Brunner Contract Talks

[FireCaptain 563]

FLAMES REBUILDING BURNT-OUT ROSTER

Calgary Flames GM Jay Feaster has been busy rebuilding his roster this summer, shipping Alex Tanguay and Cory Sarich to Colorado for David Jones and Shane O'Brien and then acquiring Kris Russell from St. Louis.

Feaster acknowledged his six centers the Flames could chase - Chicago's Marcus Kruger, Colorado's Paul Stastny, St. Louis' David Perron, Philadelphia's Sean Couturier, plus free agents Peter Mueller and Damien Brunner.

The best target would be Brunner, though he's reportedly seeking up to $3.5 million per season. Mueller's career was nearly ended by concussions and he's never regained his once-promising form.

As for the others, only Perron is likely to be available, as the Blues could be faced with having to shed salary to re-sign Alex Pietrangelo, Chris Stewart and Jake Allen. Perron carries an average annual salary of $3.8 million and also has a concussion history.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/52792-Are-the-Bruins-finished-trading.html

[GoWings1905 2,694]

The Wings are loaded with solid defensive forwards. I can overlook Brunner's deficiency in that area because he provides the Red Wings with something they severely lack in goal-scoring ability.

I still hope Brunner comes back, but the ship seems to have sailed in Detroit.

[Guest DeGraa55]

The Wings are loaded with solid defensive forwards. I can overlook Brunner's deficiency in that area because he provides the Red Wings with something they severely lack in goal-scoring ability.

I still hope Brunner comes back, but the ship seems to have sailed in Detroit.

Unfortunately I agree. We need someone who throws pucks at the net.

[thegerkin 189]

Given how desperately Samuelsson is clinging to that extra million he'll make if he's not bought out, does anybody think there's a chance if we offered him 4 million dollars he'd go hide on that one island with Elvis, Bigfoot, and Tupac?

Tupac obviously runs the west side of that island...

[kylee 727]

Unfortunately I agree. We need someone who throws pucks at the net.

What's Brett Hull doing?

[amato 3,210]

What's Brett Hull doing?

3 years, 5 mill a year, NTC/NMC geterr done Kenny!!

[Guest DeGraa55]

3 years, 5 mill a year, NTC/NMC geterr done Kenny!!

You're crazy 5m? He is worth at least 13m right now.

[amato 3,210]

You're crazy 5m? He is worth at least 13m right now.

He'll take a discount to come here.. everyone will take a discount to come here!!

[Rhah 195]

As he demonstrated last season, Brunner isn't ready for top-six play. He cannot face up effectively against top defensive opposition, nor defend adequately against top offensive opposition. He works best as a secondary scorer.

I agree with this... I felt as playoffs got tougher basically he was a black hole with puck, if it got passed to him even if he was at the far edge of the circle on the boards, he would just spin and shoot puck into goalie's pads. And not with traffic in front, the rest of his linemates hadn't even entered into the play yet or were just starting to cross blue line as they passed it to him.

Edited July 11, 2013 by Rhah

[55fan 5,133]

Given how desperately Samuelsson is clinging to that extra million he'll make if he's not bought out, does anybody think there's a chance if we offered him 4 million dollars he'd go hide on that one island with Elvis, Bigfoot, and Tupac?

They wouldn't trade for him. Elvis, Bigfoot, and Tupac are all right-handed shots who play the point on the power play. He'd be redundant there.

The best they'd trade us is Jimmy Hoffa, but he tends to disappear during the playoffs.

Back to Brunner... I'm starting to come to terms with not having him back next year, but I hope he comes back someday.

I'm also noticing how peculiar it is that he seems to have quite a following with the females around here despite not having the standard good looks. Maybe we hockey chicks are not as shallow as we thought.

[Opie 308]

The best they'd trade us is Jimmy Hoffa, but he tends to disappear during the playoffs.

I literally spit coffee when I read this!

[FireCaptain 563]

I think it's more of the female 'we can change him' thing.

He's a bad boy (won't re-sign, clearly plays rough since he's missing half his choppers) and you all think you can be the one to change a bad boy.

/sexism

I'm also noticing how peculiar it is that he seems to have quite a following with the females around here despite not having the standard good looks. Maybe we hockey chicks are not as shallow as we thought.

[The Secret 304]

I agree with this... I felt as playoffs got tougher basically he was a black hole with puck, if it got passed to him even if he was at the far edge of the circle on the boards, he would just spin and shoot puck into goalie's pads. And not with traffic in front, the rest of his linemates hadn't even entered into the play yet or were just starting to cross blue line as they passed it to him.

I've said it before..... It was his first season in North America, the most games he'd ever played in a season (remember he played in Switzerland before his first crack at the NHL), He came out on fire and hit a wall but rebounded in the playoffs. Thats a very successfull first season on my opinion... he was put through the ringer and worked his way through it. He's a hard working shoot first player that was able to have success in a few different roles. Looks like he will only get better. Sometimes you have to roll the dice and this is an instance where I would roll them for sure.... Unless he wants a ridiculously long contract. Brunner was the player that should have been signed not Alfredsson!

[Opie 308]

Can we stop saying Brunner has played a "Season", it was a lockout shortened half season, in which he had issues with consistency.

Not saying he wasn't succesful, just that he struggled in a 48 game lockout shortened season!

[55fan 5,133]

I think it's more of the female 'we can change him' thing.

He's a bad boy (won't re-sign, clearly plays rough since he's missing half his choppers) and you all think you can be the one to change a bad boy.

/sexism

Nah, He's more like a little puppy. Not a bad boy bone in him.

[DickieDunn 2,571]

I wonder what he's asking for, or if he's being really picky about who he talks with. You'd think someone would have given him $3 mil for 3 years if that's what he wants.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

He'll take a discount to come here.. everyone will take a discount to come here!!

Old meme is old. Weiss and Alfredsson both signed for market price.

Another day passes and Damien Brunner has STILL not signed with any other team. I really don't know what to make of it. At first I assumed he was trying to decide which team would suit him best. But come on it's been 6 days now, what more does he need to figure out? I wonder if those other teams are also not willing to pay him 3.5-4M? Cause if that is the case, then maybe there still is a slight slight chance of him remaining with Detroit, if Kenny can pull of a trade and create more cap space. It just seems to me that if he has zero interest in re-signing, he would've definitely signed with someone else by now. Maybe he's waiting it out to see what Kenny does.

9 of TSN's top 30 UFAs are yet to be signed: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=95306

Edited July 11, 2013 by Drake_Marcus

[DickieDunn 2,571]

He'll take a discount to come here.. everyone will take a discount to come here!!

Old meme is old. Weiss and Alfredsson both signed for market price.

Another day passes and Damien Brunner has STILL not signed with any other team. I really don't know what to make of it. At first I assumed he was trying to decide which team would suit him best. But come on it's been 6 days now, what more does he need to figure out? I wonder if those other teams are also not willing to pay him 3.5-4M? Cause if that is the case, then maybe there still is a slight slight chance of him remaining with Detroit, if Kenny can pull of a trade and create more cap space. It just seems to me that if he has zero interest in re-signing, he would've definitely signed with someone else by now. Maybe he's waiting it out to see what Kenny does.

9 of TSN's top 30 UFAs are yet to be signed: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=95306

[StormJH1 231]

While I'm personally disappointed that Brunner isn't on the team, I'm not mad about it. The part of this that people ignore is what happens next offseason. Tell me if you agree with the following statements, or if they're at least in the ballpark of 50/50:

• The Wings will benefit from a veteran presence and additional Top 6 forward who can score.
• Alfredsson is a safer bet to be more productive than Brunner in 2013-14.
• Having $5.5 million in new cap space next offseason is preferable to the $2 to $3 million we would have as the difference between Alfie and Brunner

Yes, we signed Alfredsson "instead" of overpaying Brunner, but Alfredsson's money is completely off the books next year. In the NBA, an "expiring contract" is a valuable commodity. Teams will purposefully trade for old, overpaid players so that they get the cap room. If you think of Alfredsson as a pretty useful "expiring contract" who will help this year, what's not to like?

And the reality about Brunner is that wasn't Brunner vs. Alfie, or Brunner vs. Cleary. It was Brunner vs. Brunner's price tag. If I blast the Wings all season for giving a 3-year deal to Jordin Tootoo that isn't worth his cap hit, I have to be intellectually honest about the fact that I can't say with strong confidence that Brunner will be anything better than a 3rd liner making $3 million a year. He could be a 30-goal scorer and a steal, but there's zero guarantee of that.

Far more often than not, when the Wings let go of or lost a player to FA who has become overpriced, they made the right decision (Lapointe, Fedorov, Leino, Hudler, etc.).

[Din758 371]

Not just with brunner, but all FA's, I think its odd that there has been very little signings by any team since the second day of free agency. I havent even heard any chatter beside that idiot "insiderr"

[derblaueClaus 1,668]

Pure speculation but maybe there are some deals going on in the background and most GMs and/or players are just waiting how they work out to decide on which team they sign after those deals are done ?

[ogreslayer 1,069]

While I'm personally disappointed that Brunner isn't on the team, I'm not mad about it. The part of this that people ignore is what happens next offseason. Tell me if you agree with the following statements, or if they're at least in the ballpark of 50/50:

• The Wings will benefit from a veteran presence and additional Top 6 forward who can score.
• Alfredsson is a safer bet to be more productive than Brunner in 2013-14.
• Having $5.5 million in new cap space next offseason is preferable to the $2 to $3 million we would have as the difference between Alfie and Brunner

Yes, we signed Alfredsson "instead" of overpaying Brunner, but Alfredsson's money is completely off the books next year. In the NBA, an "expiring contract" is a valuable commodity. Teams will purposefully trade for old, overpaid players so that they get the cap room. If you think of Alfredsson as a pretty useful "expiring contract" who will help this year, what's not to like?

And the reality about Brunner is that wasn't Brunner vs. Alfie, or Brunner vs. Cleary. It was Brunner vs. Brunner's price tag. If I blast the Wings all season for giving a 3-year deal to Jordin Tootoo that isn't worth his cap hit, I have to be intellectually honest about the fact that I can't say with strong confidence that Brunner will be anything better than a 3rd liner making $3 million a year. He could be a 30-goal scorer and a steal, but there's zero guarantee of that.

Far more often than not, when the Wings let go of or lost a player to FA who has become overpriced, they made the right decision (Lapointe, Fedorov, Leino, Hudler, etc.).

It's a pretty safe bet that Aflie will still be "on the books" during the 2014-15 season given that his $2m bonus cap hit will be defered to that season instead of taking the entire $5.5m hit in 2013-14.

[StormJH1 231]

It's a pretty safe bet that Aflie will still be "on the books" during the 2014-15 season given that his $2m bonus cap hit will be defered to that season instead of taking the entire $5.5m hit in 2013-14.

Very true, point taken - I did remember that from the WIIM article as I was writing it, but I wasn't well enough versed in all things CBA to spell it out.

The point still remains that a 3-year, $9 million deal for Brunner does more damage to our ability to sign FA's in upcoming seasons than a 1-year deal for Alfredsson does, even though some of the bonus money is deferred to 2014-15.

Not just with brunner, but all FA's, I think its odd that there has been very little signings by any team since the second day of free agency. I havent even heard any chatter beside that idiot "insiderr"

I suppose Brunner could still end up getting close to what he wants, but I have to think he didn't expect being the guy left out at the end of "musical chairs" when he decided to test the market. In a year where the cap went down significantly and so much money was thrown around on Day One, that's not a position I'd like to be in.

[FireCaptain 563]

I'm thinking NJD now that Ilya bolted.

New player at the table!

[Travis 576]

Damien Brunner to the New Jersey Devils, 12 years / $77 million.

t4