Matt Moulson
Matt Moulson hasn't yet been mentioned all that much in the free agency chatter.
We hear rumors about Stastny, Bolland, Gaborik (who just re-signed with LA for 7 years), Dan Boyle, etc.
Moulson has kind of slipped through the cracks it seems, which is very surprising for a guy who's scored over 30 goals three times in his young career, and put up 23 goals and 51 points while being traded around and playing for three different NHL teams last season.
Obviously addressing the Center position is priority number one (along with re-signing our core RFA's), but I believe there's a way we can improve our C depth and also add Moulson to our core:
1) TRADE:
Staal, Brassard (RFA rights) for Ryan O'Reilly (Yes, in terms of value that's overpayment for a guy who's asking for 6+ million per season, but in this plan, we aren't bringing Brassard back anyway, so if this sweetens the deal enough to get it done, then why not? If Staal alone gets it done, then trade Brassard's RFA rights at the draft.
2)
Sign Matt Moulson (6 years @ 5.25mil). (Can Moulson get more from another team? Most likely, yes. But can he get a better deal than that from a CONTENDING team? Maybe, but it's a lot less likely. He also wouldn't have to uproot his family, having played for the Islanders for 5 years)
3) Re-sign Zuccarello (4.0), Stralman (4.0), D. Moore (1.6), J. Moore (1.4), Kreider (2.6), and Carcillo (850k).
4) Trade Dorsett at the draft for a late round pick (for cap relief as he makes 1.6).
5) Sign Ryan Carter (3 years 2.7 mil = 900k per season) (He made 775k last season) He's a big fourth liner, strong defensively, and very good at cycling the puck in the corners. I think he would fit in quite nicely with Carcillo and Moore.
You end up with the following lineup:
Moulson O'Reilly St. Louis
Kreider Stepan Zuccarello
Hagelin Miller Nash
Carcillo Moore Carter
(extras: Fast/Kristo/Lindberg/Haggerty)
McDonagh Girardi
Moore Stralman
Allen Klein
(extras: McIlrath/perhaps Diaz re-signed?)
Lundqvist
Talbot
Here's the cap-breakdown:
FORWARDS
Matt Moulson ($5.250m) / Ryan O'Reilly ($6.000m) / Martin St. Louis ($5.625m)
Chris Kreider ($2.600m) / Derek Stepan ($3.075m) / Mats Zuccarello ($4.000m)
Carl Hagelin ($2.250m) / J.T. Miller ($0.894m) / Rick Nash ($7.800m)
Daniel Carcillo ($0.850m) / Dominic Moore ($1.600m) / Ryan Carter ($0.900m)
DEFENSEMEN
Ryan McDonagh ($4.700m) / Dan Girardi ($5.500m)
John Moore ($1.400m) / Anton Stralman ($4.000m)
Conor Allen ($0.925m) / Kevin Klein ($2.900m)
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: $71,100,000; CAP PAYROLL: $69,331,667; BONUSES: $1,200,000
CAP SPACE (20-man roster): $1,768,333
(note: 1.7 million in cap-space for 13th F / 7th D and/or injuries/flexibility/etc.)
(note: I was generous with certain RFA contracts. If need be, Sather could actually pay some of the RFA's a few hundred thousand less than the estimated numbers here)
I think O'Reilly-Stepan-Miller-Moore down the middle is better than Stepan-Brassard-Miller-Moore.
I'm interested in how you guys feel about this. Is it a stupid plan? Is it unrealistic? Should we not even be focused on Moulson? Another interesting name that hasn't gotten much attention yet is Radim Vrbata. He's good for 20+ goals a season, can play either wing, and would cost less than Moulson, both in cap-hit and in term.
Let me know what you guys think, and don't hold back (I know you won't
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)
Thanks.