Armchair GM: Deadline To Do List
by Daniel AC on Feb 7, 2011 4:33 PM PST
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PrintDANIEL:
The trade deadline is only three weeks away, and the only thing fans love more than trade speculation is winning a Cup and Goalie Fights! We'll get back to goalie fights. Right now, I've put together a list of general areas in which the Ducks need improvement. This list probably won't be too much of a surprise, but it's a chance for us to summarize and discuss options.
Top 4 D:
Ok, we've been talking about it all year. The defense seems to be coming together, but I still think Cam needs a legit top 4 guy who can foster his growth. Lilja has been doing an admirable job, but he's more of a bottom pair guy. He provides great PK work and shores up the corps. The best option remains, in my opinion, Beauchemin. The likes of Chris Phillips and Chris Campoli in Ottawa, Bryan McCabe in Florida, and Rotislav Klesla are available for the grabbing. Depending on the day of the week, Tomas Kaberle might be available. The Oilers want to move Souray...still. There are a few options out there if Murray is willing to pay the price. This is the most important upgrade. Murray needs to dig deep and get someone who can solidify the back end and start making a few forwards pay the price for hanging out in the crease.
Pahlsson Please:
The Ducks really need a shutdown forward. Koivu's been doing well, but he's the second line center and needs more favorable matchups. The top line needs to get scoring opportunities instead of defensive assignments, you know, because they score. When you run three scoring lines it's important to have a great collection of two-way forwards. We don't. If Columbus does decide to be a seller, the Ducks need to call about Pahlsson. He was a unique collection of offensive talent and defensive tenacity. I'm still bitter he didn't win the Selke in 2007. Letting him go probably wasn't Murray's biggest mistake, but it's close. If Minnesota falls out of the race, John Madden might become available. Maybe even Rob Niedermayer would like a trip back to California.
The Blake Upgrade:
When I look back at the top 2 lines of our 2007 Cup team, I sometimes wonder if it was a miracle we won. I imagine Selanne has to be getting frustrated with Blake's Jim West approach to offense (Shoot first, shoot second, shoot some more and then when the puck is in the goalie's logo look for a passing option). It's easy to like the work Blake does and his willingness to go to dirty areas. It's tougher to like his inability to create truly dangerous scoring opportunities. Blake's success this year seems to be more luck than anything else.
As such, we need an upgrade for the second line. Rumors about Dustin Penner intrique me. We could reunite PPG and let Bobby drop down to the second line. Forsberg's signing in Colorado makes my Kariya wish a little less crazy. I understand the options are limited; I'm not interested in Kovalev. Still, if the opportunity presents itself, Murray needs to get Koivu and Selanne a winger who helps more than he wastes scoring opportunities
Goaltending Depth:
The Ducks don't have anybody with NHL experience after Hiller and McElhinney. They need to get someone to wait...what? Murray signed Emery? Every now and then, I think Murray knows I want him fired, and he does things that make a little bit of sense. Too bad they don't make up for all the blunders. Still, it's a step in the right direction, and hey GOALIE FIGHT!!!!!
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Top 4 Dman
will really go a long way to helping us make a deep run in the playoffs.
If Murray can pull a rabbit out of his ass and knock out the first two objectives on your list, I say all should be forgiven. That’s almost how I felt last year when he traded Whitney for Lubo. I’m really hoping he can pull something similar this year.
I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell
Agreed
I think we can still get in the playoffs with the team we have, but the D needs help to make a run. Does anyone know between Brookbank, Mara, Lilja, and Sutton if anyone is getting trade interest? I love Lilja but I feel like he might be the one to go. Also aside for Beauchemin and maybe Klesla I dont know if any of the others mentioned can help us. Campoli is still young and not very good defensively, McCabe and Kaberle are too similar to Visnosky and hopefully Fowler down the road, and Souray and Phillips dont have the mobility. The problem is Burke is shrewd and has gotten the best of us before (Blake for Giguere) and you know Columbus wont let Klesla go for nothing. I disagree with needing a defensive center because I feel like we will still use Marchant and that is his supposed to be his job. Would any of the players mentioned be an upgrade? Yes, but its pointless if Marchant still plays. Penner/Karyia would be great, but ultimately Blake needs to leave and the excessive Dmen need to be moved.
I'm not sure how on earth
we came out of the losing end of the Jiggy/Blake trade. Jonas needed the number one slot and it just doesn’t make sense to pay a back-up goalie Giguere’s contract. Blake may not be a world beater, but at least he’s on the ice every night.
by PhantomPretender on Feb 7, 2011 9:10 PM PST up reply actions
Not saying that we should have kept Giguere, I just don’t think Blake was the best offer we could have gotten. I would think at the very least we could have gotten an expiring contract from someone rather than Blake’s two year deal.
No, Burke did us a favor. Almost nobody wanted Giguere’s contract. They certainly weren’t going to give away assets to get a back up goaltender. We had to take some money back. It was basically Jeff Finger or Jason Blake. But there weren’t a lot of teams who wanted to just take him off our hands. That’s some revisionist history.
I have to agree. It’s not as if JS’s contract was an expiring contract either, so I actually think we made out ahead on the JS/Blake trade.
I’m not 100% sold that Beauchemin is the perfect fit, but as noted in the article above, the choice out there aren’t great. I’m probably a bigger fan of Lilja than most here but I agree we’d be better off if he were in the bottom pairing. I just wish Sbisa would pick it up and be consistently solid. I was really hoping that this was the year that he’d make “the leap.”
My question is, who/what do we realistically have to give up to pick up a Top-4 D and a Pahlsson or Niedermeyer?
Our cupboard is a lot better than it has been in recent years. As long as we don’t try to make a ridiculous amount of acquisitions we can spare one or two guys to put into a picks and prospects package that deadline sellers are usually looking for.
Ok you got me, I totally forgot how horrid Giggy’s contract was. Though no addressed who we would be getting rid of or what happens to Marchant. Murray and Carlyle love that guy even though Chip and Lapierre were brought in to do the same things. Anyone sees us getting rid of him or does he stay? Also, I seem to remember Daniel writing after the trade about how you wish we had taken Finger instead of Blake. Still believe that?
Yes. Finger’s been pushed out of a deeper Toronto blue line. If nothing else he would have been stuck here, instead of the revolving door of Boynton’s. He might not have been great, but he probably would have been consistent. Moreover, it would have given us more flexibility up front with our young forwards. Instead, we are forced to keep Blake in the top 6 and it stunts the growth of our young forwards.
If we had gotten Finger, we aren’t paying Mara and Lilja, AND Sutton. Granted, he makes about as much as all 3, but he doesn’t eat up 3 roster spots.
i think emery was a good pickup, if he actually makes it to the NHL we have a backup who is 28 and has Stanley Cup experience just in case. I do agree we need more a defensive d man than an offensive one so no Kaberle please. Penner is probably too expensive but if it is possible to add a good top six power forward who we know can play with Getzlaf and Perry
Pretty sure Pahlsson wanted to leave. But, out of everything on the list he would the cheapest to aquire.
I think Anaheim fans just have this default idea that if a guy leaves it because he didn’t want to be here and not because we didn’t offer him a fair contract.
by Daniel AC on Feb 7, 2011 10:29 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
I’m not sure if $2.65 mil a year for 3 years is a fair contract for him. It’s not outrageous, but I think it’s a little much.
If I remember correctly, I think Pahlsson was one of the guys Murray said wanted to test free agency. So that could be interpreted as “he wanted to leave” or “he wasn’t offered a fair contract” or “he wasn’t offered a contract at all.”
I’m not opposed to getting him back on the team for the right price. I wouldn’t give up anything more than NYI’s 3rd rounder and a mediocre prospect like Newton or Macenauer.
I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell
That 3rd rounder is in reference to the one we received for Weaser
I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell
Beauchemin is still a fantastic physical defensemen who knows Carlyle’s system. He did good work here, has a really good point shot, and let’s not forget that he can change the tide of a series with his fists.
As for Pahlsson, Manny Malhotra gets 2.5 a year from Vancouver and when Madden was signed in Chicago, to replace Pahlsson, he got 2.75. Those are two guys with similar skill sets to Pahlsson, although I think Samuel has more offensive upside. 2.65 for a shutdown center who can provide offense is pretty fair. I think fans tend to under value the defensive side of the game. There’s a reason Jordan Stall gets 4 million a year even though he’s never had more than 50 points.
Yes, Pahlsson wanted to test free agency and wasn’t willing to talk contract extension until after he became a free agent. So the Ducks did the prudent thing and traded him. You can’t blame Murray for trading him instead of possibly losing a player of that caliber (the height of his career really) for nothing.
Of all the ideas mentions in this post i think trading for Penner to join PG is the most exciting. That could also allow moving Blake down in the pecking order and playing a way more creative Bobby with Saku and Teemu. I think none of the Dmen in the post are good enough to really run after. Some of them maybe, i say “maybe” an upgrade to what we have, but it all depends on the price. I believe we should get rid of Lupes if there are any takers. Hes maybe half the money worth at most.
Lupul is a more complete player than Bobby Ryan. He has a better edge to his physical game despite being a little smaller. He’s a natural shooter, and he isn’t confused by his purpose on the ice. Basically, he has an identity as a hockey player and Bobby Ryan doesn’t. Is he more talented than Bobby? Maybe not. Still, I think he’s a very valuable piece in the future when Teemu retires and we shouldn’t trade him.
I agree Bobby is confused to his role, but I blame the coach for that. Lupul having a better edge to his physical game is directly related to he line he is on, and his line mates. I would like to see Getz join Lupul or even Perry Lupul and LaPierre just to check out the dynamic. Lupul fills different roles better, Bobby looks more lost when out if his zone. I wish Lupul would play with more strength, and the confidence to trust his line mates, I know this is where we disagree, he had four turnovers vs COL in one period…probably a side effect of him sending passes to an empty crease, over and over…
Bobby’s struggles to find an identity have NOTHING to do with coaching. Randy has one piece of advice for Bobby every time he’s struggling, be more physical. Randy wants him to play a power forward game. That’s why he keeps putting him on the top line. The problem is that Bobby thinks he should be a sniper and he abandons his physical game for long stretches. Randy has made it clear how he wants Bobby to play. Bobby just doesn’t do it.
Lupul’s edge came from playing in Philly. He was like this last year when he was on the top line. He’s been a better player than Bobby since he got here; he just hasn’t gotten the opportunity to duplicate his top line success from before his injury. Lupul plays with guys he, for the most part, shouldn’t trust, especially Lapierre. When it comes to offense, Lapierre is a more annoying version of Jason Blake. The guy just has no creative element to his offensive game. As for turnovers in the crease, I don’t see how sending the puck to the front of the net is a bad thing. Somebody SHOULD be there.
I think people are too eager to praise Bobby Ryan and forget that Lupul has pretty much been a non issue for us since he came back. He keeps his head down, plays hard, and chips in offensively despite playing with a bunch of duds. Lupul needs a playmaking center to get him the puck and he hasn’t played with one all year. It’s like he’s being punished for being mad that we traded him when he was so happy to play here.
Bobby just needs to keep his feet moving to be effective, he is standing still and puck watching all too often.
I don't disagree
but what makes Ryan a better power forward then a Sniper, other than his obvious size? I do think Penner would be nice to get back to play with Getzlaf and Perry as he, of all the the players to play with them, played the best with them. That being said I think Lupul really could handle the top line and look good. with Ryan and Lupul on the top 2 lines we can revert that third line into that Checking line by getting any of those players listed above to play with Lapierre and McMillan, maybe Rob. I feel this would be cheeper then trying to put 3 scoring lines on the ice that you’re not going to give ice time to anyway. This frees up money to upgrade the top 4 D.
Ice time is less of a concern. Carlyle can stop wearing out the top two lines so much if the third line is producting.
Bobby Ryan’s size IS what makes him a better power forward than a sniper. Snipers slip into areas, Power Forwards create space. Imagine a guy who plays like a power forward, but has the hands of a sniper, he creates his own shot. Look at what Perry did the last game when he came from behind the net deked and went backhand to the far corner. If Bobby plays as a sniper he ends up spending too much time away from the puck instead of using his size to dominate and create even more chances. Bobby can be a serviceabel sniper, but he can be an All star if he uses his skill AND his size.
These days you need three lines that can score. Even when we won the Cup our “checking” line was surprisingly helpful on the score sheet. I’d love to see Beleskey or even McMillan on the top line and someone like Pahlsson between Bobby and Lupul. Also, a Jason Blake upgrade.
The passes to the empty crease is my point, nobody is ever there, so he starts hanging onto the puck, to do it all himself, and gets stripped. What do you think if he was swapped for Blake to the Masterton Line? Blake and LaPierre could logo kill together.
I guess it could help. I’ve been very under whelmed by Lapierre. I like Chipchura’s game a little better. I think it would put us back in a situation where the only thing we can hope to get out of our third line would be energy and SOG. Of course, Sexton would have to leave that line because it would be too small.
Chip has gotten lost in the shuffle, LaPierre has been flying around checking everything as ordered, but what was fun to watch for the first few minutes has played out. Chip is better defensively and can PK or grind when needed also.
Voros Waived
I can’t say I’m sad about that! This makes sense with Getzy coming back tomorrow. I’m really curious to see what the lines are going to look like tomorrow night.
If he clears without anyone claiming him, we can request that he goes to the Crunch and at that point, he can either accept or be released, is that correct? Can anyone clarify that for me please?
I believe that is correct.
"I looked down and saw my shaft in his hands."- b-_ryan9
by Floyd Gondoli on Feb 8, 2011 10:32 AM PST up reply actions
With you on that one. Rob gave us some great times, but he’s a shadow of his former self, and even that wasn’t so spectacular. He was a good compliment to Pahlson and Moen for sure, but beyond that I really don’t see any use for him.
Of all this, the idea of bringing Penner back is the most attractive. The idea of getting the original RPG line back together sounds awesome. I haven’t seen Penner’s play recently, but I would hope he would do what we all needed Bobby to do, be more physical.
That would allow Bobby to really boost our 2nd or even 3rd line (depending on who stays or goes after the offseason).
As for the Emery bit, if we had signed him for a second year, I could see him as a fixer up, with a gamble twist. If he does well, trade him for a decent Dman and maybe a pick, or even use him as a tandem with Hiller (unlikely but I’ll throw it out there, he’d probably want more money than we could give him)
Pahlsson coming back is the most intriguing. Rob is still a fine defensive forward. That’s all we need him to be.
What’s a decent price? It’s not like we’re going to get him for free. He still has a year left on the deal which means it’ll cost at least a prospect, or a roster Player. Personally, I’d move Lapierre and Chipchura for Pahlsson.
Personally, I’d move Voros for Pahlsson. But that’s also unrealistic.
I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell
Voros to Philly in exchange for Emery's old goaltending pads.
He’ll need some orange ones.
"I looked down and saw my shaft in his hands."- b-_ryan9
by Floyd Gondoli on Feb 9, 2011 9:24 AM PST up reply actions
I think we gave up to much on that one, especially with Selanne likely to retire at the end of the year. we can expect some D to move now, Hopefully Sutton an Mara.
I’d rather keep Sutton and get rid of one or both of Mara and Brookbank. Sutton has been doing great with Sbisa and working the PK.
"Just another Halo victory" - Rory Markas
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