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

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Answer

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Dec 17, 2006
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Edmonton
Maybe Barrie becomes available now that Yamamoto and Puljujarvi have elected arbitration? They could easily hit 6.5 or even 7M together, at which point Edmonton will have to do something.

I'm not the biggest Barrie guy, but he puts up points, he can run a PP, he's not signed long-term, Dorion likes him, he doesn't have an NTC, etc..

I'm sure they'd like to move Puljujarvi, but it might be hard to find him a team if he's making 3.5M.

IDK, I'm sure we can get Barrie for a song, but Edmonton would then have to find a new RHD and won't ahve a ton of cap room.
We don't need a defenseman who can run a PP. We need a defenseman who could solidify our top 4 on 5on5
 

Burrowsaurus

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Mar 20, 2013
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Do we have a another tier of targets

Chychrun weegar Marino.

Marino gone. Weegar apparently doesn’t want to play here. And klingberg.

So what’s the next tier of targets? Any ideas ?
 

IranCondraAffair

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Mar 10, 2006
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We don't need a defenseman who can run a PP. We need a defenseman who could solidify our top 4 on 5on5
We have finished in the top 1/2 of powerplays twice ( 12th and 13th) in the past 12 seasons. During our last run of sustained success (in the 2000's), we were consistently in the top-5.

Special teams matter. Especially when we have a forward group who is going to be generating a ton of chances.
 
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edguy

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Feb 5, 2014
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Charlottetown, PEI
Do we have a another tier of targets

Chychrun weegar Marino.

Marino gone. Weegar apparently doesn’t want to play here. And klingberg.

So what’s the next tier of targets? Any ideas ?

Tyler Myers, Justin Holl, PK Subban maybe? 🤮🤮

If JC is too much we should be going for Klingberg. After those 2 I think I would rather stand pat than add any other piece.
Also I don't think its Weegar who doesn't wanna play here, I think its Florida who doesn't want to trade him.
 

Daffy

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Jun 10, 2010
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Do we have a another tier of targets

Chychrun weegar Marino.

Marino gone. Weegar apparently doesn’t want to play here. And klingberg.

So what’s the next tier of targets? Any ideas ?
Weegar would love to play here. Don't think Florida will move him though.
 

Answer

Registered User
Dec 17, 2006
7,052
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Edmonton
We have finished in the top 1/2 of powerplays twice ( 12th and 13th) in the past 12 seasons. During our last run of sustained success (in the 2000's), we were consistently in the top-5.

Special teams matter. Especially when we have a forward group who is going to be generating a ton of chances.
We are more than fine on the PP. A Tyson Berry won't improve it any better

PP1
DeBrincat - Batheron - Norris
Stutzle - Chabot

PP2
Joseph - Giroux - Tkachuk
Formenton - Sanderson or Brannstrom?
 

IranCondraAffair

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Mar 10, 2006
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We are more than fine on the PP. A Tyson Berry won't improve it any better

PP1
DeBrincat - Batheron - Norris
Stutzle - Chabot

PP2
Joseph - Giroux - Tkachuk
Formenton - Sanderson or Brannstrom?

You're talking about playing a Forward on PP one and PP two has a rookie who has never played an NHL game as well as Formenton who is also not a defenseman.
 

SenatorsLegionary

Member of Sens Army
Oct 25, 2008
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Montreal, Qc
Do we have a another tier of targets

Chychrun weegar Marino.

Marino gone. Weegar apparently doesn’t want to play here. And klingberg.

So what’s the next tier of targets? Any ideas ?

I think there are definitely other targets, maybe some names that haven't been discussed as much. I went sifted through the teams and came up with this list of potential realistic targets:

Connor Murphy - 4 years $4.4M AAV (modified NTC)
Adam Larsson - 3 years $4.0M AAV (NTC)
Chris Tanev - 2 years $4.5M AAV (modified NTC)
Matt Roy - 2 years $3.15M AAV
Sean Walker - 2 years $2.65M AAV
Sean Durzi - RFA
Matt Dumba - 1 year $6M cap hit, $5.2M salary (modified NTC)
Damon Severson - 1 year $4.16M cap hit, $5.1M salary

No guarantee that every player on the list is even available or would waive to come here for those with trade protection rights, but there are still some good options that are worth exploring.

Dumba and Severson with 1 year remaining would not be my first choice. I feel like both will be expensive to trade for and there's the added uncertainty that they would not extend after this year. On the riskier end for me so I'd look at some of the other options before inquiring here.

Murphy's interesting because Chicago is in a position to take back Zaitsev in a potential deal. Identical AAV as Marino but has 4 years remaining instead of 5. I don't know how true the rumblings are that we backed off on Marino because of term so I'm not sure if Dorion would view this as a viable option with a 4 year term. I like this as a target though because the cost of dumping Zaitsev and acquiring Murphy sort of get blended together so we may be able to get a bit of a deal depending on how each team values the different aspects of the transaction. Murphy has had some concussion issues so he may not cost as much due to that.

Calgary's a team to watch as well. I have no idea which direction they will decide to go after losing Gaudreau. If they sign their 3 remaining RFAs to deals that are generally in line with expectations, they'll be right up against the cap. It seems like whether they choose to rebuild or compete, they'll be in need of some cap space. We would actually be suited to help them with their cap situation by taking on Lucic, who is owed $875k cash for the final year of his contract even though his cap hit is over $5M. I wonder if the Flames would be interested in a Lucic + Tanev for Zaitsev + futures swap?

If we are able to unload Zaitsev in a separate deal, I feel like LA would be the team to negotiate with. They seem to have a glut of RD so most likely to be willing to trade one of Walker, Durzi or Roy at a reasonable price.
 

KaraLupin

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Jun 4, 2009
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Vancouver
You're talking about playing a Forward on PP one and PP two has a rookie who has never played an NHL game as well as Formenton who is also not a defenseman.

It's common for powerplays to have one forward at the point with one D. I would say it's standard nowadays actually. Chabot/Brannstrom works fine PP1/2. Just need defensive D for even strength pairings..
 

SenatorsLegionary

Member of Sens Army
Oct 25, 2008
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Montreal, Qc
To piggy back off of my previous post, I've also been trying to conjure up some different ways that can possibly be looked at to move Zaitsev. By that I mean not the typical attach a 2nd round pick + to Zaitsev and send that to a rebuilding team for future considerations.

The reality is that after the free agency dust has settled, most teams either have a full roster or very little cap space which makes the parameters of a trade trickier to figure out given Zaitsev's $4.5M cap hit. I think that taking back a contract may have to be looked at as a possibility to open up more options.

I already mentioned Lucic in my last post. If Calgary is insistent on keeping Tanev, Lucic can still make sense for us due to his low salary. Lucic for Zaitsev + asset as the basis where the asset is a pick or prospect not as costly as a 2nd. The Flames gain some space (albeit not much) but take on an extra year of term so not sure if they'd be interested. Ideally we can pry Tanev from them too who I think is a perfect fit for what we are looking for on the right side.

Arizona has been discussed a lot among us fans as a dumping ground for Zaitsev. They've acquired two contracts since the draft that I think we can look at. The players themselves are not good, which should lower the cost of the sweetener attached to Zaitsev.

The first player is Kassian, who we were rumored to be interested in prior to his trade to the Coyotes. Zaitsev's the better player but I wonder if Arizona would be willing to use up a second retention slot for the next two years on Kassian. I'd attach a small asset (3rd rounder or less or equivalent prospect) to Zaitsev for Kassian 50% retained. Kassian plays a similar style to Watson so we could have them both rotate in and out of the lineup to keep them fresh over the course of the year. Kassian at $1.6M next year isn't bad either and provides insurance for that role on the team if Watson's contract demands are unreasonable.

The other player for Arizona that I was thinking of is Nemeth, who was just dumped on them by the Rangers. Again, Zaitsev is the better player and both players have similar cash owed to them - Salaries are a wash this year and Zaitsev is owed an extra $1M in 2023-2024. At most I think we would have to attach a late round pick if not a straight up trade. Nemeth is then easier for other teams to take on at $2.5M cap hit rather than Zaitsev's $4.5M. Circling back to the Calgary idea with Lucic, Lucic for Zaitsev saves them $750k whereas Lucic for Nemeth saves them $2.75M on their cap.

All in all, I know these aren't the most exciting players to speculate on acquiring, but I really wonder if there's a way to move Zaitsev without having to give up a 2nd or better. Either way, it felt good to write my thoughts down and I'm looking forward to see what Dorion has cooking to improve our defense corps.
 
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JD1

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Sep 12, 2005
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Dorion might have nothing cooking to improve our D core. Our forward group is significantly improved over last year. That's going to tilt Corsi for us. Instead of 45 or 46 or whatever it was, we should be able to get above 50. That's really going to help.

If we line up
Chabot Hamonic
Brannstrom Zub
Sanderson Zaitsev

You've got Zaitsev playing 17 or 18 a night against lesser competition and that's a far better situation than him playing 20+ in a shutdown role.

I would have made a move for an upper end top 4 RD if the price was right. But we didn't need to overpay and at this point we haven't. Lots of talk about wanting it, but there'd need to be some quality going the other way

With that lineup above we've still got Holden, Thomson, JBD and Hetherington

It's not an upper echelon D but it's better than what we've had for a few years and our forward group should really help
 

Emrasie

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Mar 13, 2019
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Dorion might have nothing cooking to improve our D core. Our forward group is significantly improved over last year. That's going to tilt Corsi for us. Instead of 45 or 46 or whatever it was, we should be able to get above 50. That's really going to help.

If we line up
Chabot Hamonic
Brannstrom Zub
Sanderson Zaitsev

You've got Zaitsev playing 17 or 18 a night against lesser competition and that's a far better situation than him playing 20+ in a shutdown role.

I would have made a move for an upper end top 4 RD if the price was right. But we didn't need to overpay and at this point we haven't. Lots of talk about wanting it, but there'd need to be some quality going the other way

With that lineup above we've still got Holden, Thomson, JBD and Hetherington

It's not an upper echelon D but it's better than what we've had for a few years and our forward group should really help
I would prefer
Chabot Hamonic
Brannstrom Zub
Sanderson Holden or

Chabot Zub
Brannstrom Holden
Sanderson Hamonic
 
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JD1

Registered User
Sep 12, 2005
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I would prefer
Chabot Hamonic
Brannstrom Zub
Sanderson Holden or

Chabot Zub
Brannstrom Holden
Sanderson Hamonic
Sure, there's a lot of ways you can slice it, my point was it's not a disaster.

Zaitsev will be overpaid if he's a 17 minute a night guy, but he'd be a capable 17 minute a night guy.
 

DJB

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Jan 6, 2009
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Would you roll into the season with the D the way it is? Chychrun seems too expensive and I don't think Florida is moving Weegar. With Marino dealt, JK seems to be the best option as of right now.


Carolina is in win now mode. Highly doubt they would trade him.

I actually think our top 4 is not terrible and I don’t see the absolute desperate need to add a top 4 guy. Would I like to? For sure I always want to improve but I think Hamonic will be fine if he plays like he did last year
 

Micklebot

Moderator
Apr 27, 2010
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I actually think our top 4 is not terrible and I don’t see the absolute desperate need to add a top 4 guy. Would I like to? For sure I always want to improve but I think Hamonic will be fine if he plays like he did last year
Hamonic isn't that far removed from being a top 4 D on a playoff team in Calgary in 2018-19 (107 pts) and 2019-20 (93 pts pace). Vancouver didn't work out for him paired mostly with Hughes, but there might be a lesson there, he played primarily with Hannifan in Calgary, so a bit of a different role playing with someone who's more of a two way guy rather being a defensive conscience to Hughes. Perhaps pairing him with Sanderson could work well here,
 
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Tuna99

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Sep 26, 2009
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I actually think our top 4 is not terrible and I don’t see the absolute desperate need to add a top 4 guy. Would I like to? For sure I always want to improve but I think Hamonic will be fine if he plays like he did last year

Zaitsev is a 14-15 minutes, and Hamonic I agree isn’t that bad but shouldn’t be more then 18 a night.
 

Tuna99

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Sep 26, 2009
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Nice to see Habs fans think Hoffman has trade value - they can’t get rid of him fast enough for a top 6 forward coming back - Ha
 
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