May not be FUBAR, since it wasn't that great to begin with. I've been saying since before Richards was bought-out that his production will need to be replaced. I haven't worked out the numbers fully, and it won't be coming from one person, but it's replaceable. Boyle should replace his PP goals and points, and perhaps provide an extra goal or point on the PP. Boyle should also provide a bit more offensively than the outgoing Stralman. Still have lots of replacing to do. MSL should ease some of that burden, but he still needs someone to play with. MSL could replace Po's PP goals, which leaves only 8 goals at ES to replace for Poo. If healthy, the Nash-Stepan-Kreider line should produce more goals. Stepan and Kreider around 20 and Nash around 30 isn't too unreasonable. MSL around 25 and even if it is Miller in there chipping in around 8 kind of gets you back to where the team was last season...assuming all else is equal, as in Brassard and Zucc putting up the same numbers without Poo (and none of this gives credit to Poo's replacement). OK, a lot has to happen and guys needs to stay healthy, but at the same time, there is room for the numbers above to grow. Again, counting on Nash stepping up and MSL his usual, consistent self; not the regular season MSL guy we say play for the Rangers. it may not be the best odds, but it's not the most dire either.
I'm going to repost my last post with Point totals for each line/pairing:
So, this is our lineup at the moment:
CAPGEEK.COM ARMCHAIR GM ROSTER
FORWARDS
Chris Kreider ($2.250m) / Derek Stepan ($3.075m) / Rick Nash ($7.800m) 40/65/60
Mats Zuccarello ($3.500m) / Derick Brassard ($4.000m) / Lee Stempniak ($1.000m) 60/55/35
Carl Hagelin ($2.250m) / J.T. Miller ($0.894m) / Martin St. Louis ($5.625m) 35/35/65
Tanner Glass ($1.450m) / Dominic Moore ($1.500m) / Matthew Lombardi ($0.800m) 15/20/10
Chris Mueller ($0.600m)
DEFENSEMEN
Ryan McDonagh ($4.700m) / Dan Girardi ($5.500m) 50/20
Marc Staal ($3.975m) / Dan Boyle ($4.500m) 20/40
John Moore ($0.851m) / Kevin Klein ($2.900m) 20/15
Mike Kostka ($0.650m) /
GOALTENDERS
Henrik Lundqvist ($8.500m)
Cameron Talbot ($0.563m)
BUYOUTS
Wade Redden ($0.000m)
Brad Richards ($0.000m)
BONUS OVERAGE
$0
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CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $69,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $66,882,167; BONUSES: $350,000
CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $2,117,833
That's a total of 660 points scored on the roster. Assuming only 1/3 of those are goals, meaning EVERY goal has a primary and secondary assist, that accounts for 220 GF... roughly the same as last year, except I'm not factoring much growth for each player. It's very possible Stepan, Zucc, and Nash all hit 70 points.
You can sub Stempniak out for any other LW/RW, and switch Zucc accordingly...
The more I look at the 3rd line of Hagelin-Miller-MSL, the more I feel like I want to see it in action.... Just my gut...
Looks like Mueller and Lombardi are the 12th and 13th forwards... No carcillo coming back as far as I can tell, which kind of sucks imo... wanted him back :/
There's also a crazy weird chance that someone like Haggerty or Kristo is pulled out of the pack in the middle of the season be tried on the 2nd line of XXXX-Brass-Zucc... I could see either of them working really well on that line. Both LW's, Haggerty has a Right Hand Shot. Kristo is going to be a big time sniper soon enough...
I like our chances with this lineup because:
- Miller effectively replaces Brad Richards' Even Strength Points and Minutes, with a chance to grow and EXCEED Brad Richards' performance last year. Speed alone will probably keep that line working really well, as all of those players are very fast.
- Boyle replaces or exceeds Brad Richards' Power Play Points and Minutes
- The 13th F and 7th D are on the SUPER cheap, which allows us greater cap flexibility at the deadline
- I still see some Solid PKing abilities in Hagelin, Glass, Nash, Moore, McD, Staal, etc... The PK should take a minor hit in the absolute WORST case scenario...
- Stempniak should be the cheapest and most effective Pouliot replacement. Helps having a vet on that line due to poor defense thanks to Brassard... HOWEVER, Stempniak's +/- is horrific... not sure if that's due one or more of a) the Pens being a bad defensive team, b) Calgary being a horrible team in general, c) Stempniak playing with horrific linemates, or d) Stempniak having minimal defense to his game... If anyone has any insight on this, please fill me in
- In the event Stempniak goes to another team, I think David Booth is another guy to take a flyer on... Has played for AV before, and looks like a clone of Stempniak, with a much better +/-... Also worth noting that a) he is a natural left winger which slots him right in to the Zucc-Brass line, and b) He was BOUGHT OUT of his contract, so there's a good chance he takes a high paycut to not only play again in his career, but as a bonus gets to play for a coach that he's played with before, on a cup contending team to boot.
again, haven't watched him play, so not sure how accurate those few stats are.
