I'm not gonna sit here and try to say that Bailey is a good player because he's not. But he has more trade value than I think you're giving him credit for. $3.3M is more than a manageable cap hit these days. His advanced numbers are good, he can very easily be inserted onto a 3rd line to provide solid defensive play and chip in a little bit of offense.

Do I think he's going to fetch us some amazing defenseman? Of course not. But I think he's a little more than a "throw-in" in a trade.
- eichiefs9

Please indulge us on how??

If no trade was made, would anyone agree or disagree about maybe bringing in Volchenkov and/or Butler on D??? Or somebody defensive like them??

I wouldn't mind if on the cheap and waive whoever extra on team ( just in case ppl say we have to many D-signed )

Please indulge us on how??
- kasperrko

That's what the entire rest of that paragraph does. Did you just stop reading and hit "quote" when you read that?

If no trade was made, would anyone agree or disagree about maybe bringing in Volchenkov and/or Butler on D??? Or somebody defensive like them??

I wouldn't mind if on the cheap and waive whoever extra on team ( just in case ppl say we have to many D-signed )
- Ur Not Me

Trade has to be made we have 16 forwards

Trade has to be made we have 16 forwards
- Dan Petriw

Yup, and none of the remaining UFA defensemen are upgrades or top 4. Has to be by trade.

God help me if Bailey is on this team in October. Titties on a bull.
- Charlie21

screen door on submarine......

Trade has to be made we have 16 forwards
- Dan Petriw

The minor one of McDonald could be waived, Lee could start in Bport, there are options, Boulton could get waived, remember McDonald/Boulton loss will not hurt this team. Plus they could get traded for late draft picks to help another team fill bottom roles. Anything is possible.
Plus if waived, not sure that any team would even claim them...

Lets see how the season goes before we use the foot in the mouth scenario
- kasperrko

you of all people should know im not referring to the season, im referring to the unnecessary and premature bashing of snow less than 2 hours into free agency...you could admit you were wrong. do it. its liberating.

you of all people should know im not referring to the season, im referring to the unnecessary and premature bashing of snow less than 2 hours into free agency...you could admit you were wrong. do it. its liberating.
- LetsGoIsles

So is the nude beach.

screen door on submarine......
- Nolanders

XxNYIxX

XxNYIxX
- XxNYIxX

DOES HE USE FLEXSEAL?????

XxNYIxX
- XxNYIxX

hey we got a B+ so far in free agency...
http://bleacherreport.com...rly-grades-for-every-team

The minor one of McDonald could be waived, Lee could start in Bport, there are options, Boulton could get waived, remember McDonald/Boulton loss will not hurt this team. Plus they could get traded for late draft picks to help another team fill bottom roles. Anything is possible.
Plus if waived, not sure that any team would even claim them...
- Ur Not Me

while this is all true...it seems inefficient and bad asset management to have JT, Grabo, Neilsen, Cizikas, Strome, Nelson, Bailey all down the middle (potentially)

As for trades, its hard to say the "order" or who would be best to be dealt without knowing the return....i do believe Frans has the most value right now and WONT get more valuable, therefore i think he brings back the best return. Grabner has intangibles that cant be taught, speed, which if taken into consideration is huge in my opinion, no need to look any further than the playoffs to see that speed kills. bailey would be selling low; the gamble is that if he doesnt revive his career this coming season, his value will be even lower and may become an immovable object.

with clutterbuck on the roster, as much as i like him matt martin has become expendable...if packaged in a deal with donovan and a late round pick for boychuk, it may be enough to get it done.

Grabner's best ability, and the reason I've been probably his biggest fan on this board, is his ability to get the play going in the other direction in a hurry, and seemingly out of nowhere. He's one of the few players we have who plays well in the neutral zone and creates turnovers there...often while everyone else is backing up at mach 5 into their own goalie.

I wouldn't be too eager to trade him, or Frans for that matter. I think it's a bit crazy how Frans is thrown into virtually every proposal here for any defenseman. I'd say he's the most valuable forward after Tavares...even more so than KO. I think KO is far better in some aspects of the game for sure, but Nielsen is more versatile.

All that said, I don't think either of those guys is untouchable. I'm just not kicking them out the door for any defenseman. If a team is really cap-strapped, maybe see if Bailey and one or two of the 650 defensive prospects we have can fetch something worthwhile. Martin, at only a $1m cap hit, might be attractive if packaged with the right prospect...maybe not for an all-star D, but for a decent one who is perhaps overpaid.

I can see where Frans would get a lot of demand though...for all he brings to the table at a $2.75m cap hit...

edit -- I concede that Grabner is prone to a lazy play or two here or there that makes you smack your head, but I think the good far outweighs the bad.
- UIF

I'm not trying to minimize Fransy's importance to the team but for arguments sake, I'd say that as a second line center and key penalty killer, Frans plays the second most important role on the team so naturally he'd appear to be our second most valuable forward. That said, I think there are other forwards with better suited skillsets to his role as the second line center. As many have admitted, including yourself, Frans is a better fit and third line center than second. When looking at this team now, I think Frans is more expendable than ever.

Now I'm not suggesting we start knocking on doors looking for the first taker, but it would seem to me that Frans is at a 'sell high' point in a position that could be potentially upgraded.

While I don't see the need to rush into a deal and I like both Grabovski and Kulemin(I said a couple days prior that either or would be a good target for snow)we need a defenseman. Preferably a veteran one. Both of those guys are for the most part defensively responsible and will help quite a bit imo but we need help on our blue line. Halak and Johnson help our D but they will be hung out to dry without a stabilizing d man on our blue line.
- Cptmjl

I agree that we need that position filled, but I do think this present roster makes the playoffs even without a defensive upgrade. So from that standpoint, I'm more than willing to take it slow in finding that dman.

I also would like to have a small sample size to see how guys like Reinhart, Czurczman and even Mayfield look with more time, since all three are capable of filling that type of shutdown role (someday). The better they look, the better our leverage in trade possibilities. Now certainly if a favorable deal comes along, we can't pass it up, but we now have no need to rush.

hey we got a B+ so far in free agency...
http://bleacherreport.com...rly-grades-for-every-team
- Nolanders

Found this part funny..... Significant losses: Evgeni Nabokov, Radek Martinek

Found this part funny..... Significant losses: Evgeni Nabokov, Radek Martinek


- Ur Not Me

Plus Martinek is lacing up for one more run with the ISles

you of all people should know im not referring to the season, im referring to the unnecessary and premature bashing of snow less than 2 hours into free agency...you could admit you were wrong. do it. its liberating.
- LetsGoIsles

Well to my defense I was not on the boards 2 hours after so no I am not wrong

DOES HE USE FLEXSEAL?????
- eichiefs9

Who doesn't??

XxNYIxX

That's what the entire rest of that paragraph does. Did you just stop reading and hit "quote" when you read that?
- eichiefs9

Yes my bad. Bailey is my next target on this team. Dp is gone and Andrew MAcdonald is gone. He the next piece of monkey trash that needs to go

Yes my bad. Bailey is my next target on this team. Dp is gone and Andrew MAcdonald is gone. He the next piece of monkey trash that needs to go
- kasperrko

We should dump Tavares. That guy sucks.

Well to my defense I was not on the boards 2 hours after so no I am not wrong
- kasperrko

you make it so easy that i ALMOST feel bad posting this:

Tuesday @ 12:15 PM ET
Yup we will wait for like July 31st and get our man and then hear how Garth tried all month to sign someone. Same crap different year
-kasperrko

you make it so easy that i ALMOST feel bad posting this:

Tuesday @ 12:15 PM ET
Yup we will wait for like July 31st and get our man and then hear how Garth tried all month to sign someone. Same crap different year
-kasperrko
- LetsGoIsles

H had every reason to believe this though.

H had every reason to believe this though.
- mighty13duck

Thank you!!