What to do on Defence?

[Schenn Bros Pizza*]

I wouldnt be against a Cola signing....

[Rivet52]

If you guys don't try your prospects and don't make a trade and choose one of the available free agents left, I'd go with Rozsival if he's back to 100%, but that was a brutal knee he took a few months ago. He's easily the best defenseman still out there if he's healthy IMO. He can eat a lot of very nice minutes still and he had a great playoffs. Very underrated for the Coyotes last year. Plus, he's a right-handed shot and would be a hell of a lot better than playing Gervais on that right side. He'd do well with one of Gustafsson or Bourdon on your bottom-pairing.

If you sign him, you'd have both him and Meszaros. That way it'd be even harder for me to remember if the "s" or "z" comes first in both of their names.

[Gert B Frobe]

Originally Posted by YuioIklo

I'd like us to get one of Carlo, Hannan, Clark or Roszival for a 1 or 2 yrs contract.

agreed - no harm in a short term deal for any of those guys

No reason not to give Barker a tryout or even signing Eminger for that matter. Signing a 3rd pairing veteran isn't going to prevent Gustafsson, Manning or Bourdon from developing - because their will be more injuries - there always is. If they sign Hannan or Roszival then I would not be surprised to see Syvret go away.

[cdugan]

I have said this before and I'll continue to say that a Del Zotto offersheet could work out spectacularly for us because of the following reasons:

1) New York is already cash strapped with over 21 million committed to their first line alone. To make matters worse, within the next 3 seasons, Gaborik, Callahan, Boyle, Girardi, and Lundqvist all will be unrestricted free agents, causing New York to pay a higher premium to retain some of these players. Along with the UFA's, they must also sign players like Derek Stepan, Chris Krieder, Carl Hagelin, and Ryan McDonagh to deals that are considerably higher than they currently make. That's a lot of money to be paid to players many of whom will deserve considerable pay raises.

2) An offer sheet usually is a little bit higher than his perceived value. Something like 4 years, 22-24 million would be okay to me in all honesty. If we get him, the compensation wouldnt be horrible, and more importantly, if the rangers do match, you can figure they will lose 1 or 2 future stars in their prospect pool.

3) One of the biggest arguments to sending an offersheet is the fractured trade relations that would happen as a result. As division rivals, it would be so rare for them to ever trade anything of significance that it wouldnt really matter.

4) Another implication of the offersheet is the use of it as a precedent for other contracts. I feel as if the Panthers, Canadiens, Capitals, and Rangers are playing a game of chicken with their respective young defensemen. Once one domino falls, the other 3 will use it as a base for their contract. By sending a slightly overpriced offersheet, the other teams will be forking over more money to these somewhat unproven players, or possibly exploring options.

5) Should the rangers accept the compensation and we are awarded Del Zotto, we will get a young quality offensive defenseman that we could potentially pair with luke schenn for the next 10 years as a perfect offensive and defensive duo.

It may sound ridiculous, but i think its at least worth a look at this point in the offseason.