J-Bo: Best on sheer talent of the three (definitely an offensive defenseman). Calgary fans want to get rid of him (possible red flags). The acquisition cost would be Blum and a pick.
Carle: 2nd best on sheer talent. He was the whipping boy of Flyers fans for the past few years. We would be in a bidding war for his services with other teams.
Martin: Played in a system similar to Trotz on the Devils. Struggled in Pittsburgh. Cheapest salary but oldest in terms of age. Could be the best fit.
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The problem Calgary fans have is that he certainly doesn't live up to his caphit. What he is, is a 25min a game workhorse and has a good overall game. I think it's a good fit for this team and this system, not to mention the caphit would actually help us reach the floor.
Don't want any part of Carle to be honest. I hear he's a turnover machine despite his offensive ability.
Martin wouldn't be a bad guy to get, but as usual, it comes down to price. Certainly not dealing a top-tier prospect for him.
JBo is the best option. If Blum and picks is all it takes then trade now. His cap hit is high but we have so much space it doesn't matter. That said I bet we end up with Martin though.
1. Carle - durable, can eat minutes. Won't replace Suter, but would probably come close as any other available player. Would only cost money, which we have plenty of to spend.
2. JBo - has been the best, but the way his play tailed off in Calgary has to be worrysome. Contract is huge and would cost more in $$$'s than Carle, plus you'd have to give up someone like Blum to get him. The upside is that if he regains the form he showed in Florida, and he's young enough to maybe do that, you've just landed a #1 Dman to go with Weber (or replace him)
3. Martin - an inferior player to both, might be cheapest to acquire though due to Pittsburgh wanting to dump his contract.
Carle is more of an offensive specialist than the other two. Martin would be a good fit. I'd like to go after Bouwmeester, though. I'm not as down on him as a lot of people are, and I think he could be had for a pretty good deal.
Jay Bo = overpayed trainwreck
Matt Carle = turnover machine
Hes not a train wreck hes still our best D man and our clear number 1. The reason we want him gone is the Flames are a cap team every year so we can't afford to have a guy slightly under performing his contract ( we have alot of those already). realistically if he was priced at 5 mill he would be a steal of a deal.
He just hasn't been putting up the offence he used to but he did play for a Sutter so that could be part of it too. He also isn't a physical player at all even though hes 6'3. With a different coach he could probably regain his old form. If not he is an extremely mobile and fast skater who is great playing actual defence and can get back if Weber or who ever wants to take chances with the puck, I think he would rack alot of assists on a pairing with him.
Go after J-Bo, offer up Blum plus a pick. They need the salary dump, we need a guy who can eat up minutes. The drop off from Suter to J-Bo is not that huge a leap. He would do well with Weber. If we felt Josi was ready to be paired with Weber, we can pair J-Bo with Klein and have maybe the fleetest skating second pairing in the NHL. Either way our top 4 would be solid with J-Bo.
Heck, try to sign Carle as a free agent. He's a good top 4 that would eat minutes. Could be paired with Weber or Klein.
Go after J-Bo, offer up Blum plus a pick. They need the salary dump, we need a guy who can eat up minutes. The drop off from Suter to J-Bo is not that huge a leap. He would do well with Weber. If we felt Josi was ready to be paired with Weber, we can pair J-Bo with Klein and have maybe the fleetest skating second pairing in the NHL. Either way our top 4 would be solid with J-Bo.
Heck, try to sign Carle as a free agent. He's a good top 4 that would eat minutes. Could be paired with Weber or Klein.
If the team could work out a deal beforehand, would Alex Edler interest the Preds? Probably a Top 15 defenseman in the NHL and still young. I think he could be a really nice return as part of a package for Weber if the Preds go that route, but I expect losing him to free agency next off-season would be the sticking point.
Tanev would also likely be available, and all his advanced stats look exceptionally strong.
Carle is off the market so I think we need to go all in for JayBo. Blum and a pick is more than fine with me. I'd love to see how Blum turns out with us, but we need a minute eater for this season. I'm confident Josi can be a Suter replacement in the near future, but just not comfortable putting those kind of minutes on him in only his first full season in the nhl.
Does Tobias Enstrom from the Jets interest you guys at all? $3.75 cap hit, UFA next summer. He seems to be the first guy that comes up in Jets trade rumors.
Does Tobias Enstrom from the Jets interest you guys at all? $3.75 cap hit, UFA next summer. He seems to be the first guy that comes up in Jets trade rumors.
PS sorry for losing Suter.
I think this makes a ton of sense. Being an ex-Thrasher fan, I know Enstrom very well. He could fill Sutter's shoes just fine. He eats up minutes, is solid in his own zone and plays a smart game. Sure he's small but Weber would make up for that.
Enstrom would probably cost a ton in prospects/players.
There in lies our problem. IF Weber stays, IMO, our focus is a mid-D and we go all in on a trade for a top-6. We don't have enough to get a top-D to play with Weber AND a big top-6. If Weber goes, it's what we can get in return and go from there.
It all depends on the start of Toby's season. If it's anything like last season, then I think he could be had on the cheap.
In all honesty, i think Enstrom is a better player than Suter. Pair him with someone good so he's not always havign to cover for someone else's mistakes (Read Bogosian and Byfuglien) then I think he really could shine.
The only downside to Toby is he typically plays bigger than his frame. That's all well and fine in the wide open Southeast Division, but I don't know how that would hold up in the Central.
If I were Poile, I'd drop some picks and prospects to get Toby
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