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.
let's hope the caps actually get some defensive talent this time for Bondra.
Only if it's a prospect defenseman. No point in adding anyone who will make a difference this year. Better to push for the high draft pick when you're sitting in 29th place after 50 games...
Only if it's a prospect defenseman. No point in adding anyone who will make a difference this year. Better to push for the high draft pick when you're sitting in 29th place after 50 games...
yeh lol. on that note, how avaiable is Witt? what would we have to give up? want connelly ?
yeh lol. on that note, how avaiable is Witt? what would we have to give up? want connelly ?
I would have no problems giving up Witt, though the Caps might very well disagree with me there. Both the Caps and I have little interest in Connelly, however.
Better start with Hale and go from there.... Or atleast your 1st and more....
Right....NJ would offer Hale or a 1st + ??? for Bondra when he's going to be a Group III FA in the summer. NJ needs help up front, but not at that cost.
Right....NJ would offer Hale or a 1st + ??? for Bondra when he's going to be a Group III FA in the summer. NJ needs help up front, but not at that cost.
I have a feeling he won't be dealt till deadline when they catch someone desperate.
Right....NJ would offer Hale or a 1st + ??? for Bondra when he's going to be a Group III FA in the summer. NJ needs help up front, but not at that cost.
No one is suggesting that the Devils should be making that kind of trade. Posters are merely pointing out that there are already offers on the table worth more than Berglund alone. The Caps aren't conducting an auction with the express intention of getting Bondra to the Devils; they are trying to get the most for him as is possible, regardless of where he ends up.
My guess is that Lamoriello will bow out of the bidding before it gets too crazy. He rarely overpays in deals, and this player looks to be worth an overpayment to teams that are going for it this year.
Last edited by btmarshall: 01-27-2004 at 03:33 PM.
I'm just wondering, what are some of the rumoured deals for Bondra (currently)?
Petr Shastlivy and a 1st from Ottawa. There is also rumored interest from the Maple Leafs, and possibly the Canucks, though no details that can be considered reliable. Either way, the Caps are probably going to wait until closer to the deadline.
Only if it's a prospect defenseman. No point in adding anyone who will make a difference this year. Better to push for the high draft pick when you're sitting in 29th place after 50 games...
wouldn't you rather have a developing 2nd year NHL defenseman in his early 20's,
a guy playing 5-6 that can develope into a good top 4 defenseman in 3 or 4 years,
and a draft pick that is 3 to 5 years from the NHL and 6 to 8 years from being a top 4 defenseman?
you know it takes defensemen a while to fully develope. its often 26 to 28 years of age. Hell, look at Gonchar still becoming a more complete player at 29. Yonkman will be 23 in April and will be a rookie at 25. He certainly will need time to grow after that to reach his potential. Jakub Cutta is already 23. Tim Army says that he is just now starting to understand the flow of the play and how his responsibilities play into that and what decisions he needs to make. He thinks Cutta will be ready for the NHL in a couple of years. Rookie at 25.
This year there are 4 rookie defensemen getting 18:00 or more for more than a handful of games. Hamhuis, Martin, and Exelby are 23 years old. Preissing is 26.
these players are 5 years from being drafted and are rookies. Rebuild around draft choices and you are looking at 5 to 7 years before the defensemen in that bunch are ready to contribute, much less be core team players.
wouldn't you rather have a developing 2nd year NHL defenseman in his early 20's,
a guy playing 5-6 that can develope into a good top 4 defenseman in 3 or 4 years,
and a draft pick that is 3 to 5 years from the NHL and 6 to 8 years from being a top 4 defenseman?
you know it takes defensemen a while to fully develope. its often 26 to 28 years of age. Hell, look at Gonchar still becoming a more complete player at 29. Yonkman will be 23 in April and will be a rookie at 25. He certainly will need time to grow after that to reach his potential. Jakub Cutta is already 23. Tim Army says that he is just now starting to understand the flow of the play and how his responsibilities play into that and what decisions he needs to make. He thinks Cutta will be ready for the NHL in a couple of years. Rookie at 25.
This year there are 4 rookie defensemen getting 18:00 or more for more than a handful of games. Hamhuis, Martin, and Exelby are 23 years old. Preissing is 26.
these players are 5 years from being drafted and are rookies. Rebuild around draft choices and you are looking at 5 to 7 years before the defensemen in that bunch are ready to contribute, much less be core team players.
One bad year is not enough to build a solid core. I want the Caps to deal all five stars and stack up on a talented but young and inexperienced defense, like Florida is doing right now, so that the Caps have another terrible year next season, and a bottom ten finish the season after that.
Building a really sound core of player takes that much futility. Ask the Devils, Wings and Nordiques/Avalanche about their mid- to late-1980s drafts.
I worry that adding someone who can help now will harm draft positioning. Besides, 2nd year NHL defensemen are not available. Players like Barret Jackman or Jay Bouwmeester are untouchable.
harm drafting position? you are using the panthers as a guide? alrighty then.
so you are asking for 5 to 7 years of distaster and embarressment...yes? you like rolling the dice. you assume the caps will draft well and that the players will develope. and in the mean time there is little or no way to gauge your level of success over a period of 3 to 5 years.
who is going to be buying tickets to watch that mess? who is going to be buying advertising on the tv broadcasts of the games of that team??
the devils?? the devils have missed the playoffs twice since 1987. that's 25 years ago. i wonder why they decided not to go youth and pay for it with 5 years out of the playoffs?
the devils?? the devils have missed the playoffs twice since 1987. that's 25 years ago. i wonder why they decided not to go youth and pay for it with 5 years out of the playoffs?
Don't take this the wrong way, but I think your attention span is too limited. You haven't the patience to endure some hardship for a couple of years to reap the rewards, and you haven't the memory to look back on the drafts 10 to 15 years ago that gave a team like the Devils their core. They draft well, yes, but you underrate how much of their core came to them through excellent draft positioning, whether home grown or players brought in from trades using other high Devils picks.
1987 - Brendan Shanahan, 2nd overall. He was turned into Scott Stevens from St. Louis.
1989 - Bill Guerin, 5th overall. He was turned into Jason Arnott, who was integral to a Cup in 2000. Arnott in turn was turned into Niewendyk, an integral component to last year's Cup team and playoff run.
1990 - Martin Brodeur, 20th overall. That's just great drafting there, not the result of an especially high pick. That is the exception in these years.
1991 - Scott Niedermayer, 3rd overall. He is core to this day.
1991 - Brian Rolston, 11th overall.
Yes, the NJ Devils draft very well deep into the draft, and fill the fringes with quality players, but the core of that team, the engine that made them champions is due to the fact that within a five-year period they were terrible enough to draft in the top five and draft can't miss stars. You can say then same thing concerning the Nordiques or Red Wings of roughly the same period. Consistently great drafting teams deep in the draft, today, but they were built on top-five picks in the late 1980s/early1990s.
It is that kind of run that Washington could really use right now. Whether the Capitals select Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin or Cam Barker with their first-round selection, they are going to draft a star this summer. They need to have three to five years like that to build a great core. Atlanta has been doing that lately. You laugh, but Florida has also been doing that. In another five years, that defense and overall team is going to be stacked with a wealth of talent. Florida should be a future power, if they can retain the talent they have accumulated.
I'm not saying that rebuilding is fun, but it does require a certian amount of patience and willingness to take some lumps. Building a strong team takes a lot of time.
Besides, even if you do not agree with that philosophy, that is the only avenue open to a team that is going to spend the next five years with a payroll of from $25-$30 million. The Capitals are not a freely-spending team anymore.
Petr Shastlivy and a 1st from Ottawa. There is also rumored interest from the Maple Leafs, and possibly the Canucks, though no details that can be considered reliable. Either way, the Caps are probably going to wait until closer to the deadline.
Ottawa didn't offer that, Washignton would have jumped on that in 1 second.
Vermette and the other guy was the trade rumored to go down.
Not to mention, Vermette & Pothier >> Berglund & 3rd
Pothier is nothing more then a 3rd pair dmen, something that a 3rd rounder could get quite easy.
Vermette is the same as Berglund, both stuck in organizations with lots of depth. Berglund could still become a 2nd line pest if traded soon enough. The guy has loads of skill.
i have a good attention span, but limited minutes in my day. i am a caps fan, skins fan, terps fan, orioles fan. i am not so much of a sports junkie that i watch them all all of the time. i take my limited about of time to watch sports and watch what has earned my attention. a last place caps team will earn a daily check of the box score but not full lenth games and not making my schedule around the hockey schedule.
as an out of the are fan, i have only two choices. buy all the games on center ice or see the one or two available a season on espn. if i buy them all, i will watch them all. if i dont buy them i basically wont see any.
i didnt invest a lot of time in terps football til they started to play well, but kept close enough attention to know when they got on track.
Sunday night the Caps played opposite the Maryland - Clemson basketball game.
the days of me choosing the Caps over the basketball game are coming to an end.
until which time that the Caps earn the attention back.
?
