GDT: Free Agent Frenzy Today at Noon EST

[Gizmo Tkachuk]

 

[ProjectPanthers]

Now official Balcers is a Panther.

Love this signing, Zito continuing to make a lot of great under the radar signings to beef up the bottom 6 and make them a lot harder to play against.

The additions of Cousins and Balcers immediately make the team's bottom 6 much more defensively responsible and well rounded. There might be a slight drop in scoring but that should be made up by a overall better defensive style.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

I wonder if Deni is injured longer than expected. Bit weird to sign two bottom line forwards and a mid six tweener with three open spots.

Per Checkers coach Geordie Kinnear, Denisenko broke his kneecap while blocking a shot.
The 21-year-old forward underwent surgery and said he will begin skating in three weeks.
That puts him on track to join the Panthers for training camp in the fall.

Denisenko isn't really competing with some bottom6ers: he's either a top6er for the Panthers or he's included into some bigger deal.
Zito doesn't believe one bit that guys like Hepo and Hutsko can break into the lineup from the training camp. You may consider that either the Panthers' farm system is sucks or Zito is unable to see the value in having rookies of their own in the starting lineup instead of a bunch of mercenaries.

 

[violaswallet]

Per Checkers coach Geordie Kinnear, Denisenko broke his kneecap while blocking a shot.
The 21-year-old forward underwent surgery and said he will begin skating in three weeks.
That puts him on track to join the Panthers for training camp in the fall.

Denisenko isn't really competing with some bottom6ers: he's either a top6er for the Panthers or he's included into some bigger deal.
Zito doesn't believe one bit that guys like Hepo and Hutsko can break into the lineup from the training camp. You may consider that either the Panthers' farm system is sucks or Zito is unable to see the value in having rookies of their own in the starting lineup instead of a bunch of mercenaries.

I know what they reported. It’s more that I don’t see how the numbers work? I guess Lomberg might be a scratch some games? We’ve filled the free roster spots.

Maybe you’re right and the plan is for White and Deni to compete for the second RW spot next to Huberdeaubor Barky

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

I know what they reported. It’s more that I don’t see how the numbers work? I guess Lomberg might be a scratch some games? We’ve filled the free roster spots.

Maybe you’re right and the plan is for White and Deni to compete for the second RW spot next to Huberdeaubor Barky

Lomberg had pretty good stats in last season so I'm not expecting him to be scratched by default but I do expect Hornqvist to miss more games, I'd expect him to play like 40-50 games.

I do think that the long term plan is to get Luostarinen promoted to the 3rd line center spot and maybe Cousins or someone else inherits his 4th line center spot. I can see the reasoning for all of these new guys but it's rather disheartening for the Cats prospects who will not be getting chance at breaking into the roster unless someone gets injured.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

Opening night roster is pretty much set, obviously you can mess with lines but

Verhaeghe-Barkov-Reinhart
Huberdeau-Bennett-Denisenko
White-Lundell-Horny
Balcers-Luo-Cousins

Ryan Lomberg

Weegar-Ekblad
Forsling-Gudas
Carlsson-Montour

Marc Staal

Bob
Knight

It's fine, I wish so badly we could bring last year's post TDL team to this year as the Atlantic is weaker but again this is a 110 point team. Decisions to be made if Duclair comes back but yeah it's all set for now.

 

[Gizmo Tkachuk]

Opening night roster is pretty much set, obviously you can mess with lines but

Verhaeghe-Barkov-Reinhart
Huberdeau-Bennett-Denisenko
White-Lundell-Horny
Balcers-Luo-Cousins

Ryan Lomberg

Weegar-Ekblad
Forsling-Gudas
Carlsson-Montour

Jordan Staal

Bob
Knight

It's fine, I wish so badly we could bring last year's post TDL team to this year as the Atlantic is weaker but again this is a 110 point team. Decisions to be made if Duclair comes back but yeah it's all set for now.

We got Jordan too? lol

If Eric makes it out of PTO, Denisenko probably starts in the minors. There is depth for the eventual injuries at least.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

We got Jordan too? lol

If Eric makes it out of PTO, Denisenko probably starts in the minors. There is depth for the eventual injuries at least.

Lol too quick for me, if Staal gets a contract at his expense (not good imo) then you can drop Denisenko down and sign E. Staal without any additional moves. Really Denisenko vs Staal is all there is to decide.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Lomberg had pretty good stats in last season so I'm not expecting him to be scratched by default but I do expect Hornqvist to miss more games, I'd expect him to play like 40-50 games.

I do think that the long term plan is to get Luostarinen promoted to the 3rd line center spot and maybe Cousins or someone else inherits his 4th line center spot. I can see the reasoning for all of these new guys but it's rather disheartening for the Cats prospects who will not be getting chance at breaking into the roster unless someone gets injured.

There will be injuries anyway. I'm pretty sure Deni or Hepo are gonna get at least 15-20 games in.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

There will be injuries anyway. I'm pretty sure Deni or Hepo are gonna get at least 15-20 games in.

Maybe Deni but probably not Hepo. The Panthers' track record of developing prospects into NHLers speaks for itself.

 

[iam76]

love the balcers signing.

 

[violaswallet]

Maybe Deni but probably not Hepo. The Panthers' track record of developing prospects into NHLers speaks for itself.

Yep: it's literally straight to NHL or bust since Trocheck/Weegar. We have 6 drafted players guaranteed for a spot (16,11,15,5,52,30). Only one of them played in an AHL game before their NHL debut. We got so lucky that Lundell fell; otherwise it would have been even worse

 

[zeroG]

i know we are all disappointed Z couldn't pull a rabbit out of the hat but i'm pleased with the outcome of day one. i admit i don't know a lot about these three signings but reading over some commenters who seem to know the game, it appears we got very good value and spent virtually nothing.

i'm going to guess that white is penciled in on L1 or 2 on the wing. sounds like he's not so much a driver but good around the net (something we lacked in the playoffs). he's a candidate for a breakout, especially playing with barky or huby. smart of him to sign here. we're probably going to be talking about extending him by the AS break.

the other guys slot in on L3/4 but we now have an NHL roster with some balance and grit and are not counting on rookies. i think this roster, on paper, looks harder to play against than our post-TDL roster. especially come playoff time.

 

[CaptainScrewy]

Gotta really hope Deni is ready to step up. Had high hopes for Tippett and he fell flat, lets go Deni!

 

[violaswallet]

Gotta really hope Deni is ready to step up. Had high hopes for Tippett and he fell flat, lets go Deni!

Deni has shown he can be a complementary player to Barky two seasons ago; hopefully the knee injury didn't affect his agility.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Maybe Deni but probably not Hepo. The Panthers' track record of developing prospects into NHLers speaks for itself.

Well Hepo has looked better in the nhl imo than Deni. The latter has better size and higher expectations. But it will all depend on camp and how they start the season in the ahl.

 

[RCGP2]

Since Bunnaman makes 750 his contract won't count against the cap if he's in the minors. 1 way deal means he gets paid 750k even in the minors. If you sent someone down making 3m for example then you only get credit for the league minimum salary, which seems to be 750k.

Cap friendly has us at -3.025m, so Duclair almost covers that. It also has Sjalin on the roster still for some reason so that's another 855k.... IF Eric Staal makes the team and he gets 750k, then we are still under the 3m from Duke's LTIR.

There is also the 2nd buyout window after arbitration if we need to buyout Hornqvist, since Bowlby is arbitration eligible.

 

[VijayPatel11]

I really think that Zito has made the best out of a bad situation... some good depth signings, and lost some players who were overpaid in FA anyway

Perhaps a small trade to cap it all off

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

Since Bunnaman makes 750 his contract won't count against the cap if he's in the minors. 1 way deal means he gets paid 750k even in the minors. If you sent someone down making 3m for example then you only get credit for the league minimum salary, which seems to be 750k.

Cap friendly has us at -3.025m, so Duclair almost covers that. It also has Sjalin on the roster still for some reason so that's another 855k.... IF Eric Staal makes the team and he gets 750k, then we are still under the 3m from Duke's LTIR.

There is also the 2nd buyout window after arbitration if we need to buyout Hornqvist, since Bowlby is arbitration eligible.

Oh shit Denisenko actually can't make the team, as you noted Florida is 25k over, subtract 855k from Sjalin and Florida has 830k. Deni is making 925. He's gonna get squeezed by 95k. Looks like Staal is gonna be this year's Jumbo Joe.

 

[PSLguy]

Hey @Jean Luc Discard - what do think of Huberdeau for a signed/extended Matthew Tkachuk.

 

[I am not exposed]

Hey @Jean Luc Discard - what do think of Huberdeau for a signed/extended Matthew Tkachuk.

I would do that in a heartbeat.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

Hey @Jean Luc Discard - what do think of Huberdeau for a signed/extended Matthew Tkachuk.

I'm 100% on board... no, make it 250%.

 

[ProjectPanthers]

I agree with others that I think Hepo has at times looked better at the NHL level than Denisenko. Definitely more engaged in play and willing to make a tough play. With that said, I don't think either can be pencilled in for a roster spot just yet. We've learned many times that management needs to see a lot from a young player to give them that roster spot out of camp. This is my thinking for the lineup:

Verhaeghe - Barkov - White
Huberdeau - Bennett - Reinhart
Balcers - Lundell - Hornqvist
Cousins - Luostarinen - Lomberg

Levtchi
Denisenko
Heponiemi

Weegar - Ekblad
Forsling - Gudas
Staal - Montour

Carlsson
Sjalin

Bobrovsky
Knight

Lyon

I think White will get every chance to prove that his 2018-19 season was not an outlier and I do see Maurice putting him up top with Verhaeghe and Barkov. I really like the balance of this lineup. Lots of grit in the bottom 6 and lots of skill in the top 6. The bottom 6 looks like hell for teams battling in corners, exactly what I wanted from this group moving forward.

Regardless, with Maurice coming in though we have no idea how he'll maneuver the lines. We are basing this on Coach Q/Bruno's lineup, Maurice may like playing Huby and Barky together.

I'm 100% on board... no, make it 250%.

Panthers would likely have to add, Tkachuk is 4 years younger than Huberdeau but I too would do that in a heartbreat without even thinking it. Tkachuk would be perfect for this team.

 

[Gentle Man]

Yea that Matthew Tkachuk situation is worth keeping an eye on.

Shit.

I'd do Huberdeau + Weegar for Tkachuk (with a contract) + someone like Valimaki

 

[Thomas Colavecchio]

I wouldn't mind that idea at all, realizing Huby totally disappeared in the P.O's, especially against TB.

But someone would have to go to support that idea. Per Cap Friendly, this year Huby's CAP hit is 5.9M. Tkachuk's now expired RFA contract hit was 7. 0M...I'm quessing that his new number will likely end up to be around 9 M +/-.

A Hornqvist buyout might just make up the difference $ wise, for '22-23...moving him by a trade, but prolly would require the Panthers to carry some of his '23 5.3M salary.