According to the Satellite Hotstove, Atlanta made a pitch to trade for Sami Kapanen from Philly, apparently he refused to waive his no trade clause.
Does anyone else think that the guy is a complete idiot? Play for Atlanta, #1 in the southeast, or play for Philly, the absolute worst team in the league...
I can't believe you guys are against Forsberg coming here.
He doesn't miss playoff games, and that's all we'd need him for.
I didn't like the idea when it was first thrown around a few months ago but I'd go for it now. If we could get him for a first/Coburn/ and one of these other useless defensemen we have, it'd be a good deal for us. Hartley isn't going to play Coburn for the rest of the year anyway, no reason to keep him here.
I can't believe you guys are against Forsberg coming here.
He doesn't miss playoff games, and that's all we'd need him for.
I'm not strongly against it, in fact as I already said if I wrote to me from the future and said hey he WILL stay healthy I'd be all for it... but both things are not likely to happen... All that said Forsberg is a fantastic player...
We can't afford to give up prospects for a guy that's gonna end up getting injured, it just isn't worth it. I'd be much happier sending a pick and a roster player for someone like Bryan Smolinski.
I really think the time is now for the Thrashers. They may want to just 'wet their feet' this time 'round and go for the big push next year, but either way the window is small. This team is not built well but the last thing anybody wants is another rebuild; DW & BH have to work with what they've got before it's too late.
We can't keep Kozlov, Kovalchuk, Hossa, Lehtonen and Holik together forever. I'm hoping Slava sticks around but this core has only got one more year after this one left. With those 4 forwards we're always going to be atleast above-average offensively - and outside of the powerplay, all in all they have been. Goaltending is always going to be sweet with Kari in net.
Defense though, is the big problem. Sure we all love to hate on every defensemen we've got this year, but is it going to get any better in the future? Even next year, who knows what our defense core will look like - it'll either be a very young defense core or one that was built through free agency. Neither are traditionally successful routes. Coburn has impressed me a lot this year, but losing him to gain a Forsberg isn't the worst thing in the world in the grand scheme of things.
Slight tangent here, but I think our current defense will sort itself out this season. Sutton will get back into the swing of things, and he will solidify the rest of 'em. Plus he was clutch last year, so here's hoping that's a yearly theme with him. Havelid's game will improve if/when Sutton gets back to his usual self.. And then finally Devo & co. can have some slightly reduced, slightly easier minutes. It's not perfect, but I don't think it's going to get any better in the forseeable future.
So in my opinion, our time is now. Getting a Forsberg would solve every problem our offense has got. We've either got the best line the NHL has seen in years (Kozlov-Forsberg-Hossa), the best duo the NHL has seen in years (Kovalchuk-Forsberg), or we could have 3 seperate superstar lines - what a luxury that would be.
The last thing we want is to toil in the playoffs-but-never-a-cup mediocrity for years on end, which is where I see this franchise heading. Yes, we probably don't quite have enough pieces to go for it all now, but keeping our relatively mediocre prospects isn't going to help us any either. The team was not built the best way to win a cup, we all know that, but we need to make the push now and just hope for the best. Smolinski isn't going to put this team over the edge.. But who knows what magic the Kovalchuk-Hossa-Forsberg trio could pull off.
I agree with what Lethonen32 is saying. This team isn't built correctly and it'd probably be best to tear it all down and start over again but that isn't going to happen. I don't know if Forsberg can take us to a cup but I'm starting to wonder if we can make the playoffs without him. We are only 8 points or so in front of 9th place. A late first, defensive prospect and roster player isn't a lot to give up.
I would like to add Visnovsky and Smolinski. If we get Forsberg, which I would love, I don't think we'll get a PP QB that we need. I think we stand a decent chance of resigning Visnovsky if we can get him. I say trade DeVo and Vishnovsky is we can and get what you can back. Pair Coburn with Hnidy on the 3rd pair for the rest of the season and bring Popovic up to be the 7th defenseman.
NHL.com is now reporting Toronto has no interest in trading Sundin, for what that's worth. Then again, Nick Saban said he had no interest in leaving the Dolphins to coach Alabama...
I would like to add Visnovsky and Smolinski. If we get Forsberg, which I would love, I don't think we'll get a PP QB that we need.
If we get Forsberg, we don't need a powerplay QB. He can run the powerplay from the halfboards if need be. Adding yet another puckhandler to that lot (Kovalchuk, Kozlov, Hossa and Forsberg) is almost overkill. I'm not saying it wouldn't help, but I think bringing in a Forsberg would be all that this PP needs to be a strength again. I'm sure Kozlov could be a pretty good QB if we no longer needed him on the half boards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shameus
I think we stand a decent chance of resigning Visnovsky if we can get him. I say trade DeVo and Vishnovsky is we can and get what you can back. Pair Coburn with Hnidy on the 3rd pair for the rest of the season and bring Popovic up to be the 7th defenseman.
I think that we be a pretty solid defensive core with a lot of young help in Chicago if we need it.
We do this every year, whether it be Chara, Foote, Rafalski, Gonchar, Hamrlik, etc.. But the most we ever get is a Jaroslav Modry signing. This year more so than any other, I don't think the Thrashers can afford to bring in a top pairing dman as well as keep Sutton & Kozlov around.
Sutton is the type of defensemen who will get a multi year $3.5m+ per deal thrown at him by another team. If we keep him, his cap hit will be at least $3.5m (and if we let Sutton go, we risk ending up with nothing - a Havelid-Coburn #1 pairing? - or grossly overpaying for a Markov/Visnovsky type of player).
That would have the total payroll flirting with $30mil with only Kovalchuk, Hossa, Holik, Rucchin, Niko, Havelid, Sutton, Coburn and the goalies signed. That would leave us needing 4 top six forwards, 3 bottom six forwards, and 3 decent defensemen + depth players for, depending on the self-imposed cap, around $10-$16m. A Kozlov signing will take a fair chunk out of that, and top-six forwards and good defensemen certainly don't come cheap.
All the cap calculations look better minus Rucchin, mind you. Ditto if Coburn and Popovic are truly ready for a fair amount of minutes next year, given how cheap they are.
And I don't think simply replacing Sutton with a better and more-expensive defensemen is the answer. If this defense core is really going to improve, we need to replace the weakest links - not the strongest.
Perrault? Nah..the Coyotes are trying to resign him.
Maybe Nagy or Doan?
Prepared to be bent over, abused, then shanked and left for dead if you attempt to trade for Doan. I can't and don't want to imagine what Barnett's asking price is.
Nagy? Doable
Perreault? Very doable, for the right price
How expendable are:
1st rounder
Pavelec
Little
Sterling
