U think u guys hang on to Richards?
I know u have a bunch of guy due pretty decent raises after next year
Unless the cap goes up significantly,
I think you'll have to get creative if u wanna keep Richards as well?
- jdfitz77

now with AV as coach, i think we might hold onto him this season to see if he can refind his game under a coach that doesn't stress so much defense first and allows his players to create offensively instead of just grinding behind the net. i think it's inevitable that he gets bought out next offseason if it's not this offseason because we simply can't afford to have that cap hit later on down the line. management will need to decide if it's worth risking have richards around for the season because if he gets injured, he can't be bought out next offseason and we'll be stuck with him.

next offseason though literally like all our team are FA. i think we'll have over 40M in cap space but have guys like lundqvist, girardi, callahan, etc. to resign.

in terms of being creative....trade richards to tampa for lecav. tampa buys out richards, we buy out lecav (lecav's buyout would cost significantly more). resign richards for 4M per.

Hahahaha...
To answer your question from the last blog...


The deal, on paper, by itself, is a good hockey trade.

But why in the world would LA want Ott or Ennis over Brown? Would you? I wouldn't. Not to mention giving up their insurance policy should Quick get hurt.

It doesn't make any sense.
- Powerslave



Bc Brown is due a HUGE raise after this season, and they already have a bunch of big contracts they are locked into...
Quick, Doughty, Richards, Carter & Kopitar

Ott, is similar to Brown in style (w/out the scoring), but much cheaper
What they lose in scoring, they make up w by getting Ennis
They can't afford to pay Bernier either, he's getting traded
So they get back a good prospect in Makarov, that can back up Quick in a year or two and be fairly cheap for quite a while... They'd just need to sign a cheap vet for a year or two
And the 16th is valuable in a deep draft in which they traded away their 1st rounder

Makes sense to me... For both sides...
Does this clarify things?
- jdfitz77

Crystal clear, Dean Lombardi.

maybe now but when datsyuk was in his prime and even just last season, he was certainly in crosby's class.
- rangerdanger94

I understand how good datsyuk is but he's not close to crosby yes maybe in his prime

Crystal clear, Dean Lombardi.


- Powerslave

i don't think ennis fits into the kings' mold. all the kings players are big character guys that can bang the body and score. ennis can score but he's not big and not physical and i'm not sure if he's a good character guy like an ott, brown, or callahan.

being honest, i don't watch hall enough to tell you if you've got your blinders on or not for sure. imo, from what i've seen, hall is just about to enter the third tier but isn't quite there yet this season. he will be though next season or the season after. but again, that's just going off what i've seen from him. not sure he can really compete with guys like JT and stamkos and what not until he's a few years older and his body has filled out and he's stronger.

but i understand where you're coming from. when you watch a player every single game of the season, you know their talent level a lot more than fans of other teams. i feel the same way about mcdonagh when i say i wouldn't trade him for weber or chara and everyone laughs at me.
- rangerdanger94

i don't have blinders on. im as glass is half empty as they come.

hall is dominant and is way underrated. another top ten in scoring next year and a playoff birth would go a long way in changing that though

Giroux Class C
Stamkos Class B
Datsyuk Class B
- FLYERSROCK!

Giroux is with kane and toews In class D

Easiest way to suck next year is leave all these players drafted in juniors or whatever league they are in. Move Miller and if Vanek doesn't want to stay then move him to. Get as many 1st rounders this year and the rebuild could be very quick.
- SabresFan73

Heck yeah
And Id leave Girgensons, Armia & Larsson in Rochester this year as well
Grigorenko, Tropp & McNabb are the only new additions I want on the roster as far as the young guys go
Bring back Sulzer &/or Pardy depending on if we move another defenseman or not

Hang on to Stafford bc we aren't gonna get anything of value for him right now... If we could really get Burmistrov for him I think that deal would've happened already... Let's just hope he bounces back (he can't be as bad as last year, right?) and we can get something decent at the deadline

Leino stays too. We can always buy him out next offseason, and he did look ok when he was actually in the line-up... Plus, we'll need him to get to the floor

Gerbe & McCormick also on the Sabres again
Yeah, it'll be a rough season...
But in the long run,
It will be very beneficial to suck for a really high pick and let our youth get eased into their roles at a good pace
Having those guys in Rochester getting 20min a night and playing in all situations will be better for them than 3rd line minutes here

i don't have blinders on. im as glass is half empty as they come.

hall is dominant and is way underrated. another top ten in scoring next year and a playoff birth will go a long way in changing that though
- hugefemale dog77

playoff birth is huge for sure. that's where players play on the national stage and have a chance to make a name for themselves throughout the entire league. love watching the oilers play and i hope you guys make the playoffs so i can see the kids like nuge and hall and schultz and yak and eberle play on national tv.

Giroux is with kane and toews In class D
- gerbe75pts

elite talent shoots all the way down to class D/E???

what class is a dude like pyatt in then? double Z?

i don't think ennis fits into the kings' mold. all the kings players are big character guys that can bang the body and score. ennis can score but he's not big and not physical and i'm not sure if he's a good character guy like an ott, brown, or callahan.
- rangerdanger94

As a sabres fan, I would trade ennis for a used bag of pucks, he terrible. Hes never heard of the corners. Half his goals are backdoor passes from Vanek,

the oilers don't want miller. they have a younger goalie, with a better contract, that had better numbers behind a worse defence.
not saying dubnyk is better than miller, but with all things considered he's a better fit for the oilers.

plus, goalie is like our 5th most pressing need. we'll look for a cheaper backup or someone to push dubs, but that's it.

we'll be using our most tradeable assets (7th etc) to acquire other pieces. namely a top 4 defencemen or size in the top 6 etc.

u want our 7th? myers is the guy we're interested in

7+ for myers
- hugefemale dog77

myers?

You'll still have one of the worst defenses in the league and miss the playoffs for how many consecutive years?

totally disagree. datyuk is.

read an article where a ton of nhl'ers think datysuk is the best player in the game. ill try and find the link
- hugefemale dog77

I don't need to see the article a healthy sidney crosby nobody is better

As a sabres fan, I would trade ennis for a used bag of pucks, he terrible. Hes never heard of the corners. Half his goals are backdoor passes from Vanek,
- Djtyczy

You must be talking about hodgson? vanek doesnt play on the same line as ennis

I don't need to see the article a healthy sidney crosby nobody is better
- gerbe75pts

at scoring points, yes crosby is the best player in the nhl. but datsyuk has other aspects to his game that crosby doesn't have like the hands and finesse and the defense. those can arguably balance him out with crosby.

oh and off topic but
@TSNBobMcKenzie: While some minor contract details are still to be finalized, Alain Vigneault has an agreement to be NYR head coach.

I don't need to see the article a healthy sidney crosby nobody is better
- gerbe75pts

Thats the problem. when is he ever healthy?

Crystal clear, Dean Lombardi.


- Powerslave

Grrrrrrrrrr
Haha

I just really want Brown & Bernier
But for LA to move them, they are gonna want a healthy return
I thought that might at least be the basis for a deal both teams could live with

elite talent shoots all the way down to class D/E???

what class is a dude like pyatt in then? double Z?
- rangerdanger94

C .


A . sidney crosby
B malkin , Stamkos ,JT ovechkin, datsyuk,
C kane , giroux, toews, St. Louis

etc ..


pyatt at z sounds about right

i don't think ennis fits into the kings' mold. all the kings players are big character guys that can bang the body and score. ennis can score but he's not big and not physical and i'm not sure if he's a good character guy like an ott, brown, or callahan.
- rangerdanger94

That's prob true...
That's why I also had Ott in that deal though, to replace what they lose by dealing Brown

elite talent shoots all the way down to class D/E???

what class is a dude like pyatt in then? double Z?
- rangerdanger94

Class A(HL)

C .


A . sidney crosby
B malkin , Stamkos ,JT ovechkin, datsyuk,
C kane , giroux, toews, St. Louis

etc ..


pyatt at z sounds about right

- gerbe75pts

where would you put a guy like Evander Kane? is he C or still a D at this point in his career?

C .


A . sidney crosby
B malkin , Stamkos ,JT ovechkin, datsyuk,
C kane , giroux, toews, St. Louis

etc ..


pyatt at z sounds about right

- gerbe75pts

-_-
Come on
JT Class C. He isn't better than Giroux.

Class A(HL)
- eichiefs9

so he'd be an islander

-_-
Come on
JT Class C. He isn't better than Giroux.
- FLYERSROCK!

JT > giroux

where would you put a guy like Evander Kane? is he C or still a D at this point in his career?
- rangerdanger94

F. He prob should just quit.

You must be talking about hodgson? vanek doesnt play on the same line as ennis
- alexthegr8

No they played pp together and ennis took pommers spot at the end of the year.