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

[Tuna99]

Any chance Colorado would move a RD to make room for Kadri?

You wonder too with Kadri and Klinberg out there you wonder if a RD shakes loose after they sign

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Dorion not making a move on Marino tells me they expect Zub to be part of the core and have Thomson/JBD as the number 4 and number 5. Or both number 4 with Chabot and Sanderson.

My initial take was that we overpay for an upper end top 4 and we let Zub go and have a trio of Chabot Sanderson Xxxx be our core on D with TDL acquisition to give needed depth if needed for bottom 3 positions (think McDonagh maneuver).

However Marino not being priority means Zub identified as that number 3 (unless we have Chychrun in mind but doesn’t make sense cap wise unless in 3 years we will deal Chabot and extend Chychrun).

Petry seemed perfect choice and I heard a lot of rumors on him but American factor plus we wouldn’t have been able to match Matheson offer who is a solid top 3 defender in his own right.

I really, really wonder what Dorion gonna plan now.

 

[JD1]

Getting a top 4 RD would be great IF the price is right. The team seems to have an unwillingness to part with a few of the guys that we consider our top prospects which is understandable. We're going to need some ELCs.

We have Zub, Hamonic and Zaitsev. All experienced pros. The team talked about seeing Chabot with Hamonic but we didn't get to see that. You can add Zub and Sanderson. Sanderson needs to mature quickly into a minute muncher. He's a top 5 pick, it's his D+3 season and he's a terrific skater. Top 4 acquisition or not, we need Sanderson playing at that level after 50 games. That leaves Holden, Brannstrom and Zaitsev. It's not hard to see nor is it a disaster if each of them takes a spin in a top 4 role. It's also not a disaster to have a 22 minute and two 19 minute types without that clear distinction between top and bottom minutes

And we've got two near ready rhd players in Thomson and JBD. Both 1st rounders.

There's a cost to everything and unless the price is right, I don't think that we HAVE to overpay. I'd make a move on an underpayment but not an overpayment or even a fair value move.

 

[L'Aveuglette]

ok, If you prefer I'll write:
A man with the power to travel into the future was able to look at the Ottawa Senators' roster 2 months into their season. After assisting to one of their game he quickly observed and commented about the team's defence lack of depth by saying: "Shoring up our offense in such a big way and leaving the back end with a big hole in it is such a waste."

But you're not a time traveller and your comment is about 4 months premature. Maybe give the GM a chance to find the right deal.

BE patient

Pretty sure we're allowed to discuss the possibility that Dorion won't be able to snag one of the few remaining top-4 Ds on the market, guy. That is unless you're the time traveller here and you know getting one is a guarantee.

 

[guyzeur]

Getting a top 4 RD would be great IF the price is right. The team seems to have an unwillingness to part with a few of the guys that we consider our top prospects which is understandable. We're going to need some ELCs.

We have Zub, Hamonic and Zaitsev. All experienced pros. The team talked about seeing Chabot with Hamonic but we didn't get to see that. You can add Zub and Sanderson. Sanderson needs to mature quickly into a minute muncher. He's a top 5 pick, it's his D+3 season and he's a terrific skater. Top 4 acquisition or not, we need Sanderson playing at that level after 50 games. That leaves Holden, Brannstrom and Zaitsev. It's not hard to see nor is it a disaster if each of them takes a spin in a top 4 role. It's also not a disaster to have a 22 minute and two 19 minute types without that clear distinction between top and bottom minutes

And we've got two near ready rhd players in Thomson and JBD. Both 1st rounders.

There's a cost to everything and unless the price is right, I don't think that we HAVE to overpay. I'd make a move on an underpayment but not an overpayment or even a fair value move.

And pray for none of the top 3 get injured for more than a few game during the season.

 

[IranCondraAffair]

We need a defenceman bro

Who are the defensemen who are RHD, available, and legitimate upgrades on Hamonic/Zaitsev?

1. Klingberg: Some are debating this due to his play the last two seasons. Would likely require a big money (long-term) contract which complicates our salary cap. We'd have to pay to dump Zaitsev. Zub would likely be gone in the offseason due to constraints.

2. Weeger. Probably the most consensus upgrade. One year from UFA. We'd have to give up legitimate assets to acquire him and we'd have to sign him long-term. Zub is likely gone in the offseason just like Klingberg. We'd have to pay to dump Zaitsev.

3. Chychrun (plays LHD, not RHD). Arizona has some pretty unreasonable expectations for a return.

4. Petry was 34, signed to a big contract, and didn't want to be in Canada. Was never going to work.

5. Marino was signed for 5 years which (along with a Zub re-signing) would have complicated our cap in other ways. He also hasn't set the world on fire the last two season either. So the improvement on Hamonic/Zaisev was debatable.

6. Tanev: Is he available? He's also injured, old, AND injury prone. Plus, Calgary fans think he's worth multiple firsts.

Who else is available? Barrie? Myers?

 

[JD1]

And pray for none of the top 3 get injured for more than a few game during the season.

I think it would be good if Thomson and JBD got say 40 - 50 games between them this year. I don't think that would hurt us and it would certainly help them. It'd also give us a much stronger feeling for where they are. One or both might be ready by Christmas

 

[Sweatred]

That Hamonic trade is a nice backup right now.

 

[Dingleberry]

Unless Klingberg signs short term, just platoon Hamonic/Thomson/JBD in the #4 spot and see if anything sticks. Concentrate on getting Zub signed long term and see what's available next year. Not contending anyway.

 

[GoSenatorsGo]

Somethings got to give in Philly on D.

I am wondering if we go after Provorov, Sanhiem or Ellis

 

[Sweatred]

Unless Klingberg signs short term, just platoon Hamonic/Thomson/JBD in the #4 spot and see if anything sticks. Concentrate on getting Zub signed long term and see what's available next year. Not contending anyway.

Zub may have zerooooo interest in signing here. He did take a modest contract to walk himself to UFA ASAP.

Hamonic is more likely to extend.

 

[SpezDispenser]

That Hamonic trade is a nice backup right now.

100% it is.

 

[IranCondraAffair]

Somethings got to give in Philly on D.

I am wondering if we go after Provorov, Sanhiem or Ellis

I looked at them:

Ellis is likely permanently done or close to it due to injuries.

Sanheim is a LHD, but we should still looking into him as a stop-gap for Sanderson.

Provorov is a solid gamble. He's been pretty consistently good (just not great) for years now. He wouldn't add much to our budget this season because his salary is low and his bonus has been paid. The big issue is in 2024-25 when he makes 8.25M in actual dollars and we might be running into cap issues. That said, it is incredibly hard to find a guy making 4-6.5M who is only signed for under 3 years. The main issue is that Philly is trying to compete and while dumping Provorov might be good for their cap, they seem disinclined to do so, even if they SHOULD be rebuilding. Provorov is likely as ideal a candidate as we're likely to find. The main problem will be acquisition cost.

 

[PlayersLtd]

There's no way of knowing what will happen, at this point.

1. We don't know what the cap upper limit will be (could very well be over $90M)
2. We don't know what the internal budget will be (what if we're coming off two seasons of $18k+ fans per game, revenue from a few playoff series, the Melnyk's take on a financial partner, and they've broken down on Lebreton?)

True. But the league just came out and said the cap would be more or less flat until the players pay back their loan which is projected to be at the end of the 23-24 season. At that point a fair assumption will be that the cap is around $83.5M. There could be a significant jump then, or not. Problem is, we wont know what the cap is for 24-25 until after the negotiation window starts with Debrincat so it might be a pretty precarious situation. We will see, hopefully Im reading too much into it.

Salary structure projection for 24-25 season

13 F:

Brady 8.2
Batherson 4.975
Norris 7.95
Stu 8.0
Giroux 6.5
Debrincat xxx
Pinto 4
Grieg 2.5
Formenton 3.0
Joseph 2.5
Kastelic 1.5
Kelly 1.5
Crookshank 1.5

Total: $52.125M

7 D:

Chabot 8
Sanderson 7
Zub 5
xxxx 5
Lassi 1.75
JBD 1.75
Kleven 1.25

Total: $29.75M

3 G:

Forsberg 2.75
Sogaard 1.25
xxx 1.25

Total: $5.25M

TOTAL: $87.0M without Debrincat signed.

Lots of assumptions of course, and I'm not sure if the 3rd goalie needs to count but I also didn't add Whites dead cap space. I don't see how it's going to be as easy as people are making it out to be.

A significant player will be coming off the roster in '24-'25 unless the cap goes above $90M, imo.

For the cap to go above $90M we are talking about a + - 8% increase over a projected $83.5M cap in 23-24 (league said increases would be minimal until player loan is paid off so this number is realistic). The last time the cap went up by as much as 8.25% was for the 2011-12 season.

It is not unheard of and the league has been boasting very good numbers recently but a $90M cap is optimistic and hardly something we could rely on. If Debrincat is signed in anticipation of that number and it doesn't happen, we are going to have to do some acrobatics to come down from + - $96M AAV to something around $88M. Thats when the house of cards starts to fall imo and I don't think it's a situation you put yourself in.

^ hence why I think Debrincat should be viewed as a 2 year rental.


*** I inflated ELC to 1.25 to be conservative.

 

[Laphroaig]

I know it's highly unlikely but Brandon Carlo would be my dream RD addition. I have no idea why Boston would move him but I have an active fantasy life.

 

[Loach]

What about that Mayfield guy on NYI? Lets revamp the defence too. Lol. And get a top 4d.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

If we make a trade on D like Chychrun, Formenton will almost definitely be included.

We can always flip Chychrun to another team if we cannot keep him or trade Chabot when the time comes and recoup assets. However, will we recoup and asset as good as Formenton? Likely not.

Next question is, if we don’t deal for a high end defender, who do we deal for? Holl? Myers? Then we’d have to dish out Zaitsev, we might not have the picks to make all those moves happen. We also may.

IMO we cannot move our 2023 first. A top 15 selection can be a top 5 in other drafts. Think 2015 or 2020. How vital would Mercer, Jarvis, Lundell, Greig or Peterka be when we are in a cap crunch and have to lose someone like say Batherson or Giroux? Next year pick will be crucial, crucial piece and could be the piece to put us over the top when we are firing on all cylinders 3-4 years from now and have to lose someone and need replacement on the inside.

Going to be extremely interesting to track what we do here.

 

[Tap on the Ankle]

Wonder what's going on in Vegas. They are over the cap with Kolesar and Roy left to sign. Theodore is one of their few guys with good trade value and no NTC/NMC.

 

[R2010]

Upon reflection - we should've kicked tires on signing Ilya Lyubushkin to replace Zaitsev. Even if we can't get the infamous 'top 4 d' improving the existing D would've been important.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Getting a top 4 RD would be great IF the price is right. The team seems to have an unwillingness to part with a few of the guys that we consider our top prospects which is understandable. We're going to need some ELCs.

We have Zub, Hamonic and Zaitsev. All experienced pros. The team talked about seeing Chabot with Hamonic but we didn't get to see that. You can add Zub and Sanderson. Sanderson needs to mature quickly into a minute muncher. He's a top 5 pick, it's his D+3 season and he's a terrific skater. Top 4 acquisition or not, we need Sanderson playing at that level after 50 games. That leaves Holden, Brannstrom and Zaitsev. It's not hard to see nor is it a disaster if each of them takes a spin in a top 4 role. It's also not a disaster to have a 22 minute and two 19 minute types without that clear distinction between top and bottom minutes

And we've got two near ready rhd players in Thomson and JBD. Both 1st rounders.

There's a cost to everything and unless the price is right, I don't think that we HAVE to overpay. I'd make a move on an underpayment but not an overpayment or even a fair value move.

Thats a decent argument and I do like Hamonic as insurance. It just seems like they want to move Zaitsev. Probably, knowing he's signed next year too is a motivating factor although maybe it waits til next summer. When even Garrioch was talking about him likely being moved, I have to believe its their preferred outcome. I still think he's gone either way and we see a different body brought in on D, upgrade or not, although Im still betting on upgrade given Dorion's other bold moves this summer.

Guyzeur brought up a decent point that we may not be insulated against injuries enough too.

 

[Tuna99]

Leafs putting together a package for former Sens Executive Pierre Mcquire

 

[SensFactor]

If we lose Zub...we gonna have a massive hole in the right side.....dorion give him what he wants

 

[Blotto71]

Adam Larsson (NTC, would need to waive), 3 years left at $4m. Time to get crackin' and call the Kraken.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

I’m guessing we just end up with Justin Holl or something.

 

[Blotto71]

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