offseason ideas...
 

This is not a reaction to tonight, or the last two weeks, it's just late, I'm bored, and I need to stay up for another hour... so bare with me, and try to add to the discussion instead of just tearing it down.

Off season trade ideas:

To Cgy- Ryder, Zednik, 1st 06

To Mtl- Leopold, Yelle, 1st 06

I do think CGY is sending a little more value over our way, so hopefully swaping firsts is enough to cover (plus their earlier than hoped for playoff exit due to a lack of scoring and Sutter thinking he can get more out of Zed and Ryder than we are)

To NJ- Perezhogin, Danis

To Mtl- Langenbruner, Kozlov

NJ gets younger and creates some cap space to manouevre a little better. Habs give some young talent, but add grit, some established scoring, and an interesting player to team up with Kovalev.

We sign Selanne to a 2 year 3.5 mill/per contract with a team (same)/player (2 mill) option for year three.

We let Bulis (I like bulis, but don't think I'd pay very much for him), Sundstrom, and Ribeiro (if he's not a FA, than we trade him for whatever late pick or AHL prospect we can get) walk.

potential 06-07 line up:

Selanne- Koivu- Kots
Kozlov- Pleks - Kovalev
Higgins- Bonk - Langenbruner
Murray- Yelle- Begin (best 4th line in hockey!!)
Lapierre/Locke/Chipchura (AHL call ups)

Markov- Rivet
Leopold- Komisarek
Souray- Dandenault
Bouillion/Streit/Simpson(?)

Huet
Aebisher

I think this idea has merit, in that Calgary needs some scoring depth and Ryder (and perhaps Zednik) could be of interest. Both are cheap, generally productive, and both have shown signs of having the ability to drive the net and play gritty playoff-type hockey.

I see Leopold as potentially being available to identify Calgary's needs, but I don't see Ryder/Zednik as being worth giving up Leopold for Calgary. They're both question marks and have severely underperformed this season.

Yelle is an unsung hero there, I can't see him being included.

For a playoff-team, I don't think swapping firsts will mean too much for Calgary.





Two competing teams in the East dealing? Maybe. But New Jersey's not rebuilding, and this is a rebuild-type move for them. I realize they need to dump salary, but why give up Langenbruner to the competition? I think the Devils could easily get a deal like this (or better) from a Western conference club.

Perezhogin hasn't proven a whole lot, and while he's clearly got ability, he's still so raw that it's not certain he'll be a legitimate player.

Again, the deal makes some sense for the other team, but too much sense for Montreal and not enough for the other team to make it a viable possibility (in my opinion).

Also, I personally would not want Kozlov.


I would disagree with letting Ribeiro walk, or throwing him away for nothing.

Sign a big offensive center to replace Ribeiro

Let Sundstrom and Bulis go as well

Sign Jarko Ruutu

Package Ryder with our first overall pick for a true top 6 winger.

Make a place in the roster for Kostitsyn

Actually I would give Plekanec the second line center spot to play with Kovy, Bonk centering the third line (he is playing better hockey lately) and switch between Murray and Ribeiro to center the fourth line.

Higgins Koivu Zednik

Perezhogin Plekanec Kovalev

Bulis Bonk Ryder

Begin Murray-Ribeiro Downie

Like it or not Ribeiro makes our line-up weaker. :teach:

Not positive , MT, but aren't Yelle,Kozlov and Langenbrunner going to be un-restricted ? Leopold is what is needed in Mtl. and maybe Ryder or Zed could be part of a deal, but I think Calgary's needs are at C, and have someone above Ribs as a target.

I think Mtl. will adress their needs by going after someone's contract dump and trying to salvage a guy who's had an off year, or judged to be a bad fit somewhere.

Aucoin,Zhitnik come to mind. Bertuzzi isn't impossible. Maybe not these 3, but players who won't cost you a huge return.

Would a player like Selanne prfer Mtl. to Anaheim, weighing the options of moving his family, for what ? Is Mtl. that close ? From his point of view, I'm not sure there's a good reason. Remember he signed and played with a buddy for the Avs and it didn't quite work out. I'd love to see him here, but I don't expect it.

A little early, I hope, to be talking about next year. Nonetheless, here we go

(1) Re-sign Bulis. Speed, size and skill. Will be even better next year
(2) Aggressively pursue and sign top tier UFA defenceman a la Redden, Chara mold
(3) Upgrade 2nd line center via free agency, or trade. If a trade, use forward prospect and Ribeiro, and if necessary, draft pick
(4) (If Ribs is not included in a package in (3)): Offer the minimum to retain RFA Ribeiro's rights. Trade Ribeiro for a draft pick, removing the last of the triplets from the team (Theo and Dagenais being the others).
(5) Explore moving Dandenault into a 4th line checking role (assumes #2 is accomplished) - Dandenault has struggled on the blueline for most of the season
(6) Let Sundstrom walk - I like Sunny but his $1.0 million can be better used

In (2) and (3), older players, like Selanne, should not be pursued. They need look at the younger players on the free agent market

Gainey has some cash to play with this summer and I fully expect him to use it appropriately.

I like the ryder trade, but I could only see that being done at the last trade deadline, with both teams filling a need before the playoffs, I cant see it happening in the offseason.

I am pretty sure langenbrunner is a UFA, but he would be a valuable type of player in montreal, no question