But I'd love to see a vet D-man and a legit top six winger signed. Push Yip down onto the bench and Halischuk down onto the fourth line with Spaling and Gaustad, slide Wilson down onto the youth line so he and Smith can keep building chemistry, and put somebody like Semin on the wing with Legwand and Hornqvist and you're talking about a much improved offensive lineup with some scoring punch on all four lines.
I'd like to see a vet d-man brought in too. Not necessarily a big-money top-pairing type of guy, but a depth defenseman. Somehow who can sit in the pressbox if the kids step up, but will be there to fill in for a few games if Blum or Ellis is struggling and won't look out of place stepping onto the bottom pairing if one of the kids completely falters.
Josi - relatively unproven, plus, can he stay healthy? He only played in 52 games last year.
Blum - boom or bust. But if he busts, we're essentially down a man as he'll be in the AHL.
Ellis - can be protected, but I don't know if I want him logging huge D minutes
Ekholm - what if he hasn't progressed.
We need some insurance. Badly.
We need a Roszival, Colaiacovo, Jurcina, Kubina, Hannan or someone like that that can play on the 2nd pair with Klein, and step up to the #2 if necessary in short periods.
We'd be really freakin solid if we could pry a Bouwmeester, but that's a long shot, IMHO.
I'm OK with those forwards. There's room for a sniper like a Ryan or Semin or a high-end banger like Doan, but anything less is just more of the same.
SK-Fish-Erat
Wilson-Legwand-Smith/Halischuk
X-Gaustad-Halischuk/Hornqvist
Bourque-Spaling-Hornqvist/Yip
McG
That X needs to be filled but does Nashville give Austin Watson a chance like they did Smith? (Yeah it's bad, I almost typed in Consequences Creed in Austin Watson's place....Wrestling joke).
Weber-Josi
Blum-Klein
Gill-Ellis
Ekholm-Bartley
One more vet someone at the 2nd pairing level.
Give me this team.
CAPGEEK.COM USER GENERATED ROSTER
My Custom Lineup
FORWARDS
Sergei Kostitsyn ($3.000m) / David Legwand ($4.500m) / Martin Erat ($4.500m)
Colin Wilson ($2.000m) / Mike Fisher ($4.200m) / Petr Sykora ($1.500m)
Craig Smith ($0.900m) / Paul Gaustad ($3.250m) / Matt Halischuk ($0.713m)
Gabriel Bourque ($0.618m) / Nick Spaling ($1.050m) / Patric Hornqvist ($3.083m)
Brandon Yip ($0.750m) / Brian McGrattan ($0.600m)
DEFENSEMEN
Shea Weber ($7.857m) / Roman Josi ($1.000m)
Jonathon Blum ($1.000m) / Kevin Klein ($1.350m)
Hal Gill ($2.000m) / Ryan Ellis ($1.440m)
Matt Gilroy ($1.500m) /
GOALTENDERS
Pekka Rinne ($7.000m)
Chris Mason ($1.500m)
BUYOUTS
J.P. Dumont ($1.333m) / Brett Lebda ($0.467m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $56,200,000; CAP PAYROLL: $57,111,310; BONUSES: $1,135,000
CAP SPACE (23-man roster):- $911,310
Last edited by BigFatCat999: 07-26-2012 at 11:00 AM.
Wasn't Josi the one that was the victim of 2-3 consecutive shoulder first boarding incidents? I wouldn't question his health at all....that was just a lot of being in the wrong place at the wrong time (or not watching his back).
I think Smith will be easily a top 6 player this year. He was unbeliebable in the 1st half, then slowed and got his ice time cut. He'll be better off this time around IMO
I think Smith will be easily a top 6 player this year. He was unbeliebable in the 1st half, then slowed and got his ice time cut. He'll be better off this time around IMO
Me too. I'm expecting big things out of Wilson/Smith/Bourque. That's why the forward corps isn't much of a concern to me.
Sure, it would be great to add a Semin or a Doan or a Ryan, but short of a guy of that caliber, we're better off just going with our young guys.
I like. If we add Doan i like even better. But I think we stay pat for this year unless Webers front loaded contract wont affect us, which is debatable for sure.
I think Smith will be easily a top 6 player this year. He was unbeliebable in the 1st half, then slowed and got his ice time cut. He'll be better off this time around IMO
I agree, Smith is going to turn some heads this year. The stronger he gets, the more impressive he will become. I guess that's why I have his jersey.
I love the look of this line on paper. Smith will shoot anything, while Hornqvist and Halischuk will crash the net to cause havoc. I like the look of this line a lot.
I don't like that D-corps.
Ekholm - what if he hasn't progressed.
I don't know man. The dude won the best Dman award over there. Worst case he starts in AHL to get adjusted to NA ice. He should definitely make the club sometime this year.
I don't know man. The dude won the best Dman award over there. Worst case he starts in AHL to get adjusted to NA ice. He should definitely make the club sometime this year.
We have no clue what the floor is. CBA going on as we speak....I hope. Fact is we could have the cap stay, they could change the spread between the floor and cap. Only hint we had is if the Owners get a 50/50 split the cap will be 64.22 million (Source Mirtle)
Josi - relatively unproven, plus, can he stay healthy? He only played in 52 games last year.
Blum - boom or bust. But if he busts, we're essentially down a man as he'll be in the AHL.
Ellis - can be protected, but I don't know if I want him logging huge D minutes
Ekholm - what if he hasn't progressed.
We need some insurance. Badly.
We need a Roszival, Colaiacovo, Jurcina, Kubina, Hannan or someone like that that can play on the 2nd pair with Klein, and step up to the #2 if necessary in short periods.
We'd be really freakin solid if we could pry a Bouwmeester, but that's a long shot, IMHO.
I'm OK with those forwards. There's room for a sniper like a Ryan or Semin or a high-end banger like Doan, but anything less is just more of the same.
If I remember correctly, Josi only played 52 games because he suffered a concussion during camp. Concussions are scary, but it didn't seem to slow him down once he healed. The other injuries were shoulder injuries which is likely coincidental rather than a red flag.
Still, I think we need another D. Like I said in another thread, one of Blum, Josi, or Ellis will falter. It's almost guaranteed. To have three defensemen that inexperienced play great hockey over an entire season would be nice, but not exactly likely.
Of the three I think Ellis has the smallest chance at playing poorly. Not because I feel like he is further along in his development (he is not), but because his minutes will be highly protected. Blum is the one with the question marks after the way his season started last year, and based on reports from Milwaukee last season. Josi looked solid, but there is always room to slide. If we're having him play with Weber he is the one I'm the most concerned about. He should be fine, but he has the biggest room to fail.
My line up for opening night is:
SK Fisher Erat
Wilson Legwand Hornqvist
Bourque Spaling Halischuk
Smith Gaustad Yip
Weber Josi
Klein Blum/FA
Gill Ellis
FA/Blum
Rinne
Mason
The top line likely stays together for the majority of the season. Wilson will probably earn top six time, and Hornqvist will have it given to him because of his history. Smith and Spaling are interchangeable, but I think we see Spaling centering the third line to start the season. Smith will get his time on the PP, and will take some extra shifts on the second or third line as he performs better or as someone else's performance is lacking. Bourque played his way off of the fourth line last year, and he could easily take a winger spot on the second line. The same goes for Halischuk in all honesty.
Another season of not having that go-to guy up front, but a lot of depth through the lines. The bottom six is solid, and will put up points like last year. Hopefully the lack of a lot of true top six guys will create a good amount of competition between the young guys to gain ice time.
Last edited by ThirdManIn: 07-26-2012 at 02:25 PM.
Semin is off. Doan is the hottest commodity as far as forwards go. After that it gets pretty thin, and I'm not really sure any forward left is actually worth bringing in. Sykora or Huselius maybe. If Poile suddenly changes his mind about Andrei Kostitsyn.
Defensively I think one of Hannan, Rozsival, Kubina, or Colaiacovo would be good. Each of those four can eat minutes, but none of them will make so much money that Trotz couldn't bench them if all three of the young guys are playing well.
edit: apparently tomorrow is the Doan's deadline for an ownership milestone in Phoenix. He wants to stay put if the team is going to stay, but unless he is shown some sign of stabilization he is gone.
Last edited by ThirdManIn: 07-26-2012 at 02:34 PM.
Reason: forgot about Sykora
The stronger he gets, the more impressive he will become. I guess that's why I have his jersey.
