Confirmed with Link: July 1st - Free Agent Extravaganza Part II

[Son of Steinbrenner]

My opinion is that speed is a more integral part of today's NHL than ever before.

My opinion is also that the west is far better than the east.

Are those two things correlated? Maybe, maybe not.

Great! I think that's probably a majority opinion.

 

[chosen]

I take Stepan, Nash, and MSL over that, personally. At least for this upcoming season.

Funniest post of the day. Thanks for injecting a little humor.

 

[AHB*]

What prime? How/what has he grown into?

A 1g 13p defenseman? He's a good passer....ok 13p?

Regardless of how u feel about D.Boyle, Stralman is not the guy you lock up for 5y with a nmc...

I can see you value important things from your D-Men, like points and goals and such.

4.5 is a completely fair contract for someone of his ability and with a consistently rising cap. This isn't 2008.

 

[MartysMidgetMeat]

Who exactly?

In my opinion the only Untouchable players are Mcdonagh, KreidGod, Hank.

Now with everybody else available they could do way better than Thorton. It would have to be a big trade if they do one but Staal is a 1st pair Dman on pretty much every team. That value alone is great.

Toronto
Carolina
Ottawa
Colorado

Are just a few teams the Rangers could trade with. And the trades would have to be significant both ways but their are way better options than Getting ANOTHER aging center. Rangers just have to take some risks.

 

[Fletch]

How does one determine that one conference is faster than another?

Time trials at training camp to begin the year. Goal to goal. Times are posted on the NHL intranet, and we of course do not have access. You take the average time of the east skaters, ex goalies, and the average time of the west skaters, ex goalies. Lowest time determines the faster conference.

 

[chosen]

By watching games and forming an opinion.

A person can watch games and make a wrong decision. I didn't see a speed difference between conferences.

Do you have anything a bit more quantifiable?

 

[FJB]

Oh wow, I did not realize that Stralman wanted a NMC. I would have been fine with 3 years @ $4m AAV, but I guess management has faith in guys like Allen or McI for this year or next.

 

[chosen]

Time trials at training camp to begin the year. Goal to goal. Times are posted on the NHL intranet, and we of course do not have access. You take the average time of the east skaters, ex goalies, and the average time of the west skaters, ex goalies. Lowest time determines the faster conference.

Speed with puck is different than speed without puck.

What if one or two teams in a conference is significantly slower or faster than the average?

 

[TheTakedown]

In my opinion the only Untouchable players are Mcdonagh, KreidGod, Hank.

Now with everybody else available they could do way better than Thorton. It would have to be a big trade if they do one but Staal is a 1st pair Dman on pretty much every team. That value alone is great.

Toronto
Carolina
Ottawa
Colorado

Are just a few teams the Rangers could trade with. And the trades would have to be significant both ways but their are way better options than Getting ANOTHER aging center. Rangers just have to take some risks.

If that is the case, you'd basically have to hope for either Allen to be able to take 2nd pairing minutes by years end, or for Staal+ to be traded for a Centerman upgrade (Kadri) and another defenseman (Gardiner? Just using Toronto as examples).

 

[Championship*]

In my opinion the only Untouchable players are Mcdonagh, KreidGod, Hank.

Now with everybody else available they could do way better than Thorton. It would have to be a big trade if they do one but Staal is a 1st pair Dman on pretty much every team. That value alone is great.

Toronto
Carolina
Ottawa
Colorado

Are just a few teams the Rangers could trade with. And the trades would have to be significant both ways but their are way better options than Getting ANOTHER aging center. Rangers just have to take some risks.

Look, I'm not advocating a Thornton trade, but look again at that list of teams you listed have centers for us to grab that are better than him:

Toronto - laughable. Their number 1 center is Bozak. They are looking for more center depth.
Colorado - just lost Statsny. They aren't trading any of their centers, and they'd be extremely cost prohibitive if they did.
Carolina - Eric Staal is the only one there and he has an unaffordable cap hit and would be cost prohibitive.
Ottawa - just traded away there #1 center. They don't have any extra to trade.

 

[NikC]

I can see you value important things from your D-Men, like points and goals and such.

4.5 is a completely fair contract for someone of his ability and with a consistently rising cap. This isn't 2008.

So sucess in today's NHl Is dumping $10m on Girardi and Stralman when they provide zero offense and no PP tools? Add in Staal and you are looking at close to 16m for 51 p on the blue line..

Come again about 2008?

 

[AHB*]

So sucess in today's NHl Is dumping $10m on Girardi and Stralman when they provide zero offense and no PP tools? Add in Staal and you are looking at close to 16m for 51 p on the blue line..

Come again about 2008?

You realize Dan Boyle is not any sort of offensive dynamo, right? That's my major issue. And I prefer Stralman to Girardi.

 

[MartysMidgetMeat]

Look, I'm not advocating a Thornton trade, but look again at that list of teams you listed have centers for us to grab that are better than him:

Toronto - laughable. Their number 1 center is Bozak. They are looking for more center depth.
Colorado - just lost Statsny. They aren't trading any of their centers, and they'd be extremely cost prohibitive if they did.
Carolina - Eric Staal is the only one there and he has an unaffordable cap hit and would be cost prohibitive.
Ottawa - just traded away there #1 center. They don't have any extra to trade.

You're think short term. Keep in mind im not saying it would just be centers in these potential trades.

Toronto has Kadri. Kadri under AV Would be great. Stepan and Kadri competing for #1 C would be fantastic. I personally think Kadri is a perfect fit For NY.

Colorado. NEEDS an actual defenseman. Staal would help them tremendously.

Ottawa has Turris/Zibanejad and some good young potential Dmen.

And yeah E Staal is definitely possible if you move the right pieces.

I just can't stomach the thought of another 30+ center.

 

[Son of Steinbrenner]

A person can watch games and make a wrong decision.

Ok

I didn't see a speed difference between conferences.

Good for you. Ya know a person can watch games and make a wrong decision.

Do you have anything a bit more quantifiable?

No. Do YOU have anything a bit more quantifiable to support your opinion?

 

[nyr2k2]

The big difference in the time frame where people were throwing tantrums for the youth movement and now is the prior level of success the team was having along with the level of skill/speed the players people wanted replaced were at.

Now we are expecting kids to come in and replace players who were actually pretty damn good. I'm not sure they're going to be the considerable upgrade they would have been.

I hope at least two of them come in and play for keeps, but I'm not banking on it.

I get that, but I mean, what else can we do? With our current cap constraints, losing people was inevitable. There was just no way we could keep the squad intact.

It's worth keeping in mind that Boyle was acquired for a third, and Stralman and Pouliot were basically throwaway free agents. Obviously you can't bank on those home run acquisitions all the time, but it's not as if we've lost cornerstone pieces. Midway through the season, Boyle was mediocre and everyone still hated Pouliot.

I still maintain that Richards will be the hardest to replace, and we HAD to do that. We all should have been prepared for a tough offseason.

 

[MartysMidgetMeat]

If that is the case, you'd basically have to hope for either Allen to be able to take 2nd pairing minutes by years end, or for Staal+ to be traded for a Centerman upgrade (Kadri) and another defenseman (Gardiner? Just using Toronto as examples).

Your example is the best one because it's literally the best option in my opinion. Staal would be a god send for Toronto. Kadri needs a fresh start. He has been given so much flack in Toronto. Av would turn Kadri into a stud. And Gardnier would be a project but a worthwhile one

 

[Gardner McKay]

You're think short term. Keep in mind im not saying it would just be centers in these potential trades.

Toronto has Kadri. Kadri under AV Would be great. Stepan and Kadri competing for #1 C would be fantastic. I personally think Kadri is a perfect fit For NY.

Colorado. NEEDS an actual defenseman. Staal would help them tremendously.

Ottawa has Turris/Zibanejad and some good young potential Dmen.

And yeah E Staal is definitely possible if you move the right pieces.

I just can't stomach the thought of another 30+ center.

Eric Staal turns 30, 2 weeks after the season starts. What about these 30+ centers you can't stomach?

 

[chosen]

Ok


Good for you. Ya know a person can watch games and make a wrong decision.


No. Do YOU have anything a bit more quantifiable to support your opinion?

In other words, the original opinion is impossible to prove.

Keep in mind that I did not offer that opinion.

Used to be that the one offering an opinion was the one who had to offer up a reason, not the person questioning the opinion. Maybe the process works differently here.

Edit: Actually the original statement was offered up as fact. Facts must be proven.

 

[Championship*]

You're think short term. Keep in mind im not saying it would just be centers in these potential trades.

Toronto has Kadri. Kadri under AV Would be great. Stepan and Kadri competing for #1 C would be fantastic. I personally think Kadri is a perfect fit For NY.

Colorado. NEEDS an actual defenseman. Staal would help them tremendously.

Ottawa has Turris/Zibanejad and some good young potential Dmen.

And yeah E Staal is definitely possible if you move the right pieces.

I just can't stomach the thought of another 30+ center.

You said better than Thornton - Kadri is not that. Toronto is looking to add not subtract.
Again, Ottawa just traded away Spezza, if you think they are going to trade away any of their legitimate center depth you're dreaming.
Same with Colorado. I'll say again - they just lost a top center. They're not going to be looking to trade any of those players away.
Rangers aren't moving those right pieces for Eric because moving them creates a gap elsewhere

 

[MartysMidgetMeat]

Eric Staal turns 30, 2 weeks after the season starts. What about these 30+ centers you can't stomach?

Staal is not ideal. But if you're going to compare Staals fitness and Athleticism to Thortons well...

 

[NikC]

You realize Dan Boyle is not any sort of offensive dynamo, right? That's my major issue. And I prefer Stralman to Girardi.

I liked Dan Boyle a few years back... I still think he adds tools no one currently has albeit in a slower body. The years make sense for this bumbling org. Right now.

Im not a big fan of Girardi.

 

[TeamStewie]

So sucess in today's NHl Is dumping $10m on Girardi and Stralman when they provide zero offense and no PP tools? Add in Staal and you are looking at close to 16m for 51 p on the blue line..

Come again about 2008?

Girardi is Ray Bourque in regards to offense compared to Stralman.

 

[BarbaraAlphanse]

In Boyle's worst year (last year) he still provided 20 more points than Stralman.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

In Boyle's worst year (last year) he still provided 20 more points than Stralman.

D. Boyle adds another dimension to the defense, which I am happy about.

For all of Stralman's possession stats, it never translated to creating any offense whatsoever for himself. Girardi, Staal, and Klein can do the heavy lifting on the defensive side of the puck.

 

[Son of Steinbrenner]

In other words, the original opinion is impossible to prove.

Keep in mind that I did not offer that opinion.

Used to be that the one offering an opinion was the one who had to offer up a reason, not the person questioning the opinion. Maybe the process works differently here.

Both opinions are impossible to prove, so who is right and who is wrong? Also, who cares who is right and who is wrong. IF you think you are going to change someones mind on this board you have come to the wrong place...


I guess things were better in the old days..