GDT: Free Agent Frenzy

[Zetterberg4Captain]

How do you know that Yzerman didn't offer more than they took? I am very perplexed that the failure to execute is being construed as: (a) not attempting to execute on a plan, and (b) a lack or desire to execute on a plan (or even formulate a plan).

For the record, there were several deals signed yesterday that I would have been very happy with. I also know, however, that under U.S. labor law, you cannot legally force someone to enter into a contract to provide services. This isn't Nam. There are rules here.

Gaslighting...nobody is saying to break labor law...

The discussion is exclusive to which of the signed deals would we have wanted to have instead?

Not who spoke to who and when or what the particulars of any SY offer were.

 

[RedHawkDown]

That's not what he said so stop swearing and being disingenuous...those teams ADDED better players than we did AND equally to us, their own prospects and young NHL players should improve just like ours....

Exactly!! We’re not the only team with promising up and comers, people. In fact, the majority of non playoff teams in the east have at least equivalent upcoming talent compared to us. New Jersey has BOTH Hughes and Nemec, who are on par with Ed. Then obviously Hughes, Hischier, Mercer. Ottawa has got Stutzle/Sanderson and a young Brady. Montreal has got Slaf who is going to be a beast, and Hutson too. Buffalo is all young players drafted high. Philly with Michkov. CBJ with Fantilli, Jiricek, Lindstrom. You can do this exercise yourself.

For any of these teams to get to the next level, the improvement of the prospects has to be coupled with trades and FA signings that meaningfully bolster the roster instead of just keeping spots warm. That’s the whole point.

 

[ShanahanMan]

Kaner still contributes. Petry does not.

 

[norrisnick]

In the end, I don’t care what he did or didn’t try. I care about results. It seems that people here will keep giving Yzerman the benefit of the doubt without any real reason to do so. He has not had a single good FA season in 5 years of being GM. Not sure why he’s earned this benefit of the doubt?

1. '22 was good as a whole. Stable vets to bring the team out of the basement. And yes, almost all place holders. Which leads to...
2. What UFA worth a damn would sign with a team as bad as the Wings were in '19, '20, '21 without coming with a ridiculously crippling cap hit? Johnny G? Not sure even Columbus wants a part of his deal anymore.

 

[Run the Jewels]

I'm going to take a look at free agency once the dust settles and Yzerman does his presser. Just to level set, here is where I think we need help. Please respond if you think I have missed anything.

Team Needs:

1. Scoring line center
2. Scoring line LW
3. Top pair LD
4. 2nd pair RD
5. Goalie capable of ~40 quality starts

This is ideal case scenario to fill all holes in current roster. Let me know if I have missed anything or if you disagree with any of this.

 

[Spitfire11]

That's not what he said so stop swearing and being disingenuous...those teams ADDED better players than we did AND equally to us, their own prospects and young NHL players should improve just like ours....

Yea we’re basically banking our hopes for improvement on:

1)the play of a rookie defenseman thrown into a top 4 role while paired with hopefully Jacob f’ing Trouba (but likely worse…Petry/Gustafsson)

2)improvement from Seider while being paired with Chiarot again…

3)continued progress of Raymond

4)goaltending?

It’s not hard to believe this team is taking a step back this year

 

[Detroit Knights]

This was the lineup opening night last season:

DeBrincat-Larkin-Perron
Fabbri-Compher-Raymond
Rasmussen-Copp-Sprong
Kostin-Veleno-Fischer

Walman-Seider
Chiarot-Petry
Gostisbehere-Holl

Husso
Reimer

This is the lineup as of today (and I'm expecting more moves):

DeBrincat-Larkin-Kane
Fabbri-Compher-Raymond
Rasmussen-Copp-Fischer
X-Veleno-X

Chiarot-Seider
Edvinsson-Petry
Gustafsson-Holl
Johansson

Talbot
Lyon/Husso/Campbell

Let's assume at least one of Mazur, Berggren, Danielson, Soderblom, or Kasper take one of the two remaining forward spots. Are they really worse off than last year? They should get full years from Kane and Edvinsson, plus I expect Raymond to really break out.

I don't think Yzerman is done either.

This is what I started thinking about. We didn't have kane to start the season, so a full season after he was able to put a true workout regiment in the offseason is going to be great. We get a full season of edvinsson. I believe gustaffson is a better signing than ghost. He can at least play defense.

I do still keep hope for a big trade for a top 6 or a trade for trouba and have them take back some salary while retaining on trouba. Yes, I know the whole point of trading trouba is to get rid of cap but riddle me this:

NYR
Holl
Maatta
2nd or 3rd

DET
Trouba 5.5 aav

They then waive Holl and the future consideration from san jose is that they have to take holl if he goes on waivers. NYR still need another D and maatta is competent and can take gustaffson spot if anything. The 2nd/3rd is mainly to push the deal over the top since trouba is a cap dump. Then, our defense would like:

chiarot - seider
ed - trouba
gustaffson - aljo (he plays right side too)
petry

We clear out 6.4 mil in cap and take back 5.5, so we still have crazy cap space. Maybe we don't even retain on trouba and delete the 2nd/3rd? Or, we keep the 5.5 and the cap space for something next season if other big names than draisatl are available.

I did throw out there berggren+ for necas at one point, mainly because it just seems like lalonde/holland are either not satisfied or whatever and carolina seems like they need to move necas.

I don't want to get rid of berggren, it just seems like these are the cards that are dealt.

 

[norrisnick]

I respect that you feel all our prospects will contribute to making an elite core, but, can you blame a single team that's done that...that's entire core is its own draft picks?

Who said anything about an elite core? Those are the key pieces that Yzerman and co. have added to the pipeline but are not yet on the roster. They aren't building a core with Copp, Kane, Talbot, Holl, etc... as key pieces. They are place holders. Too many people are freaking out about the place holders as if they represent anything but a warm body.

 

[Spitfire11]

I'm going to take a look at free agency once the dust settles and Yzerman does his presser. Just to level set, here is where I think we need help. Please respond if you think I have missed anything.

Team Needs:

1. Scoring line center
2. Scoring line LW
3. Top pair LD
4. 2nd pair RD
5. Goalie capable of ~40 quality starts

This is ideal case scenario to fill all holes in current roster. Let me know if I have missed anything or if you disagree with any of this.

Another top 6 forward would be nice but I think they can get away with what they have, even the goaltending is a sufficient stopgap until Cossa. The top LD and RD is what they desperately need for both progress in the standings and development of the future core players.

 

[Axel Sandy Pelikan]

You new here? People saying "why didn't Yzerman match that" referring to their favorite player. Who, by the way is like 31 and will be late 30s soon.

Also, Petry was younger than 36 when he signed here and people were bitching.

This UFA was the perfect example of why going UFA shopping for a named player is a terrible idea. None of those long contacts are going to age well. Brilliant move by Yzerman by staying the F out!

For example. I wanted Stamkos. He had 40 goals last year. He plays a style that doesn't necessitate him to be exceptionally fast nor one that should have a precipitous decline (a la Brett Hull).

Jeff Petry was kinda dog water like four years ago.

I want them to sign people who are really good at hockey and not sign cheaper guys who are not really good at hockey.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

Who said anything about an elite core? Those are the key pieces that Yzerman and co. have added to the pipeline but are not yet on the roster. They aren't building a core with Copp, Kane, Talbot, Holl, etc... as key pieces. They are place holders. Too many people are freaking out about the place holders as if they represent anything but a warm body.

Norrisnick mentioned our "core pieces who're not here yet" and rhymed off cossa, ASP, Kasper and Danielson..

If that's our core in addition to SE, Ray and Mo (a total of 7 players) if they're not elite it's not a winning core.. end of discussion

 

[Axel Sandy Pelikan]

This is what I started thinking about. We didn't have kane to start the season, so a full season after he was able to put a true workout regiment in the offseason is going to be great. We get a full season of edvinsson. I believe gustaffson is a better signing than ghost. He can at least play defense.

I do still keep hope for a big trade for a top 6 or a trade for trouba and have them take back some salary while retaining on trouba. Yes, I know the whole point of trading trouba is to get rid of cap but riddle me this:

NYR
Holl
Maatta
2nd or 3rd

DET
Trouba 5.5 aav

They then waive Holl and the future consideration from san jose is that they have to take holl if he goes on waivers. NYR still need another D and maatta is competent and can take gustaffson spot if anything. The 2nd/3rd is mainly to push the deal over the top since trouba is a cap dump. Then, our defense would like:

chiarot - seider
ed - trouba
gustaffson - aljo (he plays right side too)
petry

We clear out 6.4 mil in cap and take back 5.5, so we still have crazy cap space. Maybe we don't even retain on trouba and delete the 2nd/3rd? Or, we keep the 5.5 and the cap space for something next season if other big names than draisatl are available.

I did throw out there berggren+ for necas at one point, mainly because it just seems like lalonde/holland are either not satisfied or whatever and carolina seems like they need to move necas.

I don't want to get rid of berggren, it just seems like these are the cards that are dealt.

We care about San Jose picking up Holl off waivers after he's traded to NYR... why?

 

[Hockeyville USA]

I like Skjei as a player quite a bit, but I’ll pass on that deal.

Skjei and Roy getting 7 x 7 deals and being under contract til 37 is a tough pill to swallow.

Pesce was the play man. 6 x 5.5, only under contract through age 35, why we weren’t rumored to be all over that I really couldn’t tell you.

Pesce is from Tarrytown, NY (Westchester County, just north of New York City), grew up a Rangers fan. Since the Rangers have no space due to the Trouba debacle (plus Pesce developing a moderate dislike for them due to the Rangers Hurricanes playoff rivalry), while the Islanders already have Dobson and Pulock in their top 4, the Devils became a realistic option following the trade of Marino trade to Utah.

So Pesce is now 40 minutes from home, which is huge for him. Not sure if the Wings or anyone else outside of the Northeast US were real options if they weren't overpaying.

 

[Axel Sandy Pelikan]

Gaslighting...nobody is saying to break labor law...

The discussion is exclusive to which of the signed deals would we have wanted to have instead?

Not who spoke to who and when or what the particulars of any SY offer were.

I am now.

Steve, get Tarasenko drunk and get him to sign a 5x1M deal.

 

[Dotter]

Kaner still contributes. Petry does not.

I'm referring to D. But yeah, Kane is a better hockey player over Petry.

 

[norrisnick]

Norrisnick mentioned our "core pieces who're not here yet" and rhymed off cossa, ASP, Kasper and Danielson..

If that's our core in addition to SE, Ray and Mo (a total of 7 players) if they're not elite it's not a winning core.. end of discussion

I guess Steve needs to go down to CoresRUs and pick up a new one, huh?

This isn't magic. Your core is what it is. You build it up, you stack it up against the opposition and see who built the best. It's like some of you have this assumption that you can guarantee a winning roster. It's competition. You win and try again or you lose and try again.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Gaslighting...nobody is saying to break labor law...

The discussion is exclusive to which of the signed deals would we have wanted to have instead?

Not who spoke to who and when or what the particulars of any SY offer were.

Bull f***ing shit. The constant insinuation is that that SY was negligent in failing to make these deals. "What deals would you have made" is short for SY is awful/dumb/asleep for not making them in the first place...."see how easy it was to do."

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

If Yzerman needs a labor lawyer I know a guy who specializes in that sort of thing when he’s not too busy distracted on hfboards. If I could help entrap free agents to play here that would be the proudest moment of my career.

 

[saska sault]

If Yzerman needs a labor lawyer I know a guy who specializes in that sort of thing when he’s not too busy distracted on hfboards. If I could help entrap free agents to play here that would be the proudest moment of my career.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

Bull f***ing shit. The constant insinuation is that that SY was negligent in failing to make these deals. "What deals would you have made" is short for SY is awful/dumb/asleep for not making them in the first place...."see how easy it was to do."

No...you're inferring that because you intentionally want to...

This thread is about the exact signings during the 2024 NHL free agency.. says it in the title....That means we're openly discussing the deals that were signed using the exact parameters if the deals.

If your opinion is you wouldn't have signed any of them that's great, but that's where the opinions stop

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

No...you're inferring that because you intentionally want to...

This thread is about the exact signings during the 2024 NHL free agency.. says it in the title....That means we're openly discussing the deals that were signed using the exact parameters if the deals.

If your opinion is you wouldn't have signed any of them that's great, but that's where the opinions stop



So you're buying everyone out over 34/35 on our roster?

Then why are you upset? These are just deals in the abstract we are discussing. Nothing else.

 

[Detroit Knights]

The improvement that matters is among bubble teams in the East, who we are competing with for a playoff spot. Can you tell me who in the East got significantly worse to the point that we’ll be able to beat out for a spot?

TLDR: I said a lot of stuff and rambled with my inner thoughts. Enjoy or not

having ullmark does not solve their defensive issues. Jensen is great and all but chychrun was probably better than him.

They are going to be slower with perron. ullmark cannot play 60 games. I also believe ullmark was as good as he was because he had boston bruins defensive hockey in front of him. Fleury was a great goalie for vegas because they jelled very well with the play styles, same goes for ullmark. He is going to have a completely different lineup in front of him that is very subpar from what he has been used too (remember when he was on buffalo?)

swayman is a great goalie and that will help boston. Boston is still probably going to be good but we played them very well last season and I believe two of our wins were with swayman in net.

montreal is bad
philly is going to take a big step back
columbus will look dangerous the first quarter of the season then fade
buffalo got a lot worse imo but we'll see
I honestly don't think washington got better or worse. Roy helps, but dubois is not going to have a resurrection, 2 other teams thought he would have, never happened.
Curious what TBL look like. I think they could be offensive juggernauts but terrible defensively. Sergachev move was...interesting.
carolina is going to play their system and frustrate everyone per usual.
nyi didn't really improve at all unless im missing something.

The big improvements seem to be the western conference (for a change...interesting).

If we can get a good trade going for trouba like i suggest above, infuse danielson who is going to be extremely good for us, full season of edvinsson on defense (actual defensive puck-mover) and gustaffson who can play defense better than the loss of ghost. I think we are in a position to not regress as terrible as people on here believe. If berggren is on the team, I think he replaces perron's point output and that is perfectly fine (if played correctly, he will do much better, or if we trade him for necas like i suggested than that is a definite improvement over perron).

The guys last year had that taste of one more point and they would have made it. That taste is disgusting and they won't let it happen again. They either sneak in or are out of the race by march.

We care about San Jose picking up Holl off waivers after he's traded to NYR... why?

More so that we add him to the trade for nyr to have another defenseman. Let them know that if they don't like his play, waive him and san jose will pick him up. One man's trash is another's treasure, so maybe they wouldn't mind having a free look at holl to see if he could fit or not with the reassurance from SJS that they will take him if he is waived by X date.

It's obviously an over think and we could just waive him now, but what is the fun in that?

 

[lidstromiscool]

Ed. Cossa. Kasper. Danielson. ASP.

Dylan 30ish and Kane is beyond irrelevant.

You think that core is good enough to be a contender?

 

[Hammettf2b]

One of the kids is going to need to step up big time especially when the inevitable Larkin injury comes along.

 

[norrisnick]

You think that core is good enough to be a contender?

By themselves? Probably not. But contenders aren't comprised solely of a core. Role players are always important.

But that core, if it continues to progress as it has, is every bit as good as the Blues/Knights teams. Or the Dallas/Canes that are perceived as contenders but haven't won.

Having the right coach is critical. That, I have more reservations about.