Speculation: Trade / Roster Speculation Thread XXXIV: Over the edge of being a little closer.

[Ola]

If that is his price, then it seems inevitable that we cut him loose.

It's unfortunate since he and Staal have been a fantastic pairing.

Yeah, and I mean nobody was a bigger Strålman supporter than me after we got him. I was pretty much alone talking him up when we got him against the "noooo another soft eurooo"-crowd. I definitely appriciate a lot what he is doing on the ice.

But -- Anton Strålman has 13 pts in 81 games this year. Staal got 12 pts and he played what 65-70 games.

Is a 2nd pairing fantastic when it scores 25 pts in just under 160 games?

That is a downright -- horrible -- number from my point of view. Its half than the league avg looking at D's 61-120 in scoring... And these guys have played with our top unit all season almost. The top unit deserves some blame for the low stats, but we all have seen what is going on on the ice. We have almost never seen Staal or Strålman make any kind of high caliber play that creates a scoring chance for us.

Look at a team like Philly. Streit had 44 pts for them, Timmonen 35 pts, Mez 17 in 38, McDonald came in and scored some pts too. Giroux got 86 pts for them, Vora got 60, Simmonds 60, Hartnell 50 and so forth. Play those guys with Ds that can manage to put up pts in the low 10's and you gotta shave of a good 20% off their scoring -- easily. I don't think we could contend with a weak defensive D next to Staal. But finding a D that can score 30-40 pts -- alone -- playing with a top unit and getting PP time is not that hard. And with good coaching and support from Staal, that D could potentially get his D game to the level of Strålman. That would be a huge improvement for us.

Its easy to have a bit of a head in the sand mentality in relation to D scoring.

 

[Bluenote13]

As solid as Stralman is he isn't 5 million a year solid... it's a Rozsival situation all over again. Hate to lose a good defender, but he isn't worth 5 million to this team.

Moore is one of the more reliable #6 defensemen in the league, with room to improve. I wouldn't want him in the top 4 but he's better than any #6 we've had a any time since the lockout with the possible exception of when we had

Staal-Girardi
Redden-Rozsival
Mara-Morris

Agreed.

Stralman is good, but I have him getting around 4.7 per year over 5 years and I think the defense can take his departure, cause we need $$$ upfront this Summer.

J Moore is far from a perfect Dman but he gives you a little of everything, and he's still only 23 yrs old.

 

[CommaSynapse]

Was talking in the ROR thread and an Avs fan and I generally agreed Staal for ROR is pretty even value.

That said, I'd have a really tough time giving up Staal, but would it be a good deal to do?

Kreider - Step - Nash
Hags - ROR - MSL
Pouliot - Brass - Zuccs

would be a pretty damn solid top 9 and would make me think. The problem is what it does to our defense as well as our cap situation.


McD - G
? - Stralman
Moore - Klein

The defensive hole is pretty obvious, never mind the cap implications.

 

[slipknottin]

Was talking in the ROR thread and an Avs fan and I generally agreed Staal for ROR is pretty even value.

That said, I'd have a really tough time giving up Staal, but would it be a good deal to do?

Kreider - Step - Nash
Hags - ROR - MSL
Pouliot - Brass - Zuccs

would be a pretty damn solid top 9 and would make me think. The problem is what it does to our defense as well as our cap situation.


McD - G
? - Stralman
Moore - Klein

The defensive hole is pretty obvious, never mind the cap implications.

I know ROR was a natural center, but hasent he been playing wing this season? Is he a better winger? Or? Honestly have not watched much of him this year

 

[CommaSynapse]

I know ROR was a natural center, but hasent he been playing wing this season? Is he a better winger? Or? Honestly have not watched much of him this year

I'm not too sure. I know he's still considered to be a pretty good center, though he might have been playing better on the wing.

 

[Trxjw]

I know ROR was a natural center, but hasent he been playing wing this season? Is he a better winger? Or? Honestly have not watched much of him this year

He can play both equally well. Frankly, I think he's more effective at center.

Staal for ROR would be interesting, but I don't think our defense can absorb the loss of Staal as well as we could absorb the loss of Richards.

 

[CommaSynapse]

He can play both equally well. Frankly, I think he's more effective at center.

Staal for ROR would be interesting, but I don't think our defense can absorb the loss of Staal as well as we could absorb the loss of Richards.

That was my thought as well, hence I was coming here to get some other opinions.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

I am admittedly a huge fan of ROR, but I would consider that swap. Huge Staal fan too. It's pretty even IMO.

 

[Raspewtin]

Was talking in the ROR thread and an Avs fan and I generally agreed Staal for ROR is pretty even value.

That said, I'd have a really tough time giving up Staal, but would it be a good deal to do?

Kreider - Step - Nash
Hags - ROR - MSL
Pouliot - Brass - Zuccs

would be a pretty damn solid top 9 and would make me think. The problem is what it does to our defense as well as our cap situation.


McD - G
? - Stralman
Moore - Klein

The defensive hole is pretty obvious, never mind the cap implications.

Would trade Staal for ROR in a heartbeat, honestly.

 

[Raspewtin]

He can play both equally well. Frankly, I think he's more effective at center.

Staal for ROR would be interesting, but I don't think our defense can absorb the loss of Staal as well as we could absorb the loss of Richards.

I agree with this, it's not as if he's being wasted on the wing per se, but he's just more effective at center. It's a great problem for the Avs to have.

His defensive game is magnificent for that age, reminiscent of a young Bergeron. He's the guy you want lining up against top centers.

Having a 1-2 punch as spectacular defensively as ROR and Stepan would be a huge gain.

 

[CommaSynapse]

If the cap is at 69 mil as Bettman suggested, it'll be really tight next year. Not sure about cheaper options on D. Maybe someone like Andre Benoit could adequately handle #6 minutes. Alternatively, bring back Diaz or go after a guy like Fayne or Zidlicky.



CAPGEEK.COM ARMCHAIR GM ROSTER
CapGeek Armchair GM Roster

FORWARDS
Chris Kreider ($2.500m) / Derek Stepan ($3.075m) / Rick Nash ($7.800m)
Carl Hagelin ($2.250m) / Ryan O'Reilly ($6.000m) / Martin St. Louis ($5.625m)
Benoit Pouliot ($2.000m) / Derick Brassard ($4.000m) / Mats Zuccarello ($3.500m)
Brian Boyle ($2.000m) / Dominic Moore ($1.500m) / Jesper Fast ($0.805m)

DEFENSEMEN
Ryan McDonagh ($4.700m) / Dan Girardi ($5.500m)
Conor Allen ($0.925m) / Anton Stralman ($3.000m)
John Moore ($1.500m) / Kevin Klein ($2.900m)

GOALTENDERS
Henrik Lundqvist ($8.500m)
Cameron Talbot ($0.563m)
BUYOUTS
Wade Redden ($0.000m)
Brad Richards ($0.000m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $69,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $68,642,500; BONUSES: $945,000
CAP SPACE (20-man roster): $357,500

 

[Raspewtin]

If the cap is at 69 mil as Bettman suggested, it'll be really tight next year. Not sure about cheaper options on D. Maybe someone like Andre Benoit could adequately handle #6 minutes. Alternatively, bring back Diaz or go after a guy like Fayne or Zidlicky.



CAPGEEK.COM ARMCHAIR GM ROSTER
CapGeek Armchair GM Roster

FORWARDS
Chris Kreider ($2.500m) / Derek Stepan ($3.075m) / Rick Nash ($7.800m)
Carl Hagelin ($2.250m) / Ryan O'Reilly ($6.000m) / Martin St. Louis ($5.625m)
Benoit Pouliot ($2.000m) / Derick Brassard ($4.000m) / Mats Zuccarello ($3.500m)
Brian Boyle ($2.000m) / Dominic Moore ($1.500m) / Jesper Fast ($0.805m)

DEFENSEMEN
Ryan McDonagh ($4.700m) / Dan Girardi ($5.500m)
Conor Allen ($0.925m) / Anton Stralman ($3.000m)
John Moore ($1.500m) / Kevin Klein ($2.900m)

GOALTENDERS
Henrik Lundqvist ($8.500m)
Cameron Talbot ($0.563m)
BUYOUTS
Wade Redden ($0.000m)
Brad Richards ($0.000m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $69,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $68,642,500; BONUSES: $945,000
CAP SPACE (20-man roster): $357,500

Really like that forward lineup.

Terrified with that defense lineup. Allen can almost certainly not handle #3-#4 minutes yet.

 

[CommaSynapse]

Really like that forward lineup.

Terrified with that defense lineup. Allen can almost certainly not handle #3-#4 minutes yet.

Yeah, that's my concern as well. Trying to find a guy who can handle top 4 minutes.

If we leave Allen down and the cap is at 70 mil, that gives us about $2 mil to find a 2nd pair LD to play with Stralman.

 

[Made Dan]

Yeah, that's my concern as well. Trying to find a guy who can handle top 4 minutes.

If we leave Allen down and the cap is at 70 mil, that gives us about $2 mil to find a 2nd pair LD to play with Stralman.

Wouldn't even think we'd have that much. Stralman will get more than $3M, for sure.

 

[Matt4776]

Yeah, Stralman is getting more than 3M.

If we do this ROR for Staal deal, Klein would play 2nd pairing minutes (which isn't a bad thing) and McIlrath would take over 3rd pairing minutes if he's ready. Otherwise, we'd get some journeyman to hold the fort.

Our left side would certainly take a hit in the short term with Moore playing 2nd pairing time, but with Skjei coming up likely the year after I like our organizational depth there.

Still don't want to trade our future captain, to be honest. I think Stepan+Brassard+Miller is a fine group of centers. I think our bigger need is at RD after we let Stralman go. Ideally, I'd like to see an offensive guy there to pair with Staal that can also either QB or be the gunner on the PP.

 

[E-Train]

Wouldn't even think we'd have that much. Stralman will get more than $3M, for sure.

No doubt about it. Stralman's getting more than $3 million per. Staal has to stay. Removing Staal and Stralman and adding O'Reilly up front would be a step back. A shinier offense won't make up for a depleted D.

 

[goobcat]

If we get ror for stall we need to sign strallman thoughts on trying to get Kane from jets perhaps give them Nash and Richards and get another piece back saves us a lot of cap space close to 3 mill

 

[jerseyjinx94]

If we get ror for stall we need to sign strallman thoughts on trying to get Kane from jets perhaps give them Nash and Richards and get another piece back saves us a lot of cap space close to 3 mill

Dude. No. This isn't NHL 14.

 

[jerseyjinx94]

I'd rather lock up Staal in the summer than deal him. When McDonagh went down it was nice knowing we had a guy capable of being a #1 shutdown defender to slide in. I think his presence is so underrated to the success of the team.

Stralman will cost too much over too long of a term. I'd rather go short term higher AAV to a comparable player.

I think we need to lock up Staal, sign Boyle/Moore/Pouliot to reasonable contracts, sign Zucc/Brass/Kreider, and then assess where we are.

 

[TheTakedown]

I'd rather lock up Staal in the summer than deal him. When McDonagh went down it was nice knowing we had a guy capable of being a #1 shutdown defender to slide in. I think his presence is so underrated to the success of the team.

Stralman will cost too much over too long of a term. I'd rather go short term higher AAV to a comparable player.

I think we need to lock up Staal, sign Boyle/Moore/Pouliot to reasonable contracts, sign Zucc/Brass/Kreider, and then assess where we are.

On the D, I would do the Staal for ROR swap, but then NEEDS Stralman has to be resigned, and even then he's not quite a replacement for Staal. Maybe squeeze another defensive prospect out of COL in the trade, but then that leaves no room for Diaz to play at all, which in turn actually brings down the offense from the blueline... You'd definitely have to sign a stop gap defender too...

Furthermore, definitely not confident that John moore can take 2nd pairing minutes... That's asking alot for a 23 year old.

ROR up front would make for awesome center depth though...

BUT, I wonder if COL would entertain an Stralman+ (pick or prospect) for ROR swap... Stralman is very capable as a RHD. Works much better than sending Staal away, and allows us to slot Diaz into that pairing with Staal

Yeah, Stralman is getting more than 3M.

If we do this ROR for Staal deal, Klein would play 2nd pairing minutes (which isn't a bad thing) and McIlrath would take over 3rd pairing minutes if he's ready. Otherwise, we'd get some journeyman to hold the fort.

Our left side would certainly take a hit in the short term with Moore playing 2nd pairing time, but with Skjei coming up likely the year after I like our organizational depth there.

Still don't want to trade our future captain, to be honest. I think Stepan+Brassard+Miller is a fine group of centers. I think our bigger need is at RD after we let Stralman go. Ideally, I'd like to see an offensive guy there to pair with Staal that can also either QB or be the gunner on the PP.

I agree with all of this though if the above that Iwrote would not work

ALSO, I think the cap will be $70M as per bettman?

 

[CommaSynapse]

On the D, I would do the Staal for ROR swap, but then NEEDS Stralman has to be resigned, and even then he's not quite a replacement for Staal. Maybe squeeze another defensive prospect out of COL in the trade, but then that leaves no room for Diaz to play at all, which in turn actually brings down the offense from the blueline... You'd definitely have to sign a stop gap defender too...

Furthermore, definitely not confident that John moore can take 2nd pairing minutes... That's asking alot for a 23 year old.

ROR up front would make for awesome center depth though...

BUT, I wonder if COL would entertain an Stralman+ (pick or prospect) for ROR swap... Stralman is very capable as a RHD. Works much better than sending Staal away, and allows us to slot Diaz into that pairing with Staal



I agree with all of this though if the above that Iwrote would not work

ALSO, I think the cap will be $70M as per bettman?

I agree with what has been said. Bettman said the cap was around 69 or 70. CapGeek's default was 71, but I don't think it'll be that high.

As I said earlier, I lean towards keeping Staal because of what he means for our defense, though if I were to entertain the idea of moving him, ROR would be the kind of target I'd be after. Since an Avs fan and I agreed that the trade was very close to fair value, I figured I would just see what everyone else thought of the idea of such a deal.

If Skjei was ready, I think it would be a different story, but for now, I wouldn't move him.

 

[Rangerfan4life90]

If Skjei was close to ready, I would definitely think long and hard of trading Staal for ROR.

 

[RangerBoy]

Skjei discussed his situation yesterday. The other Minnesota upperclassmen haven't made any decisions on their futures. They seem to all be waiting for each other.

“It’d be nice if everyone could come back for another year,” defenseman Brady Skjei said. “If we get everyone back and make another run, that’d be awesome. That’s one thing I’d like to do, and that could affect my decision.”

Skjei, who will be a junior next season and was a 2012 first-round draft pick of the New York Rangers, is one of a handful of Gophers considering the option to turn pro. Three All-Americas are set to return — forward Kyle Rau, who will be a senior, and rising juniors Mike Reilly, a defenseman, and goalie Adam Wilcox.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/260497901.html

If those players return,Skjei could stay in school and try to win the NCAA championship this time.

Don Lucia expects the situation to be clearer by the end of May which is this coming week. He needs to know because replacements need to be lined up.

Reilly is the most interested in turning pro but he might stay to play with his twin brothers for another year. I read Columbus had Reilly attend a playoff game against the Penguins last month. They want him to turn pro. Philly had Matt Read attend a playoff game before turning pro.

Wilcox appears to be the player most likely to stay in school.

Skjei is in the middle. Brady had a really good year. He isn't ready for the NHL. Whether he stays in Minnesota for another year and then turns pro,he will still need AHL time. Physically Skjei is ready. Skating ability is NHL level. Skjei started to get more involved in the offense at the end of his sophomore year. Stepan made the jump to the NHL after two years of college hockey. He was the opposite of Skjei. Needed to get bigger and wasn't the skater Skjei is. McDonagh stayed for three years. Kreider stayed for 3. Kreider was adamant about staying in school for his junior year. Kreider felt he needed another year before turning pro. He had suffered a broken jaw at the end of his sophomore year. The fact that Skjei is considering leaving school indicates he can go 50-50 which are higher odds than Kreider had. Maybe the Rangers feel Brady can compete for a job sometime next season. The Rangers didn't get McDonagh until late June 2009 and he had already made up his mind about staying for a 3rd year. Wisconsin was returning a loaded team which lost to BC in the Frozen Four in April 2010.

Most players need AHL time. The Wings like to leave their players in the AHL for about 100 games. DeKeyser didn't do that and he was an older player.

"My heart has always been here," Boyle told NHL.com on Saturday.

Boyle might have to pull his heart out of New York City and lose his allegiance to the Rangers after this season, his fifth in the Big Apple. He can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and there has been no indication from the Rangers that they plan to re-sign him.

However, the uncertainty of Boyle's future here has added another layer to his motivation in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He's not close to ready for his Ranger career to end, a fact that has only incentivized him to be a factor in the playoffs.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=720556&navid=DL|NHL|home

Jeff Gorton spoke to Boyle's agent Paul Krepelka a few times. The Rangers didn't want to do anything at that time. Boyle will be too expensive. The Rangers know that. Boyle knows that.

 

[oconnor9sean]

Are you guys considering Richards as pretty much a goner?

Dallas is looking for a center to add, and I think BRich would be open to returning to Dallas if he were bought out.

 

[Frolov of Wraparound]

Are you guys considering Richards as pretty much a goner?

Dallas is looking for a center to add, and I think BRich would be open to returning to Dallas if he were bought out.

Yeah, barring anything really strange (Sather-esque), he will be gone. His recapture penalty would be too dangerous to risk. Would be happy to see him back in Dallas, still a more than suitable player. Hope you guys can get him for cheap