GDT: Free agency madness, brought to you by the letter G - PART 2

[Sens of Anarchy]

Zub is the best defender on the Ottawa Senators and its not even close.

I personally am not on the Chychrun train. Sure I'd like him on the roster but its not a must get particularly at a high price. IMO a solid reliable Defense first right shot D man will do the trick and I think we need that on a stop gap basis to give JBD and Thomson a little more time. We have Zub .. just need to resign him and he should be considered as a vital piece. I don't believe I am overvaluing him. Weegar would still be my #1 target if he does not resign in Calgary. Price tag should be less than what we are seeing on Chychrun. Tanev would be great if we can work around that 10 team NTC.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

On the ice performance solely, 100% agree. Off the ice, tough to deny Brady's impact.

We don't even know what Brady's off ice impact is, its not something you can lean on to win hockey games. Like do you think if Brady's last name was Smith there would be a marketing campaign like there has been? He would have just been one of our other stars.

And if the idea was to use the Tkachuk brand name to build legitimacy in a Franchise that badly needed some, then it would hardly matter after when the team is top end and the on ice performance brings that legitimacy itself. And in that situation it's more important focus on having the best team possible.

And I mean we have captain level players up the wazoo. Chabot, Stutzle, Debrincat, Norris, Batherson, Sanderson all look letter worthy.

 

[JD1]

I don’t think Chabot should be traded purely from a optics perspective. The French Canadian superstar D in a bilingual market. I rather have Chabot over Chychrun any day of the week also.

So would I. I'm not convinced acquiring Chychrun is a good move. But if they do that, I won't be surprised if this is Chabot's last season

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

We don't even know what Brady's off ice impact is, its not something you can lean on to win hockey games. Like do you think if Brady's last name was Smith there would be a marketing campaign like there has been? He would have just been one of our other stars.

And if the idea was to use the Tkachuk brand name to build legitimacy in a Franchise that badly needed some, then it would hardly matter after when the team is top end and the on ice performance brings that legitimacy itself.

I think his personality and impact on the franchise is significant, albeit immeasurable. I agree with the sentiment that he's a bit of a unicorn as far as marketability goes and it has value. And while I hear what you're saying, he is a Tkachuk and it has mattered and can be marketed, so not sure what to make of that.

 

[JD1]

I don't know if this has been touched on at all, but I wonder if us moving on from Zaitsev is affecting our ability to sign Zub. Can he speak or understand english at all?

I questioned that the other day

 

[StoicSensFan]

Term deflates the AAV though. If we signed Joseph to 2 years, it'd probably have been closer to 3.5M.


Yeah, apparently Zub can't communicate with the team at all which is why he wants to leave in FA to sign with a team that has more Russians

Honest concern though, he needed to lean on Zaitsev a lot when he first got traded signed. Maybe that's not a problem anymore

 

[Korpse]

Term deflates the AAV though. If we signed Joseph to 2 years, it'd probably have been closer to 3.5M.

No it wouldn’t have been. For older players sure, term brings down the AAV. Not for a 22 or 25 year old though. The extra two years for Joseph are UFA years and inflated the AAV. For Formenton he has 4 RFAs left but each RFA year will have more value than the last.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I don't know if this has been touched on at all, but I wonder if us moving on from Zaitsev is affecting our ability to sign Zub. Can he speak or understand english at all?

Who really knows.. but its probably more difficult to move him than they'd like.

 

[OD99]

Have to say this conversation has really made a bizarre turn.

Now we are determining how quickly we need to trade Chabot or Brady? WTF.

Can we see how the team comes together with all the new additions (including Pinto/Sanderson/Joseph/Kelly/Kastelic) before we determine which of our stars we need to move on from?

I want a better RD as well but if Sanderson is as good as advertised he will be carrying his partner as soon as next season anyway. Having 2 guys that can control the pace of the game like Chabby and Sanderson is huge and yes they will be much better with better partners however we should see a significant improvement on the D this year regardless.

Let's let the season start and enjoy the team!

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

There is no way I'd entertain trading for Chychrun and moving out Chabot... What's Chychrun going to want on a new contract?

 

[BondraTime]

Term deflates the AAV though. If we signed Joseph to 2 years, it'd probably have been closer to 3.5M.


Yeah, apparently Zub can't communicate with the team at all which is why he wants to leave in FA to sign with a team that has more Russians

Longer term would inflate the contract

If we signed Josheph to a 2 year contract it would have come at less than what he received on a 4 year term.

If we signed Zub to a 6 year deal it undoubtedly comes in at more than 2.5 his 2 year aav came in at

 

[Burrowsaurus]

This board needs hockey and it needs hockey fast

 

[Hale The Villain]

This is one of the big reasons why I'm not so keen on Chychrun trade.

Yes, in a non-cap world having 3 guys on LD who could all be stars would be amazing. Top end D on the ice for a full 60 minutes. But..you also can't neuter your top guys by having 2 out of the 3 pairing up with bottom pairing quality partners.

If Chychrun was a true RD, this wouldn't be an issue. Then a trade would be sympatico.

Tampa Bay just won two cups doing exactly that.

Hedman, Sergachev and McDonagh all played on the left side with Ruuta, Cernak and Bogosian/Foote playing on the right side, and despite that Hedman, Sergachev and McDonagh led the D in ice-time.

I don't think it's a major problem that Chychrun is left-handed. He's even played RD at the NHL level and looked good doing it.

 

[kellmuff96]

is it crazy to think that having a much better forward group will mitigate the impact Zaitsev has? The defensive side of playing forward has a big impact on the defense. I hope that having a better group overall makes Zaitsevs shortcomings less noticeable out there.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

is it crazy to think that having a much better forward group will mitigate the impact Zaitsev has? The defensive side of playing forward has a big impact on the defense. I hope that having a better group overall makes Zaitsevs shortcomings less noticeable out there.

Mm I think it will mitigate brannstroms weaknesses. I think it may actually highlight Zaitsevs weaknesses and there will be a larger disparity between the team with out Zaitsev on the ice and the team with him

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

is it crazy to think that having a much better forward group will mitigate the impact Zaitsev has? The defensive side of playing forward has a big impact on the defense. I hope that having a better group overall makes Zaitsevs shortcomings less noticeable out there.

We want D that can move the puck to these better forwards. Zaitsev does not pass the puck well.

 

[cudi]

if we get rid of Zaitsev, who will score the empty netters!?

 

[Big Muddy]

He's even played RD at the NHL level and looked good doing it.

This is a subject that I am curious about? Does anybody have more info on this subject? For example, how much time has he spent playing RD, how effective was he (using whatever measures that are available), how does that compare against his LD stats. Were there differences in his partners that could explain any differences?

Just seeking info - that's all.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Mm I think it will mitigate brannstroms weaknesses. I think it may actually highlight Zaitsevs weaknesses and there will be a larger disparity between the team with out Zaitsev on the ice and the team with him

If we combined Zaitsev's board play and his puck retrieval with Brannstrom's passing we'd be all set.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

This board needs Chychrun and it needs him fast

Fixed that for you.

 

[SpezDispenser]

Let's f-ing go, sign Zub!

 

[Sweatred]

So…if AZ retained half in Chychrun would people be more inclined to send Grieg along with our 1st + +

JC @ $2.3

Grieg
1st 2023
2nd (wash)
JBD/Thomson
Zaitsev

Based on SofA salary breakdown above this would likely solve our budget crunch & allow us to keep the big 6 + Pinto up front, along with Chabot, Zub, Sanderson, Chychrun long term. (Which to me makes the deal palatable).
Then the cap opens up

Geez no… just send Formy.

 

[JD1]

There is no way I'd entertain trading for Chychrun and moving out Chabot... What's Chychrun going to want on a new contract?

I wouldn't either, but I do think it's a potential outcome of acquiring Chychurn

 

[Sweatred]

I wouldn't either, but I do think it's a potential outcome of acquiring Chychurn

Chychrun plus an EK type deal for Chabot which allows us to keep more players and extend our competitive window is more valuable than going all in on Chabot.

 

[Hale The Villain]

So…if AZ retained half in Chychrun would people be more inclined to send Grieg along with our 1st + +

JC @ $2.3

Grieg
1st 2023
2nd (wash)
JBD/Thomson
Zaitsev

Based on SofA salary breakdown above this would likely solve our budget crunch & allow us to keep the big 6 + Pinto up front, along with Chabot, Zub, Sanderson, Chychrun long term. (Which to me makes the deal palatable).
Then the cap opens up

I assume the Sens are offering Formenton instead of Greig, and I'm sure a big reason for that is that Greig would probably be able to plug into the 3rd line LW role by potentially the end of next season for around 2M less than Formenton, resulting in around 6M in savings over his 3YR ELC. If the Yotes retained 50% on Chychrun the savings would be slightly higher (about 2.6M per year).

Depends on how much better the Sens think Greig will end up compared to Formenton. Personally I think both probably top out as 40-50P 2nd line LWs that bring value away from the puck with good two-way games, quality PKing and some physicality (bit more in Greig's case), so I wouldn't mind the above deal.