Sign Blake Wheeler
 

Him and Stepan looked good together yesterday, he is a RFA so maybe we can make him an offer sheet or if he doesnt sign with the Thrashers we can scoop him up? What do you guys think

I'd do it. What's the worst that can happen? Atlanta matches? I'm sure he'd love the thought of playing in NY instead of Atlanta.

He's a big body who's slowly coming into form offensively. Him and steps have been pretty solid together so far.

I wanted him before, I would still welcome him. He is a big body who has offensive skills. However, I have to wonder what the price would be in order to get him to the Rangers......

I could see:

Grachev + ______

for

Wheeler


Wheeler is what I feel Grachev will eventually be.

Let's tone it down here for a second, they played together against team Austria on a larger ice service.

It's not even the fact that they played well together. Wheeler is a intriguing player.

I have wanted Wheeler for 3 years. For me, its not a knee-jerk reaction.

Offer him like 2 million for 2 years...we'd only give a 2nd rounder. Sign me up.

I'd be for it if were not resigning feds or vinny. He's also pretty young, could still flourish and put up 50+ points possibly.

I really wanted to sign Wheeler as a UFA when he thumbed his nose at Phoenix and bolted for Boston. If I recall correctly, the Rangers were one of the other finalists when Boston signed him.

In hindsight, I think he probably regrets picking Boston (considering he's stuck in Atlanta now). Unfortunately, I don't know if we really have room for him now. Another 2nd-3rd line winger isn't something we really need. Especially with him primarily playing the right side. He definitely isn't taking Gaborik or Callahan's spot, so that leaves him battling for the third line spot with Zuccarello. While Wheeler is a better player than Zuccarello right now, I don't think it'd be worth paying the price it would cost to upgrade that position. We need to be focused upon top-end talent, not additional depth wingers.

Wheeler had 17 pts in his 23 games as a Thrasher. He was really, really good for them after the trade. Will they want to let him up? No. Might they have to? Possibly.

The Byfuglien signing really tied up a lot of their money that they needed to resign some key players. Next year they've already committed just over $37.5M. How much do they usually spend? The cap floor? Next year it'll probably be around $45M. I doubt they're going to spend any higher than that.

So, given that they have $37.5M committed already, they have about $7.5M to spend on their free agents, and some of them are core players for the team.

Andrew Ladd made $2.35M this year. Scored 59 pts and was an extremely valuable player. He'll get at least $4M.

Zach Bogosian made $2.35M this year. True, he isn't playing how he should, but his salary won't drop down to a million. He'll still get probably close to $2M.

Radek Dvorak made $1.7M this year. Only put up 22pts. 34 years old. They might not resign him, I'm not sure what the word is.

Anthony Stewart made about $0.6M. Had a sudden increase in talent, and tallied 39 this year. Have a feeling they'll want to retain him and see what he can do.

Then there's Wheeler. $2.2M this year. 17 pts in 23 games, right after scoring only 27 in 58 for Boston. Where does that put him?

In addition to that, there's depth players like Freddy Meyer, Brett Festerling, Eric Boulton, and others they're probably going to want to hold onto.

Ladd and Bogosian won't be let go. They'll tie up probably about $6M of the approximate $7.5M the Thrashers will be willing to spend this summer. That leaves them $1.5M to fill up numerous spots on the roster. There's also a good 8 or so other RFAs and 5-6 UFAs that are AHL/prospects that I didn't consider for making the roster next year. The way they look now, it's going to be Wheeler or Stewart, or maybe even neither. However, with their defensive corps starting to look better with Byfuglien, Bogosian, Enstrom, Stuart, and even Oduya leading the way, Ron Hainsey is looking more and more out of place with his $4.5M cap hit. I could see the Thrashers finding a way to rid themselves of Hainsey to make room to bring back at least one of Stewart or Wheeler.

Eh, not much of a fan. He has a lot of tools, but he doesn't really use his gift of size to his advantage. He's soft in the corners and on the puck, which is why the Bruins traded him in the first place. I would be ok with a 2nd rounder offer sheet, but I wouldn't give up anything more.

He will be a consistent 50+ point player possibly starting as soon as the next season. These bigger kids take a bit longer to put it together.

"surface"

either way, i would like to see wheeler wearing a rangers jersey. wouldnt it be ironic if we got him from atlants, but traded stepan for him? haha. i could see a grachev for wheeler type thing.

get it done slats!

Sounds kinda like Anisimov, no? Both had 44 points this year. Blake's two years older. But Artem's been a pro for a year more.

Why so down on a guy so similar not on your team? Why is Artem's value a 7-10 pick and Blake's value is no more than a 2nd rounder?

Sounds like Blake's performing well in the WJC's and he was producing at a 60 pt clip with Atlanta.

Interesting comparison. Wheeler is much better along the boards though. Harder to knock him off the puck then it is with Arty....Arty has some work to do in regards to that.

True, Wheeler and Anisimov have similar issues. Difference is Anisimov has improved every opportunity he's gotten. Wheeler's been struggling. Anisimov has solid defensive play. Wheeler doesn't. Anisimov has had playtime with mostly 2nd line players and grinders, with Marian Gaborik occasionally on with him. Wheeler has had play time with the likes of elite playmaker Marc Savard, Patric Bergeron, and David Krejc.

Wheeler's had little reason to not succeed more than he has. He's had 3 incredibly talented playmaking centers to cycle through. Failed with all of them. I'm not saying he won't eventually put it together, but he's been a bouncing ball. Anisimov's got his consistency issues, but Wheeler... whole 'nother story.

EDIT: Missed Ani's first year in Hartford, didn't see it.

What is with you and Anisimov?

It's worse with Wheeler, because he's actually had much more time to develop that, and put on strength, but he hasn't. Anisimov doesn't avoid going to the dirty areas to score like Wheeler will do. He's a soft player. Anisimov isn't soft, despite whatever you want to believe.

The value isn't similar because of several things. Wheeler is two years older, not nearly as skilled defensively or intelligent defensively, and is not as smart with the puck in any sense, really. He's also had much better linemates and a much better team to work with. With his tools, he should be scoring at a 60 point clip, and dominating board battles. Instead, he shies away from them, and mainly floats in the offensive zone.

He was seriously considering us when he was a UFA, no? I wonder why he chose Boston over us.

Wheeler and Kessel are really good friends, room mates in college iirc

Boston celebrated like they won the cup when we heard news that Wheeler was traded, let alone that we got a player in return for him.

I wouldn't offer sheet him, but i'd certainly deal Wolski for him.

He would fit in okay as a 3rd line RW with Stepan. That line potentially needs to be strengthened and will be our weak point next year if not addressed. Wolski-Stepan-Zucc is garbage.

But certainly not a guy we should expect to pot 20 every year.

No way Atlanta takes Wolski. That's $4M in salary they can't afford. They have way too many important players to resign this summer. We'd have to take some heavy salary in return. (Hainsey or Oduya probably)

signing him to an offer sheet is a terrible idea. it'll cost you picks and drive up his price reducing his value. he's not the type of player you do that for...

now if you want to call atlanta and see what they'd want in a trade for his rights i'm on board for that.

?????-Richards-Gaborik
Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan
Kreider-Stepan-Wheeler
Hagelin-Boyle-Prust

me want.

maybe get a Ladd+Wheeler trade without giving up huge assets somehow and throw Ladd into that top line LW spot. A bit of seasoning and thats a cup contender.

Sather is pretty anti-offer sheet.

You're not getting Ladd without giving them a huge asset unless they want to tank hard. Even then they'd probably want something like Thomas+++