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Roster Building XXIV: Our Hearts Go Pitter Pattersson

There’s just no way Burns can be back another year partnering Slavin, it’s barely acceptable if he were back on league minimum as the number 6 guy. He is done, fried, cooked. Having him back on the first pairing is legitimately flushing away a season of contending, having him this year is arguably ruining our chances to go deep. The fix/answer to ego partners Slavin next year might not be perfect, but it can’t be Burns, it just can’t be. This is different than suffering through a lackluster KK at 2C by surrounding him with great singers. A guy playing at Burns’ level while playing the minutes and responsibilities he’s being asked to is unthinkable.
 
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Orlov can play the right side….. not what Rod likes to do, but Orlov has done it before…. He may have earned a big payday on a longer term than we are willing to go given his play the last two years with us. He made a really good bet on himself that has worked itself out in the end when he instructed his agent to contact us and asked for a short term deal….

But if we can’t get the righty we want to partner with Slavin and Burns isn’t brought back next year…there are options that are known quantities…

Looking at the list of right shot d men on expiring contracts…… ummm not exactly a huge pile of options there no matter how much cap spaces we may or may not have…. We would be looking trade if internal promotion isn’t an option and we don’t see a stop gap short term option from that less than ideal list..
 
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I’ve watched a lot of Panthers hockey over the years and I’m not sure Ekblad has the foot speed to thrive in the Canes system. NHL Edge stats show that Ekblad is slower than Burns this year and he’s 10 years younger than Burns.

Ekblad has always seemed a step slow to get to the puck and kind of lumbers around the D zone. Add in all of the foot/leg injuries he’s had and that will only make it worse as he gets older.

Ekblad’s goal scoring has gone down the last two years ever since they took him off of PP1. Ekblad has always been more of a trigger man than a set up guy so I’d prefer Ghost to run PP1 over Ekblad.

I wouldn’t touch him on a long term deal but if he somehow could be signed to an Orlov type deal, that wouldn’t be terrible. I think we can make better use of our cap space though in my opinion.
 
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robbieberns said:
There’s just no way Burns can be back another year partnering Slavin, it’s barely acceptable if he were back on league minimum as the number 6 guy. He is done, fried, cooked. Having him back on the first pairing is legitimately flushing away a season of contending, having him this year is arguably ruining our chances to go deep. The fix/answer to ego partners Slavin next year might not be perfect, but it can’t be Burns, it just can’t be. This is different than suffering through a lackluster KK at 2C by surrounding him with great singers. A guy playing at Burns’ level while playing the minutes and responsibilities he’s being asked to is unthinkable.
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Agreed.

Whoever Slavin's defensive partner will be, it's a role that can't be ignored or underappreciated.
 
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I do wonder if Morrow might have to be the fit to play with Slavin next year. All we need from a guy in that role is 'has a shot, can move the puck, doesn't suck in his zone'. Slavin can help cover up any dips to his game, just need them to not be craters.

Will we get someone in FA? Maybe. But with Morrow having a good year in the A, and Burns being... Well... I wonder if that has to be the plan, at least for now.
 
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Chrispy said:
$14*7 years is equal to $12.25*8 years.

I can see $12.5 as the number they end up at for an 8 year deal.
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Get it done, sit back and watch the hockey world burn.

As an aside, glad to see Necas looked good last night. But I also saw a lot of the same tendencies he falls into here.

But one thing is for certain, our PP fundamentally needs a complete overhaul. The Avs just keep the puck moving and even if Necas stays in his spot, all the other window dressing ends up getting him a few open shots. Here we just stagnate the puck, have very little movement and just allows defenses to set up shop.

Not sure how Brindy can look at what other teams do, especially now seeing Necas fit in at Colorado and think our PP scheme is anything but complete garbage.
 
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I think Rantanen’s # starts with a 13.

To me, $13.25M seems fair in terms of what would be available on the free market, especially with that 8th yr. That’s quite doable with the Canes’ cap situation. Will the Canes get there?
 
Unhinged Finn said:
Canes version: widow dressing
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By my calculations if we paid Mikko 13.5 million and plugging in Nikishin at 995,000 we would have just over 21 million in cap space next year. And that is setting the cap at 92,400,000. Setting the cap at 97 million (so the Leafs can Pay Marner 14.5 to 15 million) we would have just over 25.5 million
 
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