Russo thinks Fletcher is still shopping for a skilled foward. According to Russo, an offer to Petr Sykora may be the works soon. Also, Afinogenov's name has come up.
If Fletch can resolve the cap issues, do either of these players make sense for the Wild?
Personally, I am not interested in either unless Sykora would take a 1 year deal. I don't want them to count against the cap next year.
I have a lot of respect for Sykora but don't think he is the missing piece. I think we are still in the process of implementing a new system and there will be growing pains. It is better to let younger players play who will be around in a few years when, hopefully, the Wild are among the elite and we have plenty of prospect depth.
Personally, I am not interested in either unless Sykora would take a 1 year deal. I don't want them to count against the cap next year.
I have a lot of respect for Sykora but don't think he is the missing piece. I think we are still in the process of implementing a new system and there will be growing pains. It is better to let younger players play who will be around in a few years when, hopefully, the Wild are among the elite and we have plenty of prospect depth.
Yeah, that's kind of the way I see it, too. I've always liked Sykora, and wouldn't mind seeing him play for the Wild, but the price would really have to be right. He's not good enough to be a significant difference-maker, and if he's really the best we can do, I'd probably prefer keep the salary cap in our back pocket in case we get a chance to make a trade later in the season.
I've never liked Afinogenov at all. I think he's over-rated. Beautiful skater, but the production never seems to meet either the expectations or the potential. He doesn't make any sense to me at all for the Wild. A waste of money and ice time on a team that's got this many young kids to develop and evaluate.
Last edited by Wild Thing: 09-14-2009 at 10:45 PM.
Yeah, that's kind of the way I see it, too. I've always liked Sykora, and wouldn't mind seeing him play for the Wild, but the price would really have to be right. He's not good enough to be a significant difference-maker, and if he's really the best we can do, I'd probably prefer keep to salary cap in our back pocket in case we get a chance to make a trade later in the season.
Not only would he want more than what Tanguay would have wanted (safe to assume probably around 3-4.5M/yr). But he also is starting to hit injury plagued years and had his first EVER hat trick of his career last season. We want scoring, not just another high name player to help sell tickets that will always be sold out anyways.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wild Thing
I've never liked Afinogenov at all. I think he's over-rated. Beautiful skater, but the production never seems to meet either the expectations or the potential. He doesn't make any sense to me at all for the Wild. A waste of money and ice time on a team that's got this many young kids to develop and evaluate.
To be fair, he became a bastardchild of Buffalo and was moved off lines that involved him with Vanek, Roy, Briere and that hurt his numbers pretty hard. Given a chance and a contract of like $2M wouldn't be a bad thing and I think he would take a low contract because playing to him is more important than it is to us because he wants his stock to go back up.
Maybe you know him better than I do, but from what I've seen of him, he's never really met expectations. It's not just the last couple of years. Only 3 seasons has he ever potted more than 20 goals, and I think he's only topped 50 points twice. He gets tons of chances with his speed and his explosive moves, but he just doesn't convert. Coughs up the puck a lot, too.
I just don't get the big deal about him; I think he's over-rated because people are mesmerized by his speed and his moves. Bottom line is production. Don't matter how pretty it looks if it don't go in the net. To me, he's just a somewhat better version of Richard Park.
Maybe you know him better than I do, but from what I've seen of him, he's never really met expectations. It's not just the last couple of years. Only 3 seasons has he ever potted more than 20 goals, and I think he's only topped 50 points twice. He gets tons of chances with his speed and his explosive moves, but he just doesn't convert. Coughs up the puck a lot, too.
I just don't get the big deal about him; I think he's over-rated because people are mesmerized by his speed and his moves. Bottom line is production. Don't matter how pretty it looks if it don't go in the net. To me, he's just a somewhat better version of Richard Park.
Same Richard Park that helped us beat the Av's in 2003?? It only takes one player with the fines (sp?) to put one in the back of the net to win the game. But I will agree with you in a sense that we need to stop doing bad contracts though as well. However, at a league min. that we can pay him....its a lot better than us basically relying on players who, to be honest, have no business playing 40+ games in the NHL at this time. But that is just my opinion as well
Although his stats don't seem to indicate it, it seems to me that Sykora is in a free fall down to the NHL unemployment line. He scored 25 goals last year with Pittsburgh, but during the playoffs he only played 7 games. I heard he had a bum
shoulder, but I it looked like the Pens had no rush to get him back in the lineup as he appeared to be sitting out as a healthy scratch. Unless the guy plans to get in super condition for this season I can't see him contributing in thsi league much longer.
Although his stats don't seem to indicate it, it seems to me that Sykora is in a free fall down to the NHL unemployment line. He scored 25 goals last year with Pittsburgh, but during the playoffs he only played 7 games. I heard he had a bum
shoulder, but I it looked like the Pens had no rush to get him back in the lineup as he appeared to be sitting out as a healthy scratch. Unless the guy plans to get in super condition for this season I can't see him contributing in thsi league much longer.
From what I remember during the finals, they were keeping him as a healthy scratch because the lines were meshing so well and they didn't want to bring him back into the equation and knock someone else out that was contributing. He still got his name on the cup again, so I don't really think he cares. He's had a great career with where he's played and stuff. Just hard for people to bite on someone who really has only seen great numbers considering he was playing with two of the best centers in the league.
Although his stats don't seem to indicate it, it seems to me that Sykora is in a free fall down to the NHL unemployment line. He scored 25 goals last year with Pittsburgh, but during the playoffs he only played 7 games. I heard he had a bum
shoulder, but I it looked like the Pens had no rush to get him back in the lineup as he appeared to be sitting out as a healthy scratch. Unless the guy plans to get in super condition for this season I can't see him contributing in thsi league much longer.
We are not sure if it was the system, or if his hands left him. Getting him is a huge risk, and considering your new headcoach plays an offensive style, you may be ripping your hair out if he joins the Wild.
We are not sure if it was the system, or if his hands left him. Getting him is a huge risk, and considering your new headcoach plays an offensive style, you may be ripping your hair out if he joins the Wild.
From what I understand, it would be a one-year deal for about 1.1 million. If that's true, I can definitely live with it. I was thinking 1 year for a 1 million would be perfect, so this is about as good as one could hope for, IMO. It doesn't break the bank, it doesn't hamper us at all next season, and if it works, it's great value for the money.
Plus, it raises the bar a bit for the Houston kids - they can still earn a spot on the team, but it just got a little bit tougher, and they'll have to work that much harder to get it. Puts the team in a somewhat stronger position regarding the youngsters; we don't need them quite as badly as we would have without Sykora. Nicely done, Fletch.
