e_prime

With his knee and back. He was not going to stick around for more than his contract. Thinking otherwise was wishful at best. It may have been a bad move for him to stick around, even if he signed for less. I'm not sure that I see the "don't let the door hit ya" comments. (Albeit, Raffi has his haters.) I do admit to a little excitement to the possibilities that his retirement brings, including the possibility of seeing Smith sooner. His point production will be missed, certainly. He did help bring a Cup here. Much props. A Hometown discount is debatable. I've got nothing but respect for the guy.

Who?

It's going to be hard for the Lightning to re-sign him, but Gagne is taking a $2 million paycut? Not so sure about that. Draper is still getting 1.5? Where is Mursak?

Yeah, it's going to take a little more than that... someone else mentioned Raffi's number for 3-5 years... and I think it's going to take even more than that.

Oh, we could... but does he play D?

He also joined the boards today. Obvious troll is obvious? They have more cap space, but a self-imposed budget. If we play it right, they'll match but not have enough to sign Suter the following year who will be a UFA.

This has already been discussed. His cap hit comes off the books because he signed his deal prior to age 35. The cap relief you speak of has to do with a contract that is signed after the age of 35.

OH! COME! ON!

...and what's great is that we can afford Ehrhoff AND MORE!! MORE!! MOREEEEE!!!!!!!!! You and me both, man.

His knee. Rafalski's knee. It's too eerily similar for me to even bite on as a thought. Of course, I'm not an NHL GM. So, who knows...

EDIT: Thanks Cali.

by higher end player in Markov you mean, more expensive? Markov hasn't played a full season in two years. Why would we replacing a broken-down aging defenseman (no offense Raffi) with someone who's breaking down and is five years younger?

I'll still be surprised if Holland goes after Weber. Brewer, Kaberle, Pitkanen, Bieksa, or Wisniewski. Have your pick... all affordable.

I see what you did there.

Everyone just became affordable.

What do you think are the chances that Nick takes a cut in salary and in return has performance bonuses? Is this also a slap to the face in the way that asking him to take a pay cut would be? Just asking. EDIT: Guess that won't be necessary if Rafalski's hit is coming off the books.

I get this move but at what cost? From the article: "The Journal lists forwards Kris Versteeg and Scott Hartnell, and defenseman Matt Carle, as possible targets, though Hartnell has a no-trade clause." Really? Nabby is worth Versteeg, Harnell, or Carle??

“We were two small guys back in the day. I’m a little taller than Reedsy but we weren’t too heavy.”

Why would I want to torture myself?

I'm fine with Ericsson being re-signed, but it shouldn't be for the numbers that have been lobbed about.

[sarcasm] We can trade both of them... [/sarcasm] ...but we all know who will get more in return value.

How much are these two going to command in salaries now? $900,000 each? Tops? If you want to talk about guys who should/need to give a hometown discount at this point or a two-way deal these are prime examples.

If we are able to re-sign Lidstrom at his current rate. No Salei, No Ericcson, and Hudler off the books would equal $4,875,000 for a defenseman. (Not even considering that we *could* spend more) Lids-Raffi Kronner-Stuart XXX - Kindl Think about it. Pitkanen, Brewer, Kaberle, Bieksa, Wiz, Ehrhoff, White, etc. All affordable, or within reasonable grasp. EDIT: ...and yes, I do realize that if both Salei and Ericcson are gone will need two defensemen and not one. You can plug in Modo's cash savings, Drapers, whomever. I'm assuming that Emmerton and Mursak will be up.

Laraque is a media *****. He needs to keep his big yapper shut. This insinuation does nothing to help anyone to move forward after a tragic loss. Maybe Torts didn't like him. Didn't see him fitting with the way the team was playing. Maybe the Rangers were looking to move him in the off-season and thought by shutting him down for the season it would be better than putting him back on the ice in a limited role with the chance that he might get injured again. Whether ANY of it is true or not, spouting off like this does nothing to help except keep Laraque in the mix. I mean, next thing he'll be saying will be along the lines of "Sather's relieved to be free of Derek's 1.6 million cap hit." He's an ass, so I wouldn't be surprised at all. RIP Derek. Your fans in Minny and around the world already miss your presence.

This is a statement that is made anytime we talk about how we need to get younger. Is he overpaid now? Yes. Was he overpaid at the time of his signing? Maybe slightly. Would he get six million if we re-signed him next year? Not a chance. Are we going to re-sign him? Probably not. Is he going to get traded? No. NEXT.