No history of winning???
- Pecafan Fan

In the NHL. When not playing behind one of the best assemblies of talent imaginable(and still being the reason they went to overtime)

exactly.

people figured OVI out, just like they will nail.

i have a feeling that this will be the first big pickup edmonton has done that they will not be thrilled with.
- Neiler

at least they have RNH to rave about

Come on, he was exactly 1 Crosby away from giving the world one of the biggest chokes in Olympic history.
- Feeling Glucky?

As much as I love Lu bashing, I don't think you can say that a guy who took you to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals "choked" that year.

The entire team came up small in the final game. Hanging that on Lu lets a lot of Canucks off the hook.

Also, if you get rid of Reimer in the process, then the cap hit on Luongo is actually just over 2 million. Is Luongo not worth the 2 million as a solid upgrade over Reimer?
- faceto27

No. Not at the price of cap screwing the franchise for the 8 years after his decent, not spectacular, 2 more years of play. How old is he at the end of this season? 34 or 35? You do realize that statistically that's the end of the line for most goalies? In fact, that's past the end of the line for most goalies. It is very unlikely you're getting a good goalie for more than a couple of years.

Bwa ha ha ha ha!

My guess is that the deep thinkers making up the CBA never thought about all the scenarios.

Wouldn't that be great to see?

Although I'm guessing they would just keep him on the roster - don't know if there is any rule that you have to actually hang around the team.
- Atomic Wedgie

Another fun fact -- Rangers taking a $5.6M cap hit for Redden. Leafs on the hook for $100,000 for Orr.

kessel scored 38 with bozak/connolly as his center, and 35 playing with joey crabb and bozak a couple of years ago..

not saying ovechkin isnt a scoring machine, but hes not the same player that scored 55-65 goals a couple of years back because hes become predictable
- peddy-93

I agree that he's not the same, although he's still an elite player, obviously.

I don't know if it's predictability or his body breaking down. I have a feeling Ovie will be one of those players who burns hot and bright during his prime and disappears around 34-35.

Still a lot of questions about how that rule will really work. Mirtle has said he's going to wait till he gets more info because the descriptions don't make a lot of sense. For example, as it is described, Nashville would get a $30M cap hit if Weber retires one year early.
- Canada Cup

I don't know if that's what Mirtle actually said or not, but that's completely wrong.

As much as I love Lu bashing, I don't think you can say that a guy who took you to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals "choked" that year.

The entire team came up small in the final game. Hanging that on Lu lets a lot of Canucks off the hook.
- Atomic Wedgie

Ok, that's fair.

However, those 2 shutouts were kinda overshadowed by the 23 goals he let in in the other 5 games.

Another fun fact -- Rangers taking a $5.6M cap hit for Redden. Leafs on the hook for $100,000 for Orr.
- Canada Cup

It seems Burke did an excellent job of positioning the Leafs to come out of the lockout in good shape on the cap front.

Unfortunately, I'd rather be loaded with talent and have cap problems.

kessel scored 38 with bozak/connolly as his center, and 35 playing with joey crabb and bozak a couple of years ago..

not saying ovechkin isnt a scoring machine, but hes not the same player that scored 55-65 goals a couple of years back because hes become predictable
- peddy-93

or Mike Green isn't in the lineup or is really struggling. See Jason Spezza without premier offensive d-men, and with offensive d-men. hint chara years and Karlson this past season.

IF Luongo is the plan, Burke just needs to stay the course and remain patient. Not only will the price continue to drop, but it will give the Leafs a better idea of how to proceed with Luongo and more importantly into next summers draft and free agency.

Seriously, would anyone be upset if Luongo didn't end up with the Leafs?

IMO, given the shortened season and Carlyle's first full year, I think Burke has a pass this season. It's NEXT season when the pressure is on.
- As_I_See_It

this. exactly.

if Burke can get Luongo on the cheap - which being honest - is exactly what's going to happen after Gillis "blusters" for a while about it...

Gillis has put himself, through careful FA signings and contracts like Luongo's into a really crappy position. Ballard, Bieksa, Hamhius and now Ballard each at about 4.5M.... and the latent contracts of players such as Booth. Gillis must realize he has no leverage in trade talks, because lacks the ability to sign even Edler, let alone the other 5-6 players he needs.

I would suggest an offer that allows/provides Gillis some CAP relief long term might work. I love the fact that this is reasonable given the situation that Gillis has put himself in with those signings and the Canucklehead fans hate it.

Luongo, Edler, Booth, Lapierre
Leafs eat Luongo's contract - WHICH READ this Canuck fans - is R I D I C U L O U S. Because his contract IS bad, he has no trade value. This is does not make him a a bad goalie, a bad guy, ugly , good looking, a great chef or anything else - it just means he has no trade value. In fact his contract means he has negative trade value - meaning you are going to have to pay to get rid of him.

Edler can't fit into the Canucks current salary structure and screwed up CAP structure (thanks to Mr. Gillis brilliant management - signing Ballard, Hamhouse and Garrisson is successive seasons) Get some value by recouping Gunnarsson in return.

Booth, Leafs don't need or want Booth, however its the cost of shipping lazy Connolly out west. Booth has a chance to work (remember that four letter word) at getting a forward ice position in Toronto, where he will be more of a natural fit as an America (which Burke loves) and being from the Detroit area he may consider it a good move getting closer to home

Lapierre would be hilarious playing in the Leaf-Habs games... eyes wide open.

and no - the Leafs don't want Raymond even for free.

Leafs take on large CAP liability 5.3M average in Luongo but get a frontline goalier (yes with all the age related risks)
Leafs take on what will likely be a 5M CAP hit in Edler for likely a 3 or 4 year deal(I'm just guessing)
Leafs take on Booth, who if he tanks/stinks in Toronto could be a buyout target come summer 2013.
Leafs take on Lapierre - just for fun.

Leafs get starting goalie, 2/3 line forward with some offensive potential and a great passport, a top 2/3 defender with size and a nut-case 4th line grinder.



Komisarek, Gunnarson, Connolly, MacArthur, Gysbers and Scrivens
Canucks get Komisarek's CAP hit as a short term partial offset for Luongo's crazy deal.
Gunnarson is a very reliable much less expensive d-man than Edler.
Connolly is on the last of year of his contract - so no CAP hit in the reduced CAP hit era... and gets a chance to prove himself where is not asked to be the #1 center, which he is not capable of being.
Gysbers gives the Canucks a younger player with some offensive upside - injury call up potental.
Scrivens, obvious back-up to Corey "all-world" Schneider. It doesn't matter how good or bad Scrivens turns out to be.. simply because Schneider will play all the games anyway. If Luongo is dealt, Schneider's performance will determine whether Gillis stays or gets canned.
MacArthur provides hard work (generally), decent scoring option at a lower cost than Booth.

Canucks get salary CAP relief and escape the mess they made with the #1 goalie situation - which is all Canuck's managements making. Both the CAP and the goalie situation. Canucks get what should be a good back-up goalie, a good 3-4 reliable, minute eating defender who can pass the puck (although he's going to have to learn to dive to play for the Canucks), a decent scorer in MacArthur who's capable of playing 2/3 line role, a young prospect depth defender, Connolly the enigma for at least this season - and the unbounded joy of watching Schneider struggle playing behind Komisarek.

Gillis can complain about it - but he should take it. He's not getting high draft picks or highly ranked prospects.

hes just lucky he never really had to play against scott stevens...
- peddy-93

I don't think Stevens would of had that much of an effect on Ovie.....

No, Schneider's numbers look a lot better... but I agree with sticking with Reimer. He's been injured, and played on a terrible defensive team and is still young... how about we see what he can do given more optimal conditions before 5 million a year for the next decade for a goalie(with some pretty glaring choking tendencies) who is already into his 30's, has no history of winning, can become a cap burden if he decides to retire, can't be waived if he starts to suck, and has lost his job to a rookie that's yet to play a full season.

And yea, he's been in the top-10 on a fairly regular basis in terms of sv%... but we're talking about fractions of percentage points that differentiate top-10 from bottom-10.
- Feeling Glucky?

wrong.

or Mike Green isn't in the lineup or is really struggling. See Jason Spezza without premier offensive d-men, and with offensive d-men. hint chara years and Karlson this past season.
- mykokes

Spezza doesnt do the same moves 5 times a game, and im not saying ovechkin cant score a ton of goals, hes still an elite scorer.. but not the same scorer he was before, stamkos has taken his reign

"CapGeek ‏@capgeek

It appears Wade Redden would count at $5.6M against #NYRangers cap if buried in minors: $6.5M-$900K. Impact:"

No. Not at the price of cap screwing the franchise for the 8 years after his decent, not spectacular, 2 more years of play. How old is he at the end of this season? 34 or 35? You do realize that statistically that's the end of the line for most goalies? In fact, that's past the end of the line for most goalies. It is very unlikely you're getting a good goalie for more than a couple of years.
- prock

In Lu's defense, he's not "most goalies". And I'm not necessarily a fan of picking him up for anything more than a song.

Belfour, Joseph, Brodeur, Hasek, Roy, and even Roloson (who isn't anywhere near the same level as those guys) played very well into their late 30's.

I don't think Stevens would of had that much of an effect on Ovie.....


- mykokes

are you seriously comparing gauthier to stevens? should i bring out the stevens hit on lindros video?

wrong.
- Barx

I'm sorry, I forgot about all his cup wins.

Come on, he was exactly 1 Crosby away from giving the world one of the biggest chokes in Olympic history.
- Feeling Glucky?

Umm no the D was.
Crosby fanned on the shot.

the biggest choke occured in Nagano.

Time to come back to reality and give credit where it is due.

I don't know if that's what Mirtle actually said or not, but that's completely wrong.
- prock

Yeah, that seems wrong.

Here's how Friedman explains it:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/...-hurt-roberto-luongo.html

Here's Weber's bizarre salary:

http://www.capgeek.com/player/1042

I'm going to screw around on Excel and see if I can figure out what the cap punishment would be for retiring early, but I'd say there's about a 20% chance I get it right.

Spezza doesnt do the same moves 5 times a game, and im not saying ovechkin cant score a ton of goals, hes still an elite scorer.. but not the same scorer he was before, stamkos has taken his reign
- peddy-93

Can't wait until Stamkos loses those 20 PPG's from the slide pass from St. Louis for a one-timer from the left circle and we all roast Stammer if he gets 38 goals and places 5th in scoring some year.

I don't think Stevens would of had that much of an effect on Ovie.....


- mykokes

Who the (frank) is Denis Gauthier compared to Scott Stevens.

He had him lined up, but in the end, hes just a French-Canadian.

I'm sorry, I forgot about all his cup wins.
- Feeling Glucky?

Oh so we only want goalies with cups.
Ok, no problem.

I don't think Stevens would of had that much of an effect on Ovie.....
- mykokes

Not many guys today would survive Scott Stevens, provided we are talking about late 90's rules.

He was running over chumps back when players were taught to keep their heads up. Can you imagine the field day he'd be having now?