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What to do with all our defensemen?

More importantly, Saugus....

Why was that thread created in the first place? :sarcasm:


Anyway, getting Bouwmeester just by dumping Sal is just plain fantasy-world stuff.

Although I like the idea of getting something....ANYTHING...for Tally, though.
 
Volchie has to go. Trade or buyout. He has to go.
The buyout period for this year ended today. I think Lou was saving an amnesty for next year in case of an emergency. If there's no emergency, he'll use it on Volch.

The thing about Volch is that if you get rid of him, someone has to absorb his minutes. Namely the PK minutes. That means one of three things:

1.) Greene and Fayne have their ES time cut to accommodate more PK time
2.) Larsson is kept on a leash and is forced into a pure defensive role
3.) Salvador get a huge increase in ice time.

They come with an unhealthy side order of Harrold getting a regular shift every game of the year.

Volchenkov blows but those minutes have to go somewhere. With Zids likely gone, Greene will likely be on the 1st PP unit and being such a small man I think it's best not to overwhelm him with enormous ice time. He's 30 years old now. We saw what happened to him at the end of 2010 and early 2011 when he was overworked and it wasn't pretty.
 
I'd be cool with getting nothing for Tally except the room to sign Zids.

Yes, but if we can get something for him (and I think we can) we should. No need to dump him for nothing. A team that needs a veteran mentor who missed out on guys like Ference and Scuderi today might be interested.
 
Sounds like lou is gonna try and trade one, even at the cost of retaining some cap.

If it fails, Lou might have to do something he may not want in August.
 
Yes, but if we can get something for him (and I think we can) we should. No need to dump him for nothing. A team that needs a veteran mentor who missed out on guys like Ference and Scuderi today might be interested.

I think they technically have to get something for him. A low draft pick is fine with me. It's worth it if you view it as essentially a trade for Zids.
 
Posted something similar in the other thread, but i'm pretty certain we could move Salvador for SOMETHING. We're obviously not using a compliance buyout this year, and moving Volchenkov just seems unrealistic to me.

Salvador on the other hand probably could be moved, the FA pool on defence isn't too spectacular, i'm sure someone would bite for a late round pick, maybe if we retain 1M or something? Either that or trade him for an overpaid/underachieving forward of similar or less value with equal or less years remaining.

Give Volchenkov another year and see if his play improves, if not compliance him next off-season. He's got no excuses, especially with what should be massively improved goaltending.

I'd be happy enough with:

Tallinder - Larsson
Greene - Fayne
Free Agent / Prospect - Volchenkov
Harrold

Give Urbom/Gelinas a chance or see if Zidlicky or someone will re-sign on the cheap.

Greene and Larsson had great chemistry last year so I wouldn't want to break them up. But I wouldn't be upset if we did it to balance the defensive pairs.
 
Lets put it this way: An 18 year old Severson is better than Urbom. Not a knock on AU, but Serverson is that good.

100% agree.

I'd bet if you could see the war room depth chart it would look like this...
Merrill
Gelinas
Serverson
Burlon
Urbom
 
100% agree.

I'd bet if you could see the war room depth chart it would look like this...
Merrill
Gelinas
Serverson
Burlon
Urbom
I wonder where Helgeson and Scarlett are on that chart. I'm sure they're not above any of those guys, but I've got high hopes for them both as future PK and PP specialists, respectively.
 
And I personally think Serverson has the most potential of them all...just my opinion.
 
I wonder where Helgeson and Scarlett are on that chart. I'm sure they're not above any of those guys, but I've got high hopes for them both as future PK and PP specialists, respectively.

I don't know, but someone I know was saying Chris Tererri was raving over Helgeson at the last prospect camp.
 
And I personally think Serverson has the most potential of them all...just my opinion.

It's an opinion I share. I'm very excited about Severson. But Merrill is no slouch.

Not much to dislike about the kid. His ceiling is much higher than Merrill's and he's the safer prospect. Potential top-pairing full-time PP and PKing d-man that we nabbed out of the second round.

I try not to overhype prospects but this kid is the real deal.
 
Not much to dislike about the kid. His ceiling is much higher than Merrill's and he's the safer prospect. Potential top-pairing full-time PP and PKing d-man that we nabbed out of the second round.

I try not to overhype prospects but this kid is the real deal.
Looking forward to seeing him at the WJC this year...I hate when people judge over a short tourney but it'll be a good gauge against top end talent.
 
Bumping this since the Zidlicky signing. And to hopefully give the Severson chat from the signing thread a new home.

I think Severson has a bigger ceiling than Merrill does, but I think both are exceptional prospects. Great nabs for a pair of 2nd round draft picks.
 
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Going on the theory that it's best to break in only one rookie D-man a year... Merrill will make a very strong case for a spot next year. This year is a great chance to give Gelinas a shot.

Rookie seasons:
'13-'14: Gelinas
14-15: Merrill
15-16: Severson
16-17: Santini

Of course predictions are impossible and it will likely go nothing like that, but it's a neatly contained way of looking at it. I like the idea of going slow and not rushing our prospects, but you've got to give them a chance eventually. They won't get NHL experience in Albany.
 
Looking forward to seeing him at the WJC this year...I hate when people judge over a short tourney but it'll be a good gauge against top end talent.

Yeah, it can be a good indicator, but its important not to overhype players from short tourneys. Remember when Rangers fans hyped the piss out of Dawes after the 2004 WJCs when he had more points than Parise? :laugh:
 
to the op;

sign more of them!!!!

all-the-things.png
 
I wonder where Helgeson and Scarlett are on that chart. I'm sure they're not above any of those guys, but I've got high hopes for them both as future PK and PP specialists, respectively.

I'd really like to see Scarlett succeed. Despite his lack of size, the kid just puts up points. It's always cool to see guys like that make it to the NHL.

Bumping this since the Zidlicky signing. And to hopefully give the Severson chat from the signing thread a new home.

I think Severson has a bigger ceiling than Merrill does, but I think both are exceptional prospects. Great nabs for a pair of 2nd round draft picks.

I love the work that Lou and Conte have been doing in recent second rounds. Merrill, Gelinas, Severson, and Santini are all very promising.
 

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