The rumors of the offer to Gilroy were before we obtained Erixon. Hopefully, the acquisition of Erixon means we simply let Gilroy go and bring Eminger back to fight for the 6th spot with Del Zotto, Valentenko, and even Kundratek (unlikely).
I hope that is the case and there is no offer to Gilroy, but we will have to wait and see. I really prefer MDZ starts in Hartford, i think a pairing of Erixon-MDZ has nightmare written all over it, I want a stay at home d-man with Erixon to allow him to pinch and feel comfortable. Valentenko should be that guy IMO, lets hope they both earn their spots in camp.
He did not impress during his time in Boston. I think we are seeing a declining player and signing him would be a mistake. IMHO
That's the biggest factor if you ask me.
He's on the other side of 30, (33, I believe) and was EVEN LESS IMPRESSIVE in Boston than he was in Toronto. To me, he's another "Big Fish, Small Pond" type player. Javier Vasquez 3.0 for any Yankee fans on here.
Kaberle was far from impressive in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and I have seen several times when even Bruins fans were bashing him.
He is going to command a lot of money like Fitzy said. That money is better spent on improving the offense. I'd leave it to our young guys to continue to develop. I still see untapped offensive potential in Staal.
I hope so as well.
If he can play in his "man" body in the NHL like he did when he went back an dominated his final year in junior in his "young adult" body, we could be not only be a great defensive team but a nasty defensive team in the next couple years.
no thank you. he has been pretty bad. especially this season, he got a lot of PP assists from touching the puck instead of making plays. deceiving numbers really.
I would like to see next season
Staal, Girardi, McD, Sauer, MDZ, Erixon, Valentenko
Valentenko is at a point where even if he only plays 41 games in the season, it will be better than playing in Hartford. He's pretty much maxed out what he can learn at that level. He'll still learn but I believe his growth rate will be higher in the big leagues.
Kaberle signing will also mean MDZ has little chance of making the team IMO
How about we let MDZ show what he's got before acquiring a similar veteran defenseman who will take up a ridiculous amount of cap space?
With the addition of Erixon and hopefully an improvement from Del Zotto, we should not have any problems on defense that require a massive overpayment to a UFA.
If MDZ fails and shows that he can't play in the NHL, which I doubt, then let's go for an offensive defenseman next off-season - it's not as if Kaberly is some sort of a great catch that will never again be available.
If we are to spend cap space on a UFA, it should be on a forward, not a defenseman.
