Best of the Rest (For Us)
by Daniel AC on Jul 3, 2011 4:06 PM PDT
in Armchair GM
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PrintDANIEL:
Bob Murray has been pretty inactive this free agency period, and that's understandable. A few marginal players have inked some pretty ridiculous deals. (Tim Connolly and James Wisniewski come to mind.) Despite Murray only signing an AHL player and swapping disappointing D, props to him for saving half a mil in cash. All is not lost. There's still reason for Ducks fans to be optimistic. Normally, Murray's bargain hunting is a nuisance, since you usually get what you pay for. This off-season, there are a few guys who trying to repair bad reps, or are simply flying under the radar. If Murray goes after some of these players, Ducks fans might still be able to get their hopes up for next season.
The Forwards
The Ducks need to upgrade their bottom 6, but how should they do it? I've been an advocate for acquiring more gritty 2-way and defensive forwards. Still, the Ducks might consider scoring upgrades in order to ice a true third scoring line and pressure Jason Blake from below. This is a list of players who might fit either role.
Zenon Konopka: Say what you want about the penalties, the guy can win faceoffs. With Todd Marchant leaving, the Ducks desperately need another 4th line center. They've let Chipchura walk, so Konopka should be a no brainer.
Rob Niedermayer: Would Niedermayer be willing to come back to the place where he and his brother hoisted the Cup? Maybe not after we unceremoniously ditched a guy who might be one of the key reasons we won the Cup in the first place. He's only 35 and he played well for Buffalo last year. The other Niedermayer still has something in those legs.
Alexander Frolov: He's one of the most intriguing options. He failed in his one year bid to get a better contract and can't command the 3 million dollar salary he received last year. But he might see a Ducks team that is very weak on the left side and wonder about opportunities for advancement. If he plays over 70 games, he's probably worth close to 50 points. If he plays 70 games with Saku and Teemu, I'd almost guarantee 50 points. A contract with bonuses for GP and Points might convince him to take the smaller salary. It could be a very wise gamble.
Sergie Samsonov. He's pretty much the same as Frolov; a player trying to convince everyone he can still play. He played well for Florida at the end of the season, picking up 14 points in 20 games. He's another LW, who might be able to come on the cheap and provide the Ducks with a little offensive depth
Ryan Carter: What if the prodigal son was someone that nobody cared about? Then he'd be Ryan Carter. I still think Carter is a pretty responsible centerman, and, given a consistent amount of ice time, has a lot to offer a team like the Ducks. He could be a Steve Rucchin for guys like DSP and Etem, or center the 4th line. Not as gritty as others, he's still a good option up the middle at a good age.
Jamie Langenbrunner: He's played with Koivu and Selanne on the Finnish national team, sometimes on the same line. He brings valuable veteran leadership, and still has a few goals left in him. He's not really a defensive upgrade, and not really an offensive upgrade. He's just a really good hockey player. You can always find a job for good hockey players.
Defense: I know the acquisition of Foster is supposed to have settled our top 6, but Murray has never been one to shy away from having eight-too-many defensemen. There are still good ones available for the taking in case he wants to give Foster some competition. Most likely, Brookbank is stuck as the 7th man on D.
Shane O'Brien: The acquisition of Shane would give up much needed muscle on the back end. He WILL clear the net. Penalties are a concern, but Carlyle's system is pretty easy on the blue liners. I've wanted him to come back for two years now, and am still convinced that he's a great bottom pair option for the Ducks
Scott Hannan: He's a prime aged defender who is known for physical play. He did well in Washington and the only reason I can think that he's still available is that he wants too much money. He'll soon give up on that and that's when Murray will finally be interested.
Ruslan Salei: 10 points and an even rating is pretty good for a stay at home guy that costs less than a million per season. Is he the old Salei? Of course not. Is he still an NHL caliber defenseman? Definitely. Not a bad option for a team that's till unsure of who is going to be the final guy on the back end.
These are some options for all of you to mull over. I tried to not include players who might be too expensive or just probably wouldn't come here, like Tomas Kaberle. It's much more likely the Ducks will have to explore upgrades via trade, and that market only recently went open for business. Murray will make a move soon; let's all just focus on hoping it's a good one.
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I was looking drectly at him this morning and apparently was still thinking he was Jere Lehtinen. I blame my editor. In my defense, I didnt like the Stars when Lehtinen and Langenbrunner were there and frequently mixed up their names.
by Daniel AC on Jul 3, 2011 5:29 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I blame my editor
Thanks for that.
"I'm not a lady. I'm a DUCK!" - Connie Moreau, D2: Mighty Ducks
Associate Editor for http://www.anaheimcalling.com
It’s because I’m a good person :)
You know when you look at something and no matter how you think of it, it just looks right? That’s kind of what happened.
by Daniel AC on Jul 3, 2011 9:48 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Not only is Konopka good in the face off circle, he’s also a good shot blocker (52 blocks last season). Seeing as how the Ducks seem determined not to overpay for free agents this year I think Konopka might be a good value.
Seeing as how the Ducks passed on a lot of possible 3rd line centers I’m guessing that they’re going to bring up Bonino. May as well get some use out of all that up and coming talent in the farm system.
I always liked Shane O’Brien and wouldn’t mind seeing him back in a Ducks jersey.
I think he signs Konopka, seeing as they’ve been hot on him for a while. I don’t see him adding another NHL defenseman, unless there is an injury situation like last season. They just traded for Foster and are likely to give him a chance before signing anyone else. Plus I still think Murray and Carlyle like Brookbank and would be willing to give him another chance before signing someone else. I would love to see the Ducks make a trade with either Washington, Philly, or New York for one of their RFA’s that they still need to sign, but wont be able to due to cap concerns.
Among them, I’d like Alzner or Brian Boyle (really any of those RFA Ranger Forwards, but I think NYC keeps Callahan, Dubinsky and Anisimov).
"Just another Halo victory" - Rory Markas
It might also mean that they will be willing to trade other players to us so they can sign these guys. I dont see Washington parting ways with Alzner. I dont know who they let go to get him, but he is too good to walk. I think the Rangers are really in trouble. They still need at least 2 defenseman, 6 forwards, 4 of which are young RFA’s and due for a raise. They do have 16 mil in cap space, but each of those 4 guys is gonna command around 4 mil a year. So one of them is probably going to have to be dealt. Probably Boyle and I think he could be great with a younger line of guys.
I was a bit shocked...
… when I heard that the Ducks can “only” spend 56 M this year. If that is true (and it certainly seems so), then Murray will likely sign max 2 free agents on the cheap side. I also believe that if that were true Teemu should think about whether (if he wants to come back) he is back for the money or winning, because a team like this will be a playoff bubble team this next year and nothing more. So if Teemu wants to come back to win, he should think about accepting something like 2 M to give the Ducks more breathing space.
So IF Selanne signs a real budget deal and we still have 4 M or so after that signing, I would like to see Murray go for these players:
- Konopka
- Samsonov
- Hannan
And he needs to trade away Blake somehow to fit Hannan in (who would make this team a lot stronger on his own I believe).
Chances of this happening I think are very slim and unless Sbisa and Fowler take another huge step immediately, I think Teemu is better of retiring than playing on the number 7-10 team again…. Sad story.
I just think that if you are buying/owning a team (and therefore likely have the resources), you might as well make it strong enough and realize the amount of money you have to spend on it. Otherwise, you can just forget about buying it in the first place… LA will kick the Ducks ass this year, sadly.
ye i don’t see the gain for the samuellis in not spending against the cap.
a bubble playoffteam will not fill the honda center this year. You have to invest in your team so you can sell more tickets, or more fanware.
with the cap raising, we need to have the same amount of intern cap then the other big teams in the league, you just have to look who missed the playoffs last season… nearly only the teams who haven’t spend against the cap.
so stop that intern cap crap for gods sake, and built at least a playoffteam every season (that doesn’t mean that murray should overpay on this years FA market, please no, but with more intern cap space he could pull some different trades)
Still a lot of off season to go, don’t hit the panic button just yet. We have pretty much the same team as last year, which was in the top 5 in the league during the second half without the use of our all star goalie….we’ll be fine. I don’t know why you guys want Hannan..he’s bad, It’d be like another Paul Mara signing, only good for bottom pair minutes…there is no point, we have Brookbank, or maybe even give Schultz a look. I think some of our young guys will surprise next year, and hopefully Murray can bring in some talent for the bottom 6, but our D should be set. Oh and we finished 4th last year…not 7-10.
If you want to blame the Samuelis for having an internal cap, blame Anaheim for being a small hockey market. You can’t count on Anaheim to be 100% behind the team all the time. I was at the Ponda Center last year when we were winning 3 out of every 4 games and the place still didn’t fill up. I don’t think the internal cap is a huge problem; I think spending unwisely is a huge problem. I think you can only do two things an internal budget, have depth or have star power. The Ducks have chosen the latter. It’s mostly worked. Now the GM needs to person up and use the space he has to improve the team, or create more space.
Remember, a 56 million cash cap, doesn’t mean a 56 million salary cap. It’s possible to spend less money and still good players with larger cap hits. Murray just needs to be creative.
but that’s my point.
Anaheim shouldn’t need to be creative just to not fall that far behind.
We absolutely should spend against the cap, so Murray could have more room to be creative.
I get the hole point about the Samuellis not wanting to lose money every season, but it doesn’t seem that having an internal cap helps your franchise over the years. look at the other capteams in the league, they struggel to get into the playoffs most of the time, and therefore have big attendance concerns. I don’t think that you can just say: “hey, i just spend the money i gain from my tickets sale in my team, and were set.” thats pretty risky, if anaheim misses the playoffs more than one year, we are pretty much set to be florida 2.0
the samuellis can upgrade the Honda Center, so also needs to invest every year in his team by spending against the cap. A Franchise in the sunbelt is just economically great if the team has a shot at the cup as often as possible.
You’re exaggerating. We missed the playoffs 2 seasons ago and then finished 4th in the Western Conference, so I don’t see the link. Second, I think you’re confused abut the difference between a cash cap, and a salary cap. The Samuelis don’t care how high Murray goes against the cap, they care how much money he spends. It is possible, in theory, to spend all the way to the cap, without actually spending that amount of money. In other words, the Ducks could have a salary cap number of 60 million, but only pay out 56 million dollars in salary.
I just don’t understand what your point is. If you’re just saying that the Ducks need to spend 64 million dollars this and every season in order to be competitive, then the evidence simply doesn’t prove your point.
It does appear to me that most players want front loaded contracts these days. Which makes creative contract terms a bit tricky. I think if we looked at a lot of those teams that operate at the cap the actually salary hit would probably be beyond. These long term contracts where they diminish significantly at the end of the contract are what hurt the budget teams. IMO
Maybe also defending my point a bit...
… It seems when you read my point that I might be terribly ungrateful. Hey, someone is spending 56 M for my favorite team! But let’s be honest – these teams are now out of reach for the Ducks in the West:
- DET
- VAN
- LAK (sadly, but it s a fact)
- SJS
That gives us a shot at 5th place if all goes perfect. Most likely I see us fight with NSH, CBJ, MIN, CHI, COL to get in as PHX shoul fall out of the top 8. That just makes us a 7-10th place team (last year s 4th spot was a tniy bit lucky at the end and could also have been no 7 or 8 easily; it was the best that was possible). Now, I was just asking the question why Teemu shoudl want to return for a team that will lose in the first play off round at best? And you can’t argue that the Ducks are still pretty much the same team without his 20-40 goals each year. So we re saying it s all good, because the difference between a place 7-10 team and a place 9-14 team is a 42 year old cornerstone? I disagree… And I realize most free agent action happened East so in the West (with PHX and DAL getting worse), we might be lucky, but just think what would happen to this team if Ellis and his .9 save% becomes our number 1…
P.s. I really see no way how a 56 M cash cap is much different from a 56 M salary cap. It s not as if Murray culd actually sign anyone for 2 M this year and 6 M next year to average 4 M and not have problems next year then… Plus everyone else is offering front loaded.
by DennisKE on Jul 5, 2011 12:36 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
P.P.S
As to having to spend against the cap – these teams are likely going min 90 % against the cap next year: BUF, PHI, WAS, PIT, CGY, VAN, SJS, DET, LAK, CHI, NJD. I think all except CGY have a better chance to win the cup than the Ducks next year and would beat us in a playoff series. That s just not what I would want to achieve as owner with tge resources.
by DennisKE on Jul 5, 2011 12:47 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
… And with this great nucleous of Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Koivu, Selanne, Lubo, Fowler, Sbisa, Beauchemin and Hiller that may just be a good checking line and one trade deadline D men away from actually winning another cup. I d definitely try to get that great checking line together now, because now is a good chance to win.
by DennisKE on Jul 5, 2011 12:50 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Two things to consider:
1) Maybe free agents don’t want to come to Anaheim. When was the last time we got a big name free agent? Answer: Scott Niedermayer. Koivu pretty much came here to play with Selanne. Lydmann turned out to be a good player, but wasn’t a marquee name. I’ve been a Ducks fan pretty much since their inception, there isn’t a strong history of big time free agent acquisition here.
2) Hockey is a bad investment. Even with the new tv contract, there’s less socialism in Hockey than there is in Basketball and Football, thus less money getting around. If we had a basketball team at the Ponda Center and the Samuelis were getting money from it, then they could spend more money on the team. However, as I’ve pointed out, the hockey market here is weak. The fans need to support this team better, through more than ticket sales, if they want to see the Ducks spend to the cap.
I disagree about now being the best chance to win. Now is the sentimental chance to win, the Selanne and Koivu riding off into the sunset chance to win. With the talent we have in the cupboard, the best chance to win will probably be 3 years from now as the top line enters its prime and Fowler, Sbisa and Schultz are viable D-men.
In short, you’re the fan of a small market team and it’s a little unreasonable to ask your small market team to behave like a big market team just because you want it to. If the Samuelis are content with just making the playoffs for a round or two, well then that’s what we’re stuck with.
Why do I always sense that you, Daniel, seem to read my comments as insulting or somehow unrightfully criticizing the Ducks. I am really sorry if I sound that way. That s not my intention. All I am saying is this is a good (read: not best) chance to win (and if we try now I dont think it will hamper our chances to win in 3 yrs). I am not expecting Richards to come to Anaheim, but a signing in the region of Ward, Talbot or similar should be possible. In terms of all your support of the Samuelis: thats great, but I still think it is fair to criticize the decision to impose a cash cap that is a good 15% below the cap. The Samuelis knew that it s a small market team when they bought it, so how is this an argument for now imposing this cap. In my opinion anyone who buys the Ducks needs to know before that it s just an expensive hobby and if you want it to win, you will lose a lot of money as the arena will still be empty. If you are content with a bubble team that won’t win, that s your right as an owner. But it is my right as a fan to disagree… And as for all the criticism of Murray, I understand mostly the critique brought here is different from cap issues (i.e., subpar trade returns) but I have to say there is little that he can do in this situation to make the team better… So let s all hope for the best and I am just disappointed as a fan that I dont feel my favorite team is being given the best chance to win. Thats all. Perhaps we can agree on that? :-)
by DennisKE on Jul 5, 2011 9:55 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
And just to be sure: don’t get me wrong, I am just wondering why there is so much that seems to speak against my very first post while I always thought that we must be more or less of the same opinion on this issue :-)
When you say Talbot, I see a guy who clearly should have been able to fit in our cash budget, based on the contract he took. I just don’t think the budget is the problem, I think Murray’s inability to navigate it properly, and convincethe Samuelis to pony up the extra dough, is the problem.
If the owners put in a cap, it’s the responsibility of the GM to convince the owners that spending more money is a good idea. I think if Murraygoe and tells the Samuelis ge can build a winner with a full cap, they might be persuaded, but HE has to do it.
by Daniel AC on Jul 5, 2011 10:46 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
no i absolutely know the difference between cash cap and salary cap. but like DennisKE wrote under this post, there is not that much difference. it’s not like murray has just to deal with an intern cash cap THIS year, so he could give out contracts that are e.g. 2 mio this year and 6 mio next, he has this intern cash cap every year.
nowhere in my post, i have favored the idea of spending against the league cap every year, if no pieces for a competetiv team are availlable or like this year grossly overpaied. I said that we need to have the ability to use all of that league cap space to stay competetive. Murray has much more wiggleroom in other things then the FA market, e.g. trades, signings etc if he doesn’t need to care about an intern cap.
I just don’t see that intern cash cap work out for anybody in this league. Sure it saves the samuellis a few millions now, but i think a inter cashcap that is way lower then the league cap (so would be that 54 or 56 $ or what ever we have right now) makes it really really hard for a franchise to stay a playoffteam every year. And as much as i love the Fans here on these boards and blogs, i just don’t see the honda center sold out in the season if we are a 9-15 place team. remember the disney days, like the 99/00 season.. man the Pond was empty.
I don’t think it’s a good idea to handcuff your GM with that intern cap, that’s about as bad as a shitty contract (Redden, etc) that handcuffs your team for years.
This inter cap doesn’t make our team better, it makes it worse. And it’s getting even worse if the league cap goes up.
And please note, this has NOTHING to do with this years FA market. I’m absolutely in favor of NOT doing anything on this market right now. there are just very few pieces available that we need, but at very high price tags.
We were a 4 seed this year and the pond didnt sell out. Anaheim isn’t a great hockey market, therefore it doesn’t make sense for the owners to let Murray spend whatever they want. No matter how well we play, I don’t know if there was ever a time the pond consistently sold out. None of us know the specific finances of running the arena and how much money they make and therefore none of us should be calling for them to spend more. All the teams you mentioned that are going to be spending up against the cap Dennis? Those are all big hockey markets where people actually go to see the games on a regular basis, and Anaheim is not a big hockey market. Therefore the GM has to be smart and creative with his money in order for the team to succeed. Daniel just meant that you could potential structure contracts around other contracts so that when one is at a low point another is at a peak.
Yes it sucks that the team has a cap implemented by its owners, but its not their fault. If the games sold out more, then they would give more money. Its really that simple. Finally let me end with this. Just because a team spends money doesnt mean they automatically win. Daniel made a good point about Minnesota, but also remember that this is the NHL. Anything can happen, and just because a team was successful one year or spent up to the cap doesnt mean that they will find success next season. Look at the Devils last season, everyone thought they were a lock for the division and then coaching and injuries derailed them and they didnt even make the playoffs. I don’t think any one was predicting the Ducks were a lock for the playoffs last summer, and yet they made the 4th seed. Teamu wants to win the cup, but he also wants to play. You could have made the same case that the team wasn’t at all ready to compete last summer and yet they were a few seconds away from taking the lead in their series and advancing to the next round. A large part of their success was to Teamu. No one knows whats going to happen next season, but its a fact that the team has better odds with him than without.
I bring up cash versus, salary because it’s important to acquire players who might be making less, or as Kevin pointed out, to reasonably structure deals to assist in keeping cost down. The Getzlaf and Perry contracts are perfect examples of the type of structuring the Ducks can do. They signed contracts of identical worth, but one is slightly frontloaded and one slightly backloaded in order to keep overall cost down. Murray doesn’t do that nearly as effectively as he should given his situation.
There’s no justification for the arguments that claim spending to the cap will make us a great team. The last time we spent to the cap we had to unload good players for nothing. We’ve been on an internal cap since the 08-09 season, and we’ve made the playoffs two of those three season. I think we would have made it a third time if Murray would have just re-signed Beauchemin instead of pursuing all those damn Boyntons.
fair enough, i can see your argument about the team not necesserely getting better by spending more money. that’s the exact same thing i wrote earlier. i just think that the option to do so would make it easier for Murray to built a team he thinks can win.
As for the Getzlaf and Perry contracts… i don’t see your point.
When Getzlaf makes $6,125,000 next year and Perry $4,875,000 that is still $ 11,000,000 cash they get paid. So he just could have made a contract with that 5,5mio caphit for both and they get paied the same every year. Doesn’t effect anything, because it balances out.
If you have a Cashcap for a few years or maybe just 1 or 2 years, yes i absolutely see the point in make that “smart” contracts and i therefore can see the difference between a cash cap and a salary cap.
But since we are on permanent cash cap and our big contracts are even it out, it’s irrelevant.
If they had fully frontloaded or fully backloaded contracts, then the savings would only be for a year or two, at best, and the strain on cash would last much longer. This way the average stays around 5.5 per and the total salary never exceeds 11 million. I’ll admit, Burke got himself the best year when both guys cost 9 million, but it’s not as if he left the next gm something like 13-14 million in cash in exchange for a couple of years of 8-9. Staggering the contracts was, in my opinion a good way to keep the overall cost down, and still get a discounted year in, as opposed to simply backloading.
heatley just traded for Havlat btw. I would look at a guy like langenbrunner as a serious option and as a one year presence john madden might have something left in the tank in the right situation.
Honestly, I thought I had heard Miettinen had signed somewhere and that’s why he isn’t on the list, but I think he’d be a great acquisition. I’m hoping for someone a little more in that key age range, 27-32. Langenbrunner and Madden are both on the wrong side of that. They’d both be good acquisitions, but I think Murray is scraping the barrel at that point.
Think we should..
make on offer on Ladd, they’re having trouble getting a deal done and he could be huge for us. Sounds like he wants years and that would help out for our budget. give him a deal like Laich.
Bobby Ryan? His contract is level for four of five seasons. He only made 3.25 last year, but he makes 5.562 every season from here on.
The problem with offer sheeting Ladd is that Winnepeg can match any offer we make. Moreover, we don’t have a third round pick next year, so we can’t offer sheet him. Murray would have to get our pick back from St. Louis and then do the offer sheet. Unfortunately, Winchester cost us an opportunity to get in on offer sheets.
I’m beginning to wonder if Murray is going to sign anybody.
by Daniel AC on Jul 5, 2011 11:23 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Kaberle to Carolina for a ridiculously bloated 3 year contract. With how egregious some of these contracts have been this year, it’s not necessarily a bad thing that Murray hasn’t signed anybody. I have heard that after the CBA runs out at the end of next season, the salary cap is likely to be lowered again which would mean it not having any of these bad overpriced contracts would be a very good thing.
Exactly right...
linkinpaak is exactly right. Teams are only getting themselves into trouble….
Not only will these teams run into trouble next year when the CBA runs out, they will also find it more difficult to resign their current RFA’s.
There are several teams out there who wont be able to make legit offers to thier RFA’s. Not because they are bad, but because they signed the Fleischmanns, Connoly’s, and Wards of the world for 4-5 million per and will be forced to make some choices with some talented players.
We can take advantage of this situation far more than we could the FA situation. Looking forward to some trades!
@ Riko, Drury would be sweet. Can’t go wrong with a guy like that.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Jamie Langenbrunner on an affordable 2 year deal with a 3 year option or something like that. The guy is an all around player with leadership potential. Can play up and down the lineup and would be a great locker room presence for our young guys. It seems like it would be hard for the Ducks to land him but surely they are interested as he can play both center or on the wing. You could use him as a third line anchor to help your young guns develop or put him up on the top lines if there are needs there. Only thing is I think that this would take playing time away from McMillan who I began to like last year. Just not sure if McMillan is the type that can play with top line talent and make them better. Langenbrunner has already shown this ability.
Ducks sing D man (from Carolina) Bryan Rodney
PP QB in the AHL, solid, Offensive defenceman for SYR was the Checkers captain last year
Winding down after work...
and was looking at available UFAs still available. Kyle Wellwood caught my eye as a possible 3rd or 4th liner. Maybe make on offer for Cogliano, he was rumored to be on the block. I know Prospal has been mentioned as well, maybe a combination of Wellwood and Prospal.
I think Drury is a great idea for a third line center. Not my ideal choice, but maybe the best of what’s left. That is, if he comes at a good price.
I think if Drury wants more than 2 we should walk away, unless he’ll do it for one year. I’d be willing to pay 1.5 guaranteed and then go as high as 3 with bonuses.
It’s the old problem. Murray doesn’t go out and get someone because he thinks the prices are too high, but the longer he waits the more desperate he’ll be, and that ruins his negotiating power. It’s important to strike at the right time and get the right people. Murray needs to understand that he’s always going to have to overpay. He doesn’t have the franchise credibility or personal reputation that will get players to WANT to play for him. He’ll have to PAY them to play.
Agreed, Drury does have that knee issue though. Prospal still seams to have some scoring touch. according to Cap Geek and their salary numbers we have about 9 mill till our budget cap. That’s with Blake on the team.
Leave Blake alone. LOL With these FA salaries the guy is not overpaid anymore. One could question his efficiency and decision making at times, but not his drive and now salary too.
When you’re playing on the top 6, especially with Koivu and Selanne, you are always fair game for a critique. Blake kills me and he needs to go. At the very least he needs to be demoted to the bottom 6.
As for Prospal, it’s not that the guy is a bad idea at center, but it’s the same argument I’d make against Jason Arnott, we need someone who can be more defensively responsible.
miettinen
wen to KHL (ak bars kazan) :( i’m beginning to lose hope here……then again as a FINN i’m excited cos now were gonna have him in the WC 2012 (home games :) )
Jean- Francois Jacques
… another useless signing
Haha, According to ESPN insider, our GVT (Goals Versus Threshold) increased by .9 this off season. How is that even possible, we didn’t do anything. I guess it is because we didn’t lose anything significant player from last year.
Think Edmonton would go for a Blake/Cogliano swap? They get some Veteran leadership for a very young team and we get a 3rd line center with offensive upside who they have been disappointed with. would probably have a third line of McMillan, Cogliano, and DSP; a second of Koivu, Selanne, and Sexton and our RPG line.
How about for a second rounder in 2013? Not bad
I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell
Yeah, can’t say that I’m disappointed. He can likely jump up and plays 2nd line if someone gets hurt too. No Murray just has to sign him.
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