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Do we buy-out Richards and make a play for Stastny?

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I don't know what other options there are for the C position this year unless Sather can pull his trade magic...

Best guys available considering age are Legwand and Roy...

Both averaged under 50 points in the last 5 seasons (prorating numbers from 12-13 season)...

I mean what do you do? There's nothing in the farm, and the 2015 class includes several players that are most likely staying with their teams:

Spezza, Jason » C OTT 30 $7,000,000 2015 (UFA)
Toews, Jonathan » C CHI 25 $6,300,000 2015 (UFA)
Horcoff, Shawn » C DAL 35 $5,500,000 2015 (UFA)
Krejci, David » C BOS 27 $5,250,000 2015 (UFA)
Fisher, Mike » C NAS 33 $4,200,000 2015 (UFA)
Briere, Daniel » C MTL 36 $4,000,000 2015 (UFA)
Vermette, Antoine » C PHX 31 $3,750,000 2015 (UFA)
Cullen, Matt » C NAS 37 $3,500,000 2015 (UFA)

the top 5 are good, but I can see Toews, Krejci, and Briere (too old) being resigned... SLIGHT chance you have a shot at Spezza (who will be 32 during that year) or Fisher (if Nashville still sucks/is rebuilding, and yet he'll be 35 years old, plus his Wife Carrie Underwood loves Nashville, so I would hardly think you can pry him out of there)...

If we DO buy out Richards (a 60 point player, which apparently none of these guys, at least the ones are going to be available for us, will be able to do that), there needs to be some viable replacement, either via undrafted players who are ready to go (rare), a fleecing trade (crapshoot), a random draft pick (whats that?), or a Free Agent **** up (on our cap space)...

So, pick your poison I guess?
 
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Gardner McKay said:
You pick one point and ignore the other. Im not for just signing Stastny. I am for signing him and using one of our other 2C's as a trade chip to upgrade the team in other areas.
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Yeah and I'm still not happy with that rationalization.

How many #2 centers do we need to give #1 center money to before people finally stop suggesting it? Stastny would be the 3rd or 4th in recent history. I'll be looking forward to the "Should we buyout Stastny after the '17 Season" thread.
 
Barbara Underhill said:
Yeah and I'm still not happy with that rationalization.

How many #2 centers do we need to give #1 center money to before people finally stop suggesting it? Stastny would be the 3rd or 4th in recent history. I'll be looking forward to the "Should we buyout Stastny after the '17 Season" thread.
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Agreed.

In fact, I might go as far as saying that signing Stastny is the worst conceivable option. I'd probably be more OK with keeping Richards.

Granted, I hate both options.
 
Richards has rebounded somewhat this year but it's not likely he's going to hit 60 pts. He's got 45 in 65 games. He'll have to be a point a game player for the rest of the year to hit 60. More likely he finishes around 55 as he's not playing with quite the same energy IMO as he was at the beginning of the year.

He was more or less a point per game player before he signed with the Rangers--3 years in and 6 to go? Is he the reincarnation of Chris Drury? Just about the player I like the least on the team.

Am really not in favor of giving a very good but not elite center like Stastny a huge contract. I don't think it makes a lot of sense. Rangers can at least start the season with Stepan, Brassard and Miller and see how it goes. We have some very good wingers in Nash, St. Louis, Zuccarello, Kreider and Hagelin all returning. It wouldn't be a really weak forward group IMO. Sooner or later Miller should be thrown in the deep end of the pool. I don't like guys turning into perennial prospects. He's been eating up the AHL lately. And then there's Lindberg who should be pushing for an NHL job soon as well. Just because we're not absolutely sure how these guys are going to do doesn't mean they won't be capable given a real opportunity.
 
eco's bones said:
Richards has rebounded somewhat this year but it's not likely he's going to hit 60 pts. He's got 45 in 65 games. He'll have to be a point a game player for the rest of the year to hit 60. More likely he finishes around 55 as he's not playing with quite the same energy IMO as he was at the beginning of the year.

He was more or less a point per game player before he signed with the Rangers--3 years in and 6 to go? Is he the reincarnation of Chris Drury? Just about the player I like the least on the team.

Am really not in favor of giving a very good but not elite center like Stastny a huge contract. I don't think it makes a lot of sense. Rangers can at least start the season with Stepan, Brassard and Miller and see how it goes. We have some very good wingers in Nash, St. Louis, Zuccarello, Kreider and Hagelin all returning. It wouldn't be a really weak forward group IMO. Sooner or later Miller should be thrown in the deep end of the pool. I don't like guys turning into perennial prospects. He's been eating up the AHL lately. And then there's Lindberg who should be pushing for an NHL job soon as well. Just because we're not absolutely sure how these guys are going to do doesn't mean they won't be capable given a real opportunity.
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You should factor that he is now playing with St. Louis... so it's very possible that he racks up a point per game. Not to mention how he steps it up come playoff time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIW4Bsp9ZqQ
 
azaloum90 said:
You should factor that he is now playing with St. Louis... so it's very possible that he racks up a point per game. Not to mention how he steps it up come playoff time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIW4Bsp9ZqQ
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We'll see--but I wouldn't bet on him hitting 60. If a Ranger center were to do it this year Stepan has been racking up the points lately. I think he'd have a better shot.
 
eco's bones said:
We'll see--but I wouldn't bet on him hitting 60. If a Ranger center were to do it this year Stepan has been racking up the points lately. I think he'd have a better shot.
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with how often AV is rolling lines, I don't doubt that both hit 60...
 
Barbara Underhill said:
Yeah and I'm still not happy with that rationalization.

How many #2 centers do we need to give #1 center money to before people finally stop suggesting it? Stastny would be the 3rd or 4th in recent history. I'll be looking forward to the "Should we buyout Stastny after the '17 Season" thread.
Click to expand...

Then what do we do? Stepan and Brassard won't cut it. Miller looks like he could be ready. Richards is 34. It is hardly a rationalization. It gives us a slight upgrade on C while allowing us to strengthen the roster by upgrading on the wing or getting a PMD. Id say as a whole it would be a huge roster upgrade.

Since so many dislike this idea, what is the solution? Fantasy trades for Barkov? A kid who for all we know could never pan out to more than an average 2C? All I see on these boards is how Stastny would be more of the same and yet I never see realistic proposals for a solution. I am not singling you to BU I am just making a point in general.
 
Unfortunate but keeping Richards is prohibitive. Statsny sounds nice but I don't we'd be able to meet his contractual demands, figure he's gonna get 6-7 years at 7-8 mil. That's an overpayment. I haven't researched options but worse comes to worse, signing a couple of our own RFAs and UFAs we look like this in the top 9:
Krieds Step Nash
Hagelin miller MSL
Pouliot/Zuc Brassard Zuc/fast

Not great, not awful. We'll need an upgrade in there somewhere to shift folks "down". May have to come via trade market as the FA market is thin. Size and some skill sounds nice and another "scorer" too but be prepared to part with a Hagelin, Kristo, Fast, or Allen type guys via trade market. Unless we blow it up and do some ridiculous swap with say Carolina.
 
Lindberg Cheese said:
Unfortunate but keeping Richards is prohibitive. Statsny sounds nice but I don't we'd be able to meet his contractual demands, figure he's gonna get 6-7 years at 7-8 mil. That's an overpayment. I haven't researched options but worse comes to worse, signing a couple of our own RFAs and UFAs we look like this in the top 9:
Krieds Step Nash
Hagelin miller MSL
Pouliot/Zuc Brassard Zuc/fast

Not great, not awful. We'll need an upgrade in there somewhere to shift folks "down". May have to come via trade market as the FA market is thin. Size and some skill sounds nice and another "scorer" too but be prepared to part with a Hagelin, Kristo, Fast, or Allen type guys via trade market. Unless we blow it up and do some ridiculous swap with say Carolina.
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People don't want Stastny at 7 million a year while giving up no assets but are alright with Eric Staal at 8+ million a year while most likely giving up significant assets? :facepalm:
 
If we keep Richards, we aren't letting him retire. He'll be in his mid-late thirties when his contract starts paying him peanuts. I'm sure the Rangers doctors can find something to legitimately put Richards on LTIR. I don't see it being an issue.

Edit: He's had concussion issues, I'm sure that's one possible avenue to pursue for LTIR.
 
Killem Dafoe said:
I really don't think the addition of MSL has any impact on whether we buy out Richards or not. It would be pretty dumb to handcuff ourselves to Richard's contract for just one more year of those two playing together.
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We handcuffed ourselves to Richards' contract when we signed him. At the time, a future amnesty buyout was being discussed, but wasn't set in stone. I'm a bit confused as to why everyone thinks Richards signing and his contract were a stroke of bad luck that just sorta happened to us, and Sather willl do the right thing and buy him out.

Sather is fiercely loyal to players. For that reason, and the fact that he has been top-3 in team points for three years now, I don't think we'll be buying him out. Should we? I think so.
 
Throw tons of money at Vanek, roll with Stepan Brassard and Miller down the middle and hope our ridiculous wing depth is enough to cover for 1/2 and 2/3 tweener centermen. Stepan and Brassard aren't bonafide #1's but I have confidence that they can keep up and grow into the roles especially with tons of support down the wings.
 
Emptyvoid said:
If we keep Richards, we aren't letting him retire. He'll be in his mid-late thirties when his contract starts paying him peanuts. I'm sure the Rangers doctors can find something to legitimately put Richards on LTIR. I don't see it being an issue.

Edit: He's had concussion issues, I'm sure that's one possible avenue to pursue for LTIR.
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didn't someone else suggest some sort of idea where if Richards was traded and salary was held back between several teams, the re-capture penalty is smaller?
 
We have 4 players (MSL, Brad, Step and MZA) among the top-60 scorers. There are 90 first liners, so being in the top 60 is a definite first line production.

Then we have 3 more guys (Brass, Kreider, Nash) who are putting up second line scoring numbers.

That's 7 players in the top 6 plus Hagelin.

This team has enough scoring to go deep. This wasn't something we could say for any team we had since 1996-97.
 
I think they have to buy out Richards w the recapture penalty. Yea they will try for Stastny but he's overrated . Get used yo stepan, brassard, miller, resign Moore . Lindberg call up
 
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