e_prime

Trust me... I WANT TO BELIEVE. I certainly didn't want my post to come off as a "I don't like any of these guys, get 'em out, they're going to get injuried, we're going to fail." type post. Two or Three years of Iginla is still two or three years of top-flight, fit as f***, determined to win a cup, Jerome Iginla. Do I want that on this team? Absolutely. Him, a healthy crew, and a top pairing D-man puts us right back in the fight.

That's a level of complexity that I'd like to avoid if possible. We don't need a guy that isn't fully healthy and/or can easily break again. Weiss is already a HUGE question mark. Both Z and D had their issues this past year. Franzen and Helm are also regulars on the shelf. It would be interesting to bring Alfie to camp with no contract. For better or worse... but knowing Holland, we will have the cap space to sign him before the season begins. The question will be... will there be a roster spot?

I gotta go Iggy.

So... Alfie or Iginla? Choose one. Choose wisely. EDIT: For the record, Dreger stated we have interest on TSN.

Kesler doesn't have any interest in US. He wants to go to Anaheim or Chicago. That's what he's told VAN. Spezza. Nope. No interest. Iginla. Dreger said we have interest on TSN today. Boston may not be able to keep him. Z - Dats - Iginla Nyquist - Weiss - Franzen Sheahan - Helm - Jurco Miller - Glenfiddich - Abdelkader Trade Tatar + Andersson + Kindl + whatever else for a good D-man OR Sign Niskanen. Keep Tatar. Trade Andersson + Kindl for pick(s) CapGeek Armchair GM Roster FORWARDS Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($7.500m) / Jarome Iginla ($6.000m) Gustav Nyquist ($0.950m) / Stephen Weiss ($4.900m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m) Riley Sheahan ($0.900m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Tomas Tatar ($1.250m) Drew Miller ($1.350m) / Luke Glendening ($0.628m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.800m) Tomas Jurco ($0.709m) DEFENSEMEN Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Brendan Smith ($1.263m) Danny DeKeyser ($1.750m) / Matt Niskanen ($6.300m) Jonathan Ericsson ($4.250m) / Alexei Marchenko ($0.667m) Brian Lashoff ($0.725m) / GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($5.292m) Jonas Gustavsson ($1.500m) BUYOUTS Carlo Colaiacovo ($0.000m) Jordin Tootoo ($0.000m) BONUS OVERAGE $3,017,500 ------ CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (estimations for 2014-15) SALARY CAP: $71,100,000; CAP PAYROLL: $67,663,712; BONUSES: $340,833 CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $3,436,288 Pulks, Callahan, Mantha all start in GR. Called up as necessary.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=455517 Hey Marc Bergevin! Did you let Ken Holland make a phone call for you? Hey Dan Boyle! Here's the number you shoot for, you lucky so-and-so. Hey Ken Holland! Don't do it! Hey P.K. Subban! Just in case you weren't aware! You gonna get paid!!! EDIT: Mods delete if necessary. Just saw it was already in the signings thread. SORRY!

Actually it's quite believable... do you really think he'd want to back to the Sens? Where else would he want to be? ...and that second part is yet to be determined. Hell, he hasn't even been re-signed yet. So, let's not put the cart WAYYYYY in front of the horse.

Hope he comes back for less money and he isn't the only acquisition the Wings make this off-season.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=455503 Where do the Pens go now?

The translation is really rough so, I'm not sure where it sounds like that... but Tatar is an RFA. So sign and trade? Is Ken Holland capable of that? He is a tradeable asset and should fetch quality in return, especially if he's packaged with other pieces.

RE: Markov signing Hey Marc Bergevin! Did you let Ken Holland make a phone call for you? Hey Dan Boyle! Here's the number you shoot for, you lucky so-and-so. Hey Ken Holland! Don't do it! Hey P.K. Subban! Just in case you weren't aware! You gonna get paid!!! That's an insane number. I thoroughly disagree with it... but I won't say that it couldn't happen. There are some desperate/insane GMs out there.

Hows about Tatar plus prospects/picks for O'Reilly? Also, thanks. After the one you made the other day, I had to make a couple for future usage.

Unless he played for us? P.S.: There goes Umberger. Also. Size for Size. Player for player. This does not bode well for us trading away smallish-softish-Euros.

Are you comparing O'Reilly and Nyquist?

He should. He's been 'money' on that team and they can continue to contend if he and others stick around. We'll see if payday matters more to him now, or getting his name on the Cup again. EDIT: For reference, Gabby has over $65million in career earnings according to CapGeek.

This is going to be his downfall.

I'm starting to doubt, as well. I'm still going to keep my fingers crossed and say, speculation is just that and we'll see what KH does when the opportunity is upon him. That being said, I think we're looking at a real turning point for this franchise. If Ken Holland stands pat or just adds minor pieces it's not going to be enough to make us a true contender. We can continue to make the playoffs, but we won't be any closer to the Cup. I truly believe that. Will Babcock see this and move on to another team? Will Mr. I see finally see Ken Holland as a proven winner, but not capable of leading this franchise to the future? This might be the last season of Holland being able to "hedge his bets" and play it safe. As far as players discussed,I won't call them mediocre. I do believe that Stralman, Morris, or Gilbert would be better than Kindl or Quincey on defense. Enough to elevate the defense to the level we need? No, probably not. Moulson would be a legit piece for our top six. Stastny is young and coveted Center. Neither of them are mediocre. I'd take either of them over Thornton or Spezza. Not only are they younger, they'll "cost" less.

...but in the same breath he mentions Moulson and Stastny. Those are names I could live with. As far as defense goes... Those are fine. Not what I really want, but Stralman has simplified his game and would be a solid piece. Morris and Gilbert are decent puck-movers. Can't complain too much. If we're not going for broke I don't see why we'd want to take on Boyle (he wants cash and term) and Robidas is just aged and broken down. (38 and 48 games played in the last two years)

So not only will they take on Thornton's cap-hit after dumping Richards' through a buy-out. They'll probably have to send Brassard (maybe not the caliber player of Big Joe, but he's, as they say, "on the right side of thirty.") plus other pieces...because you know it's not going to be Brassard for Thornton straight up. ...and ultimately they'll be right back in the position they are right now... almost $54 up against the cap with 7 forwards, 4 d-men, and 2 d-men signed. If they keep themselves in that position they will not be able to re-sign Stralman, Boyle, or Pouliot. Certainly not all three. Sather is an idiot. I swear to gawd! He needs to realize that they New Yawk Rangers made it to the Finals on the good fortunes of seeding, a Montreal team determined to beat Boston, just enough talent to beat a couple of dysfunctional teams from Pennsylvania team, and a player's personal loss turned into team motivation. Thornton passing to Nash sounds great. Doesn't it. Until you realize there's no more depth after that. Sather needs to maybe take a breath and realize that he needs talent around Henrik if he's going to get the Rags back to the Cup Final. Not just a star center in Joe Thornton. I would be very surprised to see the New York Ranger back in the Cup Final next year. On topic: Marleau would look pretty good in a Wings jersey. Would take him over Thornton. A big bodied winger that's still pretty fast, a two-way player, and that can score... bringing him East might give him a boost. I'm pretty sure I pointed that out. Hence points my points A) and B) to mirror yours. ...but you read it the way you want to, bro.

I think it's a great to have them in one place and should be pinned. Mods?

It was a business decision for O'Reilly to sign the offersheet with Calgary. Nothing more, nothing less. It was a business decision for the Avs to take him to arbitration. Nothing more, nothing less. If O'Reilly really wants/ed to be a number one center on a lesser team. So be it but, he should look around and realize what they're trying to build in Colorado and tell his agent to f*** off for a bit. If the Avalanche can take a little more time and gather up a few more pieces. Specifically on defense. You might be looking at Colorado Avalanche Cup Winner, Ryan O'Reilly. Wouldn't that look nice on your resume, Ryan? ...and that, sir... can get you a far greater payday than some half-baked offer-sheet from a franchise in the midst of a lengthy rebuild.

Hiller or Reimer to the 'Peg. 'Fer Shure. They need to jettison Pavelec ASAP.

You're my boy!! Welcome aboard the U.S.S. Positivity. I'll be your Captain. We're currently sailing though some choppy waters over the next two weeks of our voyage. Please keep your life-preservers handy. Ahhh... the good old strawman. He's a sight for sore eyes on these forums. He didn't strawman your position. He clearly broke down your position into A) You wanna win the cup every year... and he said that isn't very realistic. He then went on to say that in his opinion, B) he disagrees that the team is not taking steps towards that goal because he thinks the team is trending upwards not downwards. ...and then went on to give his opinion. He's also gone on to state your overall position very plainly. You're not as they say, "A glass half-full type of guy" ...and that's okay. Own it, FFS. It's not as if you're not making salient points, ShamAn*. You just have to understand that while everyone wants to win or contend for the Cup every year. Not everyone is going to be as down or as pessimistic about the future as you seem to be. ...and that's okay too. ...just stop pretending that you're not Debbie Downer. There might be a plan. Hell, maybe Holland finally has a plan A, B, and C. As for us, all of us here. Yeah. We're all grasping at straws. Desperately. Finally, and this goes for ALL OF YOU! Yes, we say we should wait for FA and the draft and etc. because well, YOU KIND OF HAVE TO! THAT'S THE WAY THE LEAGUE WORKS!!! ...or would you rather us throw fifth rounders at Dan Boyle for no good reason. EDIT: Sorry, Shaman. For a second I spelled your handle like you're a Scottish dance band from the nineties.