Trade Rumors and Free Agent TalkTrade rumors, transactions, and free agent talk. Rumors must contain the word RUMOR in post title. Proposals must contain the word PROPOSAL in post title.
We've Been Out Of The Game For A While....Any Trade Rumors Or Speculation?
I'm of the belief that Edler has no intentions of resigning in Vancouver. So Gillis needs to make a decision, and weight the pro's and con's of good asset management vs a potential cup run.
Not an easy choice to make, but I'm confident he'll make the right one and move Edler if he won't resign.
they were talking about an extension prior to the lockout. i dont see how it has gone from there to no intentions of re-signing.
So, far for actual rumors we have.
-Luongo to Toronto as close or done deal. Also, everything else about Luongo (Not being traded, only wanting to be dealt to Florida, maybe bought out).
-That Winnipeg wants to move Evander Kane, based on bogus trade rumors from last summer and Kane being a dork who takes pictures of himself with stacks of cash while he and his union bros. are out of work.
-Edmonton making a "wow" trade at the end of the lock-out, per an Edmonton radio guy.
-Bruce Garrioch has Pittsburgh interested in re-acquiring Sergei Gonchar.
For speculation, there is actually something to look at for every single team:
-Anaheim has Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf on expiring contracts. If they're not interested in sticking around and Anaheim falls out of contention, would they be moved at the deadline. Also, is Bobby Ryan happy after last summer's trade rumors.
-Boston's Adam McQuaid is out long-term, Boston likely won't want to go with 2 rookies (Hamilton and Krug) on the blueline so they might be interested in another.
-Buffalo has a glut of defencemen (Ehrhoff, Leopold, Sekera, Myers, Weber, Regehr, Sulzer, Pardy, McNabb) and will probably be interested in shaving money off their cap before next season.
-Calgary has a lot of defencemen (Wideman, Bouwmeester, Butler, Giordano, Sarich, Babchuk, D.Smith, B.Carson, T.Brodie) on their roster and might want to move one. Also their coach said he is bringing 30 players to camp because he wants lots of competition so veterans might hit the waiver wire.
-Carolina will likely add another forward.
-Chicago also has a large glut of defencemen (Seabrook, Keith, Oduya, Hjalmarsson, Leddy, Brookbank, Rozsival, Montador, Olsen and Clendenning (the latter of whom has looked really good in the AHL)) and will likely want to move one.
-Colorado has the ongoing Ryan O'Reilly saga (Unsigned, might be ticked off at Avalanche low-balling him, all conjecture at this point).
-Columbus is likely in rebuild mode and still don't look to me like a team with enough Top 6 forwards.
-Dallas has Jamie Benn unsigned. I know a lot of Oilers' fans have a pipe dream of him being disgruntled and being traded to Edmonton, though somehow not for any of Hall, Eberle, Schultz, RNH or Yakupov.
-Detroit still has a pretty sketchy defence and a glut of forwards (Emmerton, Abdelkader, Eaves (if healthy), Totoo, Miller, Mursak, Tatar, Nyquist, Brunner all competing for 3-4 spots).
-Edmonton likely has to add a tough veteran defenceman with Andy Sutton likely having to retire.
-Florida has Dmitry Kulikov as an unsigned RFA to go along with the ongoing Luongo saga.
-LA has Anze Kopitar out with a minor injury and, by my count, way too many NHL-calibre forwards (I'm counting 16 with legitimate NHL experience/qualifications).
-Minnesota has a lot of rookie forwards looking to crack the roster and not a lot of free slots. Also, they have to monitor Josh Harding's coping with MS.
-Montreal will be without Petteri Nokelainen to start camp, has PK Subban unsigned, the whole Scott Gomez issue (Their GM said he's a part of the team, so no buy-outs yet), and are said to be high on 2012 First Round pick Alex Galchenyuk and will have to make room in their Top 6 should he make the team.
-Nashville is believed to be interested in adding another forward and a defenceman. Also, you have Sergei Kostitsyn previously saying he wants to stay in Russia, so that will have to be dealt with.
-New Jersey has a surplus of NHL defencemen (Salvador, Greene, Tallinder, Volchenkov, Zidlicky, Fayne, Harrold, and Larsson) and a rather weak looking forward lineup.
-Islanders have the aforementioned Visnovsky situation and will have to gauge whether Rick DiPietro is healthy enough to back up Nabokov.
-Rangers have Michael Del Zotto unsigned and the whole Wade Redden making $6+ million in the minors thing.
-Ottawa is really thin on the blueline with Jared Cowen out for the season, and Mike Lundin currently hurt with an injury. Also, there's the Gonchar rumor.
-Philaldelphia was rumored to be interested in another defenceman all summer long. And are they really going with Mike Leighton as their back-up?
-Phoenix is developing a glut of defencemen with Yandle, Michalek, OEL, Klesla, Morris, Schlemko, Rundblad, Summers and Gormley.
-Pittsburgh has the Gonchar rumors, as well as a deep pool of prospects on defence (Bortuzzo, Strait, Despres, Sneep, Morrow, Samuelsson, Dumoulin, Matta, Pouliot, Harrington) and may want to start making space for them to come up.
-San Jose has a handful of unsigned depth RFAs (Sheppard, Kennedy, Petrecki) and a seeming glut on defence with Boyle, Stuart, Burns, Vlasic, Murray, Braun, Demers. Personally, I also feel like they're one Top 9 forward short.
-St. Louis has a lot of forwards under contract (15 with significant NHL experience by my count, as well as 203 rookies possibly ready to jump in) and look to be maybe a Top 6 defenceman short.
-Tampa's a total mystery to me as it looks like they have 18-19 forwards who could be on their NHL roster and 10-12 defencemen, as well.
-Toronto has the ongoing Luongo mess, an unsigned Cody Franson, a weak goaltending tandem (Sorry folks, until I see James Reimer back in 2010-11 form, I'm not sold), and an injured Jake Gardiner to deal with.
-Vancouver has the Luongo saga, an injured and possibly disgruntled Ryan Kesler to deal with (Team says he's close to being back, his agent says he'll more likely be back close to the playoffs, and a Vancouver Province writer speculates their may be dischord between him and Vigneault), and a handful of players making too much money for what they bring to the team (Booth, Raymond, Ballard).
-Washington has the new wrinkle of Tom Poti thinking he'll be medically-cleared which is a drag on the cap ($2.9 million owed this year) if he's healthy but not good; and a spot needing to be cleared if he's healthy and able. Also, you end up with 8-9 NHL defencemen on the roster.
-Winnipeg has the (quite possibly made-up) Kane saga to deal with, as well as an injury to Zach Bogosian.
So, it should be an interesting couple of weeks coming up.
Buffalo also does not have a third line center on their roster with the Roy for Ott deal being completed but no other moves made.
they were talking about an extension prior to the lockout. i dont see how it has gone from there to no intentions of re-signing.
You're right on principle, but I still see it as a tricky resigning. I cannot see the Canucks giving him more than the around $4.5M per most of their current blue-liners have signed for, and I think he wants (and potentially deserves) more. So I can see a deal being made there.
So, far for actual rumors we have.
-Luongo to Toronto as close or done deal. Also, everything else about Luongo (Not being traded, only wanting to be dealt to Florida, maybe bought out).
-That Winnipeg wants to move Evander Kane, based on bogus trade rumors from last summer and Kane being a dork who takes pictures of himself with stacks of cash while he and his union bros. are out of work.
-Edmonton making a "wow" trade at the end of the lock-out, per an Edmonton radio guy.
-Bruce Garrioch has Pittsburgh interested in re-acquiring Sergei Gonchar.
For speculation, there is actually something to look at for every single team:
-Anaheim has Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf on expiring contracts. If they're not interested in sticking around and Anaheim falls out of contention, would they be moved at the deadline. Also, is Bobby Ryan happy after last summer's trade rumors.
-Boston's Adam McQuaid is out long-term, Boston likely won't want to go with 2 rookies (Hamilton and Krug) on the blueline so they might be interested in another.
-Buffalo has a glut of defencemen (Ehrhoff, Leopold, Sekera, Myers, Weber, Regehr, Sulzer, Pardy, McNabb) and will probably be interested in shaving money off their cap before next season.
-Calgary has a lot of defencemen (Wideman, Bouwmeester, Butler, Giordano, Sarich, Babchuk, D.Smith, B.Carson, T.Brodie) on their roster and might want to move one. Also their coach said he is bringing 30 players to camp because he wants lots of competition so veterans might hit the waiver wire.
-Carolina will likely add another forward.
-Chicago also has a large glut of defencemen (Seabrook, Keith, Oduya, Hjalmarsson, Leddy, Brookbank, Rozsival, Montador, Olsen and Clendenning (the latter of whom has looked really good in the AHL)) and will likely want to move one.
-Colorado has the ongoing Ryan O'Reilly saga (Unsigned, might be ticked off at Avalanche low-balling him, all conjecture at this point).
-Columbus is likely in rebuild mode and still don't look to me like a team with enough Top 6 forwards.
-Dallas has Jamie Benn unsigned. I know a lot of Oilers' fans have a pipe dream of him being disgruntled and being traded to Edmonton, though somehow not for any of Hall, Eberle, Schultz, RNH or Yakupov.
-Detroit still has a pretty sketchy defence and a glut of forwards (Emmerton, Abdelkader, Eaves (if healthy), Totoo, Miller, Mursak, Tatar, Nyquist, Brunner all competing for 3-4 spots).
-Edmonton likely has to add a tough veteran defenceman with Andy Sutton likely having to retire.
-Florida has Dmitry Kulikov as an unsigned RFA to go along with the ongoing Luongo saga.
-LA has Anze Kopitar out with a minor injury and, by my count, way too many NHL-calibre forwards (I'm counting 16 with legitimate NHL experience/qualifications).
-Minnesota has a lot of rookie forwards looking to crack the roster and not a lot of free slots. Also, they have to monitor Josh Harding's coping with MS.
-Montreal will be without Petteri Nokelainen to start camp, has PK Subban unsigned, the whole Scott Gomez issue (Their GM said he's a part of the team, so no buy-outs yet), and are said to be high on 2012 First Round pick Alex Galchenyuk and will have to make room in their Top 6 should he make the team.
-Nashville is believed to be interested in adding another forward and a defenceman. Also, you have Sergei Kostitsyn previously saying he wants to stay in Russia, so that will have to be dealt with.
-New Jersey has a surplus of NHL defencemen (Salvador, Greene, Tallinder, Volchenkov, Zidlicky, Fayne, Harrold, and Larsson) and a rather weak looking forward lineup.
-Islanders have the aforementioned Visnovsky situation and will have to gauge whether Rick DiPietro is healthy enough to back up Nabokov.
-Rangers have Michael Del Zotto unsigned and the whole Wade Redden making $6+ million in the minors thing.
-Ottawa is really thin on the blueline with Jared Cowen out for the season, and Mike Lundin currently hurt with an injury. Also, there's the Gonchar rumor.
-Philaldelphia was rumored to be interested in another defenceman all summer long. And are they really going with Mike Leighton as their back-up?
-Phoenix is developing a glut of defencemen with Yandle, Michalek, OEL, Klesla, Morris, Schlemko, Rundblad, Summers and Gormley.
-Pittsburgh has the Gonchar rumors, as well as a deep pool of prospects on defence (Bortuzzo, Strait, Despres, Sneep, Morrow, Samuelsson, Dumoulin, Matta, Pouliot, Harrington) and may want to start making space for them to come up.
-San Jose has a handful of unsigned depth RFAs (Sheppard, Kennedy, Petrecki) and a seeming glut on defence with Boyle, Stuart, Burns, Vlasic, Murray, Braun, Demers. Personally, I also feel like they're one Top 9 forward short.
-St. Louis has a lot of forwards under contract (15 with significant NHL experience by my count, as well as 203 rookies possibly ready to jump in) and look to be maybe a Top 6 defenceman short.
-Tampa's a total mystery to me as it looks like they have 18-19 forwards who could be on their NHL roster and 10-12 defencemen, as well.
-Toronto has the ongoing Luongo mess, an unsigned Cody Franson, a weak goaltending tandem (Sorry folks, until I see James Reimer back in 2010-11 form, I'm not sold), and an injured Jake Gardiner to deal with.
-Vancouver has the Luongo saga, an injured and possibly disgruntled Ryan Kesler to deal with (Team says he's close to being back, his agent says he'll more likely be back close to the playoffs, and a Vancouver Province writer speculates their may be dischord between him and Vigneault), and a handful of players making too much money for what they bring to the team (Booth, Raymond, Ballard).
-Washington has the new wrinkle of Tom Poti thinking he'll be medically-cleared which is a drag on the cap ($2.9 million owed this year) if he's healthy but not good; and a spot needing to be cleared if he's healthy and able. Also, you end up with 8-9 NHL defencemen on the roster.
-Winnipeg has the (quite possibly made-up) Kane saga to deal with, as well as an injury to Zach Bogosian.
So, it should be an interesting couple of weeks coming up.
Great and comprehensive post!
Adding to the bolds:
Edmonton: a major deal is plausible in theory in that D is more likely targeted, so a win-win deal would add balance at a cost of offense which Oilers can afford to lose one big name, maybe 2.
Chicago: well said. Olsen is an attractive target, though BH may prefer to keep the physical backliner. At the moment, more likely play could be other Ds to teams more desperate. But will those clubs cough up enough?
Rangers: Opportunistic Sather always looks to add, but only pulls the trigger as warrants. Rangers need to move a big salary or 2 at some point because of glut of good up and coming young players/prospects.
JT Miller has played very well. He will likely go to AHL for more playing time. But he could push Stepan (Miller a better fit with speedy Ws Kreider, Hagelin, Callahan) or a different forward. Brian Boyle plays a roll but could be moved.
Given this ^, almost anything is possible, but a smaller deal around
Olsen to NY for Boyle to CHI
is likelier than a major blockbuster
{Would Edmonton-NY throw caution to the wind and swap
Ryan Nugent Hopkins, J. Schultz, Marancin + Gernat
for
Marc Staal, Girardi, Stepan + Brian Boyle ?}
St. Louis has 203 rookies ready to jump in? That's like a lot.
But yeah, Minnesota might be looking for a defender in a package for a forward, f+d or 2 forwards. Depends also lot on how Bouchard feels, will he be cleared for contact. Also, not having played hockey for a year. Also the Harding case is intresting, if he gets a start and starts feeling like crap and letting softies in (not hoping for that but unfortunately it's a possibility) is the right choice to call up Hackett, or to go for a temporary backup? Remains to be seen, but this is getting more and more intresting every passing day.
:l
So, far for actual rumors we have.
-Luongo to Toronto as close or done deal. Also, everything else about Luongo (Not being traded, only wanting to be dealt to Florida, maybe bought out).
-That Winnipeg wants to move Evander Kane, based on bogus trade rumors from last summer and Kane being a dork who takes pictures of himself with stacks of cash while he and his union bros. are out of work.
-Edmonton making a "wow" trade at the end of the lock-out, per an Edmonton radio guy.
-Bruce Garrioch has Pittsburgh interested in re-acquiring Sergei Gonchar.
For speculation, there is actually something to look at for every single team:
-Anaheim has Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf on expiring contracts. If they're not interested in sticking around and Anaheim falls out of contention, would they be moved at the deadline. Also, is Bobby Ryan happy after last summer's trade rumors.
-Boston's Adam McQuaid is out long-term, Boston likely won't want to go with 2 rookies (Hamilton and Krug) on the blueline so they might be interested in another.
-Buffalo has a glut of defencemen (Ehrhoff, Leopold, Sekera, Myers, Weber, Regehr, Sulzer, Pardy, McNabb) and will probably be interested in shaving money off their cap before next season.
-Calgary has a lot of defencemen (Wideman, Bouwmeester, Butler, Giordano, Sarich, Babchuk, D.Smith, B.Carson, T.Brodie) on their roster and might want to move one. Also their coach said he is bringing 30 players to camp because he wants lots of competition so veterans might hit the waiver wire.
-Carolina will likely add another forward.
-Chicago also has a large glut of defencemen (Seabrook, Keith, Oduya, Hjalmarsson, Leddy, Brookbank, Rozsival, Montador, Olsen and Clendenning (the latter of whom has looked really good in the AHL)) and will likely want to move one.
-Colorado has the ongoing Ryan O'Reilly saga (Unsigned, might be ticked off at Avalanche low-balling him, all conjecture at this point).
-Columbus is likely in rebuild mode and still don't look to me like a team with enough Top 6 forwards.
-Dallas has Jamie Benn unsigned. I know a lot of Oilers' fans have a pipe dream of him being disgruntled and being traded to Edmonton, though somehow not for any of Hall, Eberle, Schultz, RNH or Yakupov.
-Detroit still has a pretty sketchy defence and a glut of forwards (Emmerton, Abdelkader, Eaves (if healthy), Totoo, Miller, Mursak, Tatar, Nyquist, Brunner all competing for 3-4 spots).
-Edmonton likely has to add a tough veteran defenceman with Andy Sutton likely having to retire.
-Florida has Dmitry Kulikov as an unsigned RFA to go along with the ongoing Luongo saga.
-LA has Anze Kopitar out with a minor injury and, by my count, way too many NHL-calibre forwards (I'm counting 16 with legitimate NHL experience/qualifications).
-Minnesota has a lot of rookie forwards looking to crack the roster and not a lot of free slots. Also, they have to monitor Josh Harding's coping with MS.
-Montreal will be without Petteri Nokelainen to start camp, has PK Subban unsigned, the whole Scott Gomez issue (Their GM said he's a part of the team, so no buy-outs yet), and are said to be high on 2012 First Round pick Alex Galchenyuk and will have to make room in their Top 6 should he make the team.
-Nashville is believed to be interested in adding another forward and a defenceman. Also, you have Sergei Kostitsyn previously saying he wants to stay in Russia, so that will have to be dealt with.
-New Jersey has a surplus of NHL defencemen (Salvador, Greene, Tallinder, Volchenkov, Zidlicky, Fayne, Harrold, and Larsson) and a rather weak looking forward lineup.
-Islanders have the aforementioned Visnovsky situation and will have to gauge whether Rick DiPietro is healthy enough to back up Nabokov.
-Rangers have Michael Del Zotto unsigned and the whole Wade Redden making $6+ million in the minors thing.
-Ottawa is really thin on the blueline with Jared Cowen out for the season, and Mike Lundin currently hurt with an injury. Also, there's the Gonchar rumor.
-Philaldelphia was rumored to be interested in another defenceman all summer long. And are they really going with Mike Leighton as their back-up?
-Phoenix is developing a glut of defencemen with Yandle, Michalek, OEL, Klesla, Morris, Schlemko, Rundblad, Summers and Gormley.
-Pittsburgh has the Gonchar rumors, as well as a deep pool of prospects on defence (Bortuzzo, Strait, Despres, Sneep, Morrow, Samuelsson, Dumoulin, Matta, Pouliot, Harrington) and may want to start making space for them to come up.
-San Jose has a handful of unsigned depth RFAs (Sheppard, Kennedy, Petrecki) and a seeming glut on defence with Boyle, Stuart, Burns, Vlasic, Murray, Braun, Demers. Personally, I also feel like they're one Top 9 forward short.
-St. Louis has a lot of forwards under contract (15 with significant NHL experience by my count, as well as 203 rookies possibly ready to jump in) and look to be maybe a Top 6 defenceman short.
-Tampa's a total mystery to me as it looks like they have 18-19 forwards who could be on their NHL roster and 10-12 defencemen, as well.
-Toronto has the ongoing Luongo mess, an unsigned Cody Franson, a weak goaltending tandem (Sorry folks, until I see James Reimer back in 2010-11 form, I'm not sold), and an injured Jake Gardiner to deal with.
-Vancouver has the Luongo saga, an injured and possibly disgruntled Ryan Kesler to deal with (Team says he's close to being back, his agent says he'll more likely be back close to the playoffs, and a Vancouver Province writer speculates their may be dischord between him and Vigneault), and a handful of players making too much money for what they bring to the team (Booth, Raymond, Ballard).
-Washington has the new wrinkle of Tom Poti thinking he'll be medically-cleared which is a drag on the cap ($2.9 million owed this year) if he's healthy but not good; and a spot needing to be cleared if he's healthy and able. Also, you end up with 8-9 NHL defencemen on the roster.
-Winnipeg has the (quite possibly made-up) Kane saga to deal with, as well as an injury to Zach Bogosian.
So, it should be an interesting couple of weeks coming up.
Seems like a glut of D-men. Should depress price for one substantually
You're right on principle, but I still see it as a tricky resigning. I cannot see the Canucks giving him more than the around $4.5M per most of their current blue-liners have signed for, and I think he wants (and potentially deserves) more. So I can see a deal being made there.
if it comes to it they will overpay for edler, im sure of it. especially considering after the season if worst comes to worst ballard will be bought out and luongo to waivers if must be. clearing most cap problems for the canucks. edler deserves to be the highest paid dman on this team even with his inconsistencies and gillis knows it.
I'm of the belief that Edler has no intentions of resigning in Vancouver. So Gillis needs to make a decision, and weight the pro's and con's of good asset management vs a potential cup run.
Not an easy choice to make, but I'm confident he'll make the right one and move Edler if he won't resign.
If Edler is indeed on the market, which I dont believe to be true, Id expect St Louis to be very interested.
Edmonton: a major deal is plausible in theory in that D is more likely targeted, so a win-win deal would add balance at a cost of offense which Oilers can afford to lose one big name, maybe 2.
Chicago: well said. Olsen is an attractive target, though BH may prefer to keep the physical backliner. At the moment, more likely play could be other Ds to teams more desperate. But will those clubs cough up enough?
Rangers: Opportunistic Sather always looks to add, but only pulls the trigger as warrants. Rangers need to move a big salary or 2 at some point because of glut of good up and coming young players/prospects.
JT Miller has played very well. He will likely go to AHL for more playing time. But he could push Stepan (Miller a better fit with speedy Ws Kreider, Hagelin, Callahan) or a different forward. Brian Boyle plays a roll but could be moved.
Given this ^, almost anything is possible, but a smaller deal around
Olsen to NY for Boyle to CHI
is likelier than a major blockbuster {Would Edmonton-NY throw caution to the wind and swap
Ryan Nugent Hopkins, J. Schultz, Marancin + Gernat
for
Marc Staal, Girardi, Stepan + Brian Boyle ?}
LOL not sure if serious.. that wouldn't be throwing caution to the wind, that would be Tambo throwing his career out the window.
So, far for actual rumors we have.
-Luongo to Toronto as close or done deal. Also, everything else about Luongo (Not being traded, only wanting to be dealt to Florida, maybe bought out).
-That Winnipeg wants to move Evander Kane, based on bogus trade rumors from last summer and Kane being a dork who takes pictures of himself with stacks of cash while he and his union bros. are out of work.
-Edmonton making a "wow" trade at the end of the lock-out, per an Edmonton radio guy.
-Bruce Garrioch has Pittsburgh interested in re-acquiring Sergei Gonchar.
For speculation, there is actually something to look at for every single team:
-Anaheim has Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf on expiring contracts. If they're not interested in sticking around and Anaheim falls out of contention, would they be moved at the deadline. Also, is Bobby Ryan happy after last summer's trade rumors.
-Boston's Adam McQuaid is out long-term, Boston likely won't want to go with 2 rookies (Hamilton and Krug) on the blueline so they might be interested in another.
-Buffalo has a glut of defencemen (Ehrhoff, Leopold, Sekera, Myers, Weber, Regehr, Sulzer, Pardy, McNabb) and will probably be interested in shaving money off their cap before next season.
-Calgary has a lot of defencemen (Wideman, Bouwmeester, Butler, Giordano, Sarich, Babchuk, D.Smith, B.Carson, T.Brodie) on their roster and might want to move one. Also their coach said he is bringing 30 players to camp because he wants lots of competition so veterans might hit the waiver wire.
-Carolina will likely add another forward.
-Chicago also has a large glut of defencemen (Seabrook, Keith, Oduya, Hjalmarsson, Leddy, Brookbank, Rozsival, Montador, Olsen and Clendenning (the latter of whom has looked really good in the AHL)) and will likely want to move one.
-Colorado has the ongoing Ryan O'Reilly saga (Unsigned, might be ticked off at Avalanche low-balling him, all conjecture at this point).
-Columbus is likely in rebuild mode and still don't look to me like a team with enough Top 6 forwards.
-Dallas has Jamie Benn unsigned. I know a lot of Oilers' fans have a pipe dream of him being disgruntled and being traded to Edmonton, though somehow not for any of Hall, Eberle, Schultz, RNH or Yakupov.
-Detroit still has a pretty sketchy defence and a glut of forwards (Emmerton, Abdelkader, Eaves (if healthy), Totoo, Miller, Mursak, Tatar, Nyquist, Brunner all competing for 3-4 spots).
-Edmonton likely has to add a tough veteran defenceman with Andy Sutton likely having to retire.
-Florida has Dmitry Kulikov as an unsigned RFA to go along with the ongoing Luongo saga.
-LA has Anze Kopitar out with a minor injury and, by my count, way too many NHL-calibre forwards (I'm counting 16 with legitimate NHL experience/qualifications).
-Minnesota has a lot of rookie forwards looking to crack the roster and not a lot of free slots. Also, they have to monitor Josh Harding's coping with MS.
-Montreal will be without Petteri Nokelainen to start camp, has PK Subban unsigned, the whole Scott Gomez issue (Their GM said he's a part of the team, so no buy-outs yet), and are said to be high on 2012 First Round pick Alex Galchenyuk and will have to make room in their Top 6 should he make the team.
-Nashville is believed to be interested in adding another forward and a defenceman. Also, you have Sergei Kostitsyn previously saying he wants to stay in Russia, so that will have to be dealt with.
-New Jersey has a surplus of NHL defencemen (Salvador, Greene, Tallinder, Volchenkov, Zidlicky, Fayne, Harrold, and Larsson) and a rather weak looking forward lineup.
-Islanders have the aforementioned Visnovsky situation and will have to gauge whether Rick DiPietro is healthy enough to back up Nabokov.
-Rangers have Michael Del Zotto unsigned and the whole Wade Redden making $6+ million in the minors thing.
-Ottawa is really thin on the blueline with Jared Cowen out for the season, and Mike Lundin currently hurt with an injury. Also, there's the Gonchar rumor.
-Philaldelphia was rumored to be interested in another defenceman all summer long. And are they really going with Mike Leighton as their back-up?
-Phoenix is developing a glut of defencemen with Yandle, Michalek, OEL, Klesla, Morris, Schlemko, Rundblad, Summers and Gormley.
-Pittsburgh has the Gonchar rumors, as well as a deep pool of prospects on defence (Bortuzzo, Strait, Despres, Sneep, Morrow, Samuelsson, Dumoulin, Matta, Pouliot, Harrington) and may want to start making space for them to come up.
-San Jose has a handful of unsigned depth RFAs (Sheppard, Kennedy, Petrecki) and a seeming glut on defence with Boyle, Stuart, Burns, Vlasic, Murray, Braun, Demers. Personally, I also feel like they're one Top 9 forward short.
-St. Louis has a lot of forwards under contract (15 with significant NHL experience by my count, as well as 203 rookies possibly ready to jump in) and look to be maybe a Top 6 defenceman short.
-Tampa's a total mystery to me as it looks like they have 18-19 forwards who could be on their NHL roster and 10-12 defencemen, as well.
-Toronto has the ongoing Luongo mess, an unsigned Cody Franson, a weak goaltending tandem (Sorry folks, until I see James Reimer back in 2010-11 form, I'm not sold), and an injured Jake Gardiner to deal with.
-Vancouver has the Luongo saga, an injured and possibly disgruntled Ryan Kesler to deal with (Team says he's close to being back, his agent says he'll more likely be back close to the playoffs, and a Vancouver Province writer speculates their may be dischord between him and Vigneault), and a handful of players making too much money for what they bring to the team (Booth, Raymond, Ballard).
-Washington has the new wrinkle of Tom Poti thinking he'll be medically-cleared which is a drag on the cap ($2.9 million owed this year) if he's healthy but not good; and a spot needing to be cleared if he's healthy and able. Also, you end up with 8-9 NHL defencemen on the roster.
-Winnipeg has the (quite possibly made-up) Kane saga to deal with, as well as an injury to Zach Bogosian.
So, it should be an interesting couple of weeks coming up.
Boss Breakdown. Thanks.
That's better than TSN Panelist, who I feel is loosing their touch.
Don't think we'll see a whole lot of re-signings in the first few days since the GMs and players haven't been allowed to talk until now but I wouldn't be surprised to see a few trades right away. These GMs have had months to talk to one another so I'm betting there's at least a few trades already set up but can't be announced/go through until the new CBA is in place.
Don't think we'll see a whole lot of re-signings in the first few days since the GMs and players haven't been allowed to talk until now but I wouldn't be surprised to see a few trades right away. These GMs have had months to talk to one another so I'm betting there's at least a few trades already set up but can't be announced/go through until the new CBA is in place.
Yeah this wouldn't surprise me either. Some minor deals to fill some holes, likely draft picks being traded.
Edmonton: a major deal is plausible in theory in that D is more likely targeted, so a win-win deal would add balance at a cost of offense which Oilers can afford to lose one big name, maybe 2.
Chicago: well said. Olsen is an attractive target, though BH may prefer to keep the physical backliner. At the moment, more likely play could be other Ds to teams more desperate. But will those clubs cough up enough?
Rangers: Opportunistic Sather always looks to add, but only pulls the trigger as warrants. Rangers need to move a big salary or 2 at some point because of glut of good up and coming young players/prospects.
JT Miller has played very well. He will likely go to AHL for more playing time. But he could push Stepan (Miller a better fit with speedy Ws Kreider, Hagelin, Callahan) or a different forward. Brian Boyle plays a roll but could be moved.
Given this ^, almost anything is possible, but a smaller deal around
Olsen to NY for Boyle to CHI
is likelier than a major blockbuster
{Would Edmonton-NY throw caution to the wind and swap
Ryan Nugent Hopkins, J. Schultz, Marancin + Gernat
for
Marc Staal, Girardi, Stepan + Brian Boyle ?}
I honestly don't think the Rangers could put together anything that would get that package
THere was that rumour that EDM is set to make a "wow" trade once the new deal is in place. But really I think it's mostly going to be minor stuff like like fourth liners, cap dumps, contract number moves, AHL signings etc.
Trades will be inevitable. Teams like Buffalo, Chicago and Carolina have too many defensemen and teams like Detroit need one and have a lot of forwards to spare.
