get a good 1M more than that on the open market at least.

Kindl is not ready to be an NHL player.

Edit oops

I think Larionov would be a great choice. Gerard Gallant is an interesting guy as well, but Larionov strikes me as a great choice. A European coach regarded as one of the smartest players ever would be great to have behind the bench of a highly European team. Not to mention he thinks offense well.

He wouldnt go down when the playoffs begin. You can carry as many players as you want post trade deadline.

Theodore is another option.

Itll be interesting to see what happens. Even with the cap going up, they have a ton of players who are gonna eat up cap space like crazy next year with no one around to take a significant pay cut. Hossa, Fleury, Staal, Orpik, Malkin, and Sykora are all in line for a significant raise either this season or next. Between Malkin, Crosby, Hossa, and Fleury, youre looking at a possible 30 million for 4 players.

It was 20,000. I couldnt find a link either but I remember having a debate with someone about this. I know for a fact it was 20k.

I agree. Like I said, I liked his play in the first two rounds, but he went downhill quickly in the Dallas series. But the fact that he had knee surgery right after the playoffs is a sign that he had a substantial injury. As for Lilja and Stuart - theres no way in hell BOTH of them come back. Lilja isnt much better than Ericsson, Quincey or Meech at this point, if at all. And what little value he may have over those guys takes a back seat to the fact that those guys need the ice time to develop more than Lilja does. We know what we get with Lilja, we could have a diamond in the rough with any of the other 3, and its time we found out what they can do. To add to that, I dont see any point in paying 1.2 million + for Liljas services when any of the above three youngsters will make a fraction of that and do the same job. And with Chelios re-signing, you dont have to worry about any loss of veteran experience which could be the case if all three of Chelios, Lilja, and Stuart left. As for Stuart, I just dont see how he could choose to stay in Detroit when his wife cant move from California. But there are obviously parts to that story that we dont know about which could lead to him re-signing. But you can be sure if Stuart re-signs, Lilja is a goner.