Killem Dafoe
Hold my baby, man.
The problem with moving Girardi is he is by far our best right side defenseman. Beyond that having four solid guys like Staal, Girardi, McD and MDZ in front of Hank means that if we've got any decent offense in any given year we should be a pretty good team. To me those four our just core players. Good citizens as well. Anyway another thing about Girardi is he can play 25-30 minutes a night game after game with very good defensive play and a bit of offensive contribution--play physical and not be taking penalties. He's not the fastest skater but he's smart and he knows his limitations. I'd only move him if the return were really, really good.
Richards is more likely to be bought out than traded because of his contract and cap hit.
Stralman and Eminger should have some value. Vet d-men at the trade deadline usually do. Playoff teams want to stock up on them. Stralman's a better player but Eminger is more of a gamer. Hamrlik's an experienced guy as well and played well in the playoffs last year. Gilroy IMO is practically worthless.
I would think Boyle would as well--despite his crap year and the bad stats. He's huge, decent on face-off and can kill penalties and in the past he's shown some offense. Should be able to get at least a 2nd for him.
Gaborik could get us a huge return. I wouldn't trade him for peanuts. You have to decide what you think is fair and if you can't get it--you keep him. I'd want more than what the Pens paid for Iginla--and Boston might be a team willing to pay that.
Other than that I don't know if we have much to move.
I agree for sure. Like I said, I love the guy, but if we were to move any of them i think he would be the player to move. Last year we were a solid, really good team, and our ability to completely shut down other teams was key in our success. He was a big part of that as well as our other D-men and Hank (of course) I'd love to focus on the forwards and the system and try to keep all our D-men and revert back to 2011-2012 form, but like you said, if the price is right, I think I'd be comfortable with it.
Agree on the Gaborik comment as well. Although it seems otherwise by the comments made about him from other HF posters (mostly from other teams) I think GMs still covet the former 40 goal scorer. He's having a down year but can still land us some nice pieces. Moving him would be our best bet since I just don't see him producing much for us this year, maybe next year, but If the return is a couple of high end prospects and a 1st, I personally pull the trigger.