Since Sundin's status is up in the air.
I'd say sign Rolston + Naslund tomorow.
But that would push one of our current top 8 out of the top 9. Which would be a ridiculously hard decision.
While I just said that I had no expectations.....I would still like if we can put our hands on 2 of those guys (no Sundin or Hossa involved):
Wade Redden
Michal Roszival
Brooks Orpik
Brian Rolston (Favorite of mine for a loooooong time)
Brad Stuart
Jay Pandolfo (We need a guy like him)
Markus Naslund ( I have a lot of faith that our style of game would make him much better than he was last year)
Sergei Fedorov (Much better option than Holik for me)
Yeeeah, you know... I'm not totally sold on a 37 year old guy who has actually been slowly yet steadily declining for about 10 years. The faceoff stat is a good one, he is big, AND a RH shot. But would he really be our #1 or 2 centre? Could he keep up with the wingers he'd have? I mean, it seems like (of all the players discussed thus far) he would be a player that his linemates would have to adapt a lot to in order to gel. As opposed to being a player who could be inserted and improve that line right away. I'm not talking necessarily "chemistry" since you can't really predict that. But in terms of tools, style, speed, etc...
Hossa takes up too much cap space for a non-franchise player.
Honestly I'm looking more and more seriously at Rolston since Sundin has pretty much given the stiff arm to everyone as of now.
Rolston has a cannon of a shot and can man the point in the place of Streit.
Yeeeah, you know... I'm not totally sold on a 37 year old guy who has actually been slowly yet steadily declining for about 10 years. The faceoff stat is a good one, he is big, AND a RH shot. But would he really be our #1 or 2 centre? Could he keep up with the wingers he'd have? I mean, it seems like (of all the players discussed thus far) he would be a player that his linemates would have to adapt a lot to in order to gel. As opposed to being a player who could be inserted and improve that line right away. I'm not talking necessarily "chemistry" since you can't really predict that. But in terms of tools, style, speed, etc...
Am I in left field on this one??
No, but you're lacking in imagination if you can't see how Sundin could help.
I don't see why people would get mad when we don't sign anyone..who's out there that we should get? We probably won't get Hossa, Sundin probably won't sign with anyone for a while, Jagr will probably go either back to NYR or to Russia, Rolston will likely sign with TB, Streit probably isn't coming back, we have no use for Campbell, Redden, Huet or Theodore...and that's pretty much all the big names right there.
I'd be happy if we signed role players like Orpik and Laraque, who would both be massive improvements over Bouillon and Dandenault. And Sundin obviously but like I said, I don't expect him to decide for a couple of weeks.
League sources told Sun Media yesterday that they've "never seen it so quiet" before the NHL free-agency period begins because teams are worried they'll be charged with tampering if they engage in anything that can be construed as contract discussions before Tuesday at noon.
While agents have always tried to get a handle on the unrestricted market before July 1, sources say Bettman told the GMs during a meeting at the Stanley Cup final in Detroit that if he caught somebody tampering, the team involved "would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
Though punishment would be at Bettman's discretion, an NHL executive believes it would start out with a $1-million fine and, at the very least, a first-round draft pick.
I'm hopeful I guess, but I won't be too disappointed if we don't land anyone tomorrow.
"Big" names that could have new addresses (in no particular order):
Mats Sundin
Jaromir Jagr
Marian Hossa
Pavol Demitra
Brian Campbell
Wade Redden
Cristobal Huet
Jose Theodore
Michal Roszival
Brooks Orpik
Brian Rolston (rights dealt to Tampa; signing coming?)
Todd Bertuzzi
Doug Weight
Bobby Holik
Teemu Selanne (likely Anaheim or retirement)
Alexei Zhitnik
Peter Forsberg (unlikely to decide any time soon; Colorado)
Andrew Brunette
Brad Stuart
Ladislav Nagy
Bryan Smolinski (heh)
Michael Ryder (heh heh)
Jay Pandolfo
Miroslav Satan
Ruslan Fedotenko
Josef Vasicek
Sean Avery
Brendan Shanahan
Marek Malik
Paul Mara
Ray Emery
Cory Stillman
Jason Smith
Martin Lapointe
Georges Laraque
Jarkko Ruutu
Chris Gratton
Darcy Tucker
Andrew Raycroft
Markus Naslund
Brendan Morrison
Olaf Kolzig
Sergei Fedorov
Kristian Huselius
For a UFA pool widely recognized as being weak, there are still quite a number of potential impact guys up for grabs.
Since the list is so long, feel free to turn this into a game and guess where they'll all end up. Even if they don't sign right away tomorrow. Hey it passes time till noon tomorrow. 17 hours and 20 minutes to go!
How about grouping them 3 categories (yes/maybe/no) ?
Here's my example
Yes
Mats Sundin
Jaromir Jagr
Marian Hossa
Pavol Demitra
Brian Campbell
Wade Redden
Michal Roszival
Teemu Selanne
Peter Forsberg
Brad Stuart
Jason Smith
Kristian Huselius
Maybe
Brian Rolston
Doug Weight
Alexei Zhitnik
Bobby Holik
Andrew Brunette
Ladislav Nagy
Jay Pandolfo
Miroslav Satan
Sean Avery
Cory Stillman
Georges Laraque
Jarkko Ruutu
Markus Naslund
Sergei Fedorov
Brooks Orpik
Brendan Morrison
No
Cristobal Huet
Jose Theodore
Todd Bertuzzi
Bryan Smolinski
Michael Ryder
Ruslan Fedotenko
Josef Vasicek
Brendan Shanahan
Marek Malik
Paul Mara
Ray Emery
Martin Lapointe
Chris Gratton
Darcy Tucker
Andrew Raycroft
Olaf Kolzig
