Which player(s) would you trade?

[krsmith17 7,191]

This team is in cap hell and will continue to be for the next few seasons, unless we start trading away some of the bad contracts. It has to happen. Unfortunately, it's going to take Holland moving on / getting fired for it to happen. If you could trade any three players (bad contracts), who would they be?

Henrik Zetterberg - 4 years at $6,083,333

Tomas Tatar - 4 years at $5,300,000

Frans Nielsen - 5 years at $5,250,000

Gustav Nyquist - 2 years at $4,750,000

Justin Abdelkader - 6 years at $4,250,000

Johan Franzen - 3 years at $3,954,545

Darren Helm - 4 years at $3,850,000

Luke Glendening - 4 years at $1,800,000

Danny DeKeyser - 5 years at $5,000,000

Niklas Kronwall - 2 years at $4,750,000

Jonathan Ericsson - 3 years at $4,250,000

Trevor Daley - 3 years at $3,166,667

Jimmy Howard - 2 years at $5,291,667

*Note: I don't think all of these are bad contracts. I just listed all of the contracts people have complained about over the years.

Zetterberg is still our best player. Tatar and Nyquist are solid top 6 forwards (despite what some here think) on decent contracts. Franzen will remain on LTIR, so there's no need to move him. I still love Helm and think he's very underrated around here. I also don't think his contract looks that bad once others are moved. Glendening is one of the worst contracts on the team, but at only $1.8M, I'd keep him over others. I still think DeKeyser can be a reliable middle pair defenseman, and is payed fairly for what he can bring to the team. I think (hope) last season (being relied upon as a top pair) was an aberration, not the norm. Kronwall is overpaid for the player he has become (due to playing on no knees), but with only two years remaining and the potential for LTIR, I'd keep him over others. I wasn't a fan of the Daley signing, and I still maintain that it was a bad contract for the state of this team, but a good contract otherwise. I still think Mrazek will have a bounce back season, but having Howard there for a safety net, certainly isn't the worst thing. And with only two years remaining, I don't really consider it a bad contract if he can stay relatively healthy.

So the three I'd move would be Ericsson, Nielsen and Abdelkader. I'd move E first and foremost because I just think he's severely overpaid for what he brings to the team. I still think he's a decent bottom pair defenseman, and can even play a game or two on the 2nd pair without looking too out of place, but we have an abundance of defensemen that can provide the same for much less. Nielsen would be next to go for me. I know this would be a little risky, with our lack of depth at center, but I just don't see him keeping up the level of play for the duration of that contract. Hopefully two of Larkin, Athanasiou or Rasmussen can take over the top two spots after Zetterberg. My third trade candidate would be Abdelkader, for the simple fact that with his style of play, I don't see him being able to keep up any sort of production beyond the next couple seasons.

In an ideal world, I'd trade Ericsson this offseason, Nielsen next offseason, and Abdelkader the following offseason.

So who would you trade and why?

Edited August 23, 2017 by krsmith17

[Juklitz 85]

If we´re speaking about cap hit issues we have, then Abdelkader / Nielsen + always Franzen. 

 

[BinMucker94 302]

E, Abby, Nielsen. They don't bring anything to the table that a younger, cheaper player wouldn't.

[kliq 3,755]

E and Nielsen are my top 2 choices. I'd trade them both in a heartbeat for zero return. 

[martyrme19 73]

What is Nielsen's NTC? Is it partial, full, partial after so many years?

[BadgerBob 297]

Ericsson, Nielsen, and Jimmy. Can switch Abby with Jimmy if ya want, either way as long as the first one is out of here.

[toby91_ca 620]

42 minutes ago, martyrme19 said:

What is Nielsen's NTC? Is it partial, full, partial after so many years?

It's not too bad actually....he is able to list 10 teams he won't be traded to....so team is free to trade him to any of the remaining 20 teams with no issue...if one of the other 10, then he'd need to bless the deal.

[DickieDunn 2,571]

The better question is, who COULD they trade without paying a team to take on a bad contract?  Tatar, Nyquist, Green.  Helm if they retain some salary.  Ericsson if they retain enough salary to make it almost a moot point.  Maybe Dekeyser if a team believes he'd be good in a better situation, which he probably would, but you're not going to get any kind of value for him so it would be a mistake to trade him.  Ditto for Mrazek.  Howard will be more movable next summer if a team needs a one year stop gap while a young goalie matures.

[krsmith17 7,191]

9 minutes ago, DickieDunn said:

The better question is, who COULD they trade without paying a team to take on a bad contract?  Tatar, Nyquist, Green.  Helm if they retain some salary.  Ericsson if they retain enough salary to make it almost a moot point.  Maybe Dekeyser if a team believes he'd be good in a better situation, which he probably would, but you're not going to get any kind of value for him so it would be a mistake to trade him.  Ditto for Mrazek.  Howard will be more movable next summer if a team needs a one year stop gap while a young goalie matures.

They're considered bad contracts for a reason. Most teams wouldn't have much interest in a few of them, unless you entice them with a pick / prospect / retained salary. But it's not like a team would be expecting a Mantha, Cholowski, or first round pick to take on a bad contract. A Sheahan, Saarijarvi, or 3rd round pick would likely be enough to get a deal done with most of the guys mentioned above. That would be more than worth it to free up some cap space and roster spot.

[DickieDunn 2,571]

Just now, krsmith17 said:

They're considered bad contracts for a reason. Most teams wouldn't have much interest in a few of them, unless you entice them with a pick / prospect / retained salary. But it's not like a team would be expecting a Mantha, Cholowski, or first round pick to take on a bad contract. A Sheahan, Saarijarvi, or 3rd round pick would likely be enough to get a deal done with most of the guys mentioned above. That would be more than worth it to free up some cap space and roster spot.

And trading an asset just to move a bad contract hurts the rebuild that they insist they don't need.

I'd move Sheahan for a pick, sign AA, then worry about the rest later.  Maybe see if Babcock loves him some LFG enough to take him at that cap hit.

[krsmith17 7,191]

2 minutes ago, DickieDunn said:

And trading an asset just to move a bad contract hurts the rebuild that they insist they don't need.

I'd move Sheahan for a pick, sign AA, then worry about the rest later.  Maybe see if Babcock loves him some LFG enough to take him at that cap hit.

I really don't see how trading a mid tier player / prospect / pick hurts the rebuild. Of course, it would be great if we weren't forced to do it, but Holland put himself in this situation by signing the bad contracts. He's either going to have to dig himself out, or (hopefully) someone else will...

[kickazz 5,459]

Helm is such a wasted contract. The guy rarely plays a full season and we're hemorrhaging almost 4 million on him. 

I'd try to move Helm, Nielsen, Ericsson

Teams would for sure take Helm. He's a good player but not useful to us at all. I don't even know what his place on this team is. I mean he's not a young player nor is he a veteran. We're basically wasting his prime.

Nielsen is a good player but we would have to retain salary. Ericsson.. I doubt anyone is interested. 

Our best chance of trading someone that another team would actually be interested in is probably Helm and Nielsen. 

 

I would keep Tatar and Nyquist. They'll be useful when this teams youngsters (Larkin, Mantha, Svech) take over the team. 

Edited August 23, 2017 by kickazz

[Richdg 267]

There are of course 2 ways to go about it. 1. just move salary 2. move salary to make the team better.

Holland will do 1 or the other-he has no choice anymore. If AA were to sign with a KHL team it might cost Holland his job before the ink dries. Now he has missed chance after to chance to do something: buyout E for example..... trade any number of players.

Right now today I try to trade Helm. He is a defensive C only. We have others that can play that role. Guys like him are valuable to PO caliber teams. I would think we could get a 3rd round pick for him without retaining any salary. He is my first move. The second is Nyquist. An offensively challenged team would take him and his contract, might get a 2nd round pick back. At the trade deadline move Green. DO NOT RESIGN HIM KENNY!!!!!!!!!!

 

[krsmith17 7,191]

1 hour ago, Richdg said:

There are of course 2 ways to go about it. 1. just move salary 2. move salary to make the team better.

Holland will do 1 or the other-he has no choice anymore. If AA were to sign with a KHL team it might cost Holland his job before the ink dries. Now he has missed chance after to chance to do something: buyout E for example..... trade any number of players.

Right now today I try to trade Helm. He is a defensive C only. We have others that can play that role. Guys like him are valuable to PO caliber teams. I would think we could get a 3rd round pick for him without retaining any salary. He is my first move. The second is Nyquist. An offensively challenged team would take him and his contract, might get a 2nd round pick back. At the trade deadline move Green. DO NOT RESIGN HIM KENNY!!!!!!!!!!

I can understand wanting to trade Helm, since he's one of the few guys that would actually garner any sort of return. His production is replaceable, but I don't think there are many penalty killers in the league much, if at all better than him in that aspect of the game. But again, if we can get a decent return, I'd be open to moving him. I understand wanting to trade Green as well. He's our biggest trading chip come trade deadline. However, I'd be open to re-signing him this offseason (after trading him at the deadline) depending on what moves, if any, are made to our defense before then. I can not, will not understand why so many people want to trade Nyquist though. It make no sense. He's a very good secondary scorer, on a good contract. Of all the bad contracts on the team, why would that be one you would want to move?

[Richdg 267]

2 hours ago, krsmith17 said:

I can understand wanting to trade Helm, since he's one of the few guys that would actually garner any sort of return. His production is replaceable, but I don't think there are many penalty killers in the league much, if at all better than him in that aspect of the game. But again, if we can get a decent return, I'd be open to moving him. I understand wanting to trade Green as well. He's our biggest trading chip come trade deadline. However, I'd be open to re-signing him this offseason (after trading him at the deadline) depending on what moves, if any, are made to our defense before then. I can not, will not understand why so many people want to trade Nyquist though. It make no sense. He's a very good secondary scorer, on a good contract. Of all the bad contracts on the team, why would that be one you would want to move?

Nyquist is overrated. Ok maybe he is finally back to his actual level. He over performed for 1.5 years. Go look at his entire career. He is a 15-20 goals per year guy with 25-30 assists. That is the type of production that can be expected. That is 3rd line production. Those type of numbers can be provided by our younger players that are coming up.

 

[Wingnut1989 165]

helm, nielson, E, nyquist

 

why you ask?

simple overpayment.

[krsmith17 7,191]

45 minutes ago, Richdg said:

Nyquist is overrated. Ok maybe he is finally back to his actual level. He over performed for 1.5 years. Go look at his entire career. He is a 15-20 goals per year guy with 25-30 assists. That is the type of production that can be expected. That is 3rd line production. Those type of numbers can be provided by our younger players that are coming up.

Nyquist is not overrated. If anything I would say he is severely underrated around here. Case and point, once again having to defend him to those saying we should get rid of him...

If you think any player can come in and replace Nyquist immediately, you're kidding yourself. Svechnikov is the only player in the system that has the potential to replace what Nyquist produces, and he is a couple years away from reaching that sort of production. If / when Svech does get there, he will get paid as much or more than Nyquist is right now. Nyquist is getting paid very fairly for his production.

Why is there still this huge misconception that players should be putting up the same points as they were in the '80's-90's? I'm not sure if you've bothered to do any research in the past 10 years, or even bothered to look at point totals, but 40-50 points absolutely is top six production.

Here's a good read for those that are confused about what the average player (by line) should be producing.

-> https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/analysis/2015/5/31/8693313/first-line-nhl-production-analysis

The article is a couple years old, but there haven't been any drastic changes in the past couple seasons in regards to average point totals.

Nyquist also ranked 98th among all forwards, and 47th among all wingers last season. Both numbers indicate that not only is he producing at a top six level, but a borderline 1st line level.

His HERO chart also indicates that he has produced at a top six level...

[kickazz 5,459]

I don't get how Nyquist is overrated around here. He was our 2nd best point producer for f***s sake. Not only that, he's been top 5 point producer in 4 seasons in a row. No one on this team besides Zetterberg has been able to do that. 

Some people are oblivious to facts because they chose to ignore them and go with the herd mentality narrative. 

Edited August 24, 2017 by kickazz

[kliq 3,755]

4 hours ago, Richdg said:

Nyquist is overrated. Ok maybe he is finally back to his actual level. He over performed for 1.5 years. Go look at his entire career. He is a 15-20 goals per year guy with 25-30 assists. That is the type of production that can be expected. That is 3rd line production. Those type of numbers can be provided by our younger players that are coming up.

 

So to be clear, you are saying that 50 points a year is 3rd line production? Please show me a team that has 9 players putting up points close to that. Nyquist is severely underrated around here because he is no longer the flavor of the month. Just wait until the same group do the same to AA if he's still here in a few years.

Edited August 24, 2017 by kliq

[DickieDunn 2,571]

6 hours ago, krsmith17 said:

I can understand wanting to trade Helm, since he's one of the few guys that would actually garner any sort of return. His production is replaceable, but I don't think there are many penalty killers in the league much, if at all better than him in that aspect of the game. But again, if we can get a decent return, I'd be open to moving him. I understand wanting to trade Green as well. He's our biggest trading chip come trade deadline. However, I'd be open to re-signing him this offseason (after trading him at the deadline) depending on what moves, if any, are made to our defense before then. I can not, will not understand why so many people want to trade Nyquist though. It make no sense. He's a very good secondary scorer, on a good contract. Of all the bad contracts on the team, why would that be one you would want to move?

Know hot to be good on the PK?  Work hard and follow the system.  Good PK players aren't some rare commodity.  They're the NHL version of a baseball utility man or NFL special teams ace.  Valuable players, but not guys you pay a lot to keep around.

2 hours ago, kickazz said:

I don't get how Nyquist is overrated around here. He was our 2nd best point producer for f***s sake. Not only that, he's been top 5 point producer in 4 seasons in a row. No one on this team besides Zetterberg has been able to do that. 

Some people are oblivious to facts because they chose to ignore them and go with the herd mentality narrative. 

Some people thought Nyquist and Tatar were going to be Euro Twins part 2.  Now that they're just good secondary players who are going to help the offense but not carry it, they're perceived to be over rated 3rd line caliber players by most of those same people.  Just like Dekeyser was going to be a #1 D, or at worst a good #2, or Ericsson was going to be like Pronger only not a dirty mother @#$er, or Smith was going to be a good offensive d-man, or Pulk was a Finnish Hull, or insert other over-hyped prospect here.

[krsmith17 7,191]

6 hours ago, DickieDunn said:

Know hot to be good on the PK?  Work hard and follow the system.  Good PK players aren't some rare commodity.  They're the NHL version of a baseball utility man or NFL special teams ace.  Valuable players, but not guys you pay a lot to keep around.

No, "good" penalty killers aren't rare commodities. They're a dime a dozen. However, Helm is one of the best penalty killers in the league, and that is somewhat of a rarity. What's your point though? It's not like I'm saying we shouldn't trade him. In fact, I'm saying the opposite. He's a player we should probably look into trading since he's one of the few we could trade that actually has some value around the league.

[Dabura 12,207]

[LeftWinger 4,953]

E, Helm, one of the goalies.

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

Better question, who sucks and are ACTUALLY TRADEABLE?

Mrazek, Nyquist, Tatar, Green, AA, Sheahan, Sproul, Jensen, XO.

Or instead... ya know... circle jerk about trading Ericsson and Nielsen some more.

[krsmith17 7,191]

6 hours ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

Better question, who sucks and are ACTUALLY TRADEABLE?

Mrazek, Nyquist, Tatar, Green, AA, Sheahan, Sproul, Jensen, XO.

Or instead... ya know... circle jerk about trading Ericsson and Nielsen some more.

Ummm what? You think all of Mrazek, Nyquist, Tatar, Green, Athanasiou, Sheahan, Sproul, Jensen and Ouellet suck???

What's wrong with wanting to trade Ericsson and Nielsen?...