Yet you think it's ok for him to have a 4.5 mill for a 6 or 7 defenseman?

Think about it.....
- stormeyAlterEgo

Thats the price in order to get rid of a 10 year contract. Eat two years of a bad contract.

Do you not get it??? Gillis is (frank)ed!! He has no team that will trade for Lou. He has to GIVE him away.

Gillis (frank)ed himself royally by giving him that stupid contract.

This really truly is a no brainer.

Leafs are not expected to do much, the Nucks window is NOW. If Gillis doesn't unload Lou and resign Schneider, he is screwed. He needs to unload Lou to upgrade the team with the available cap space that trading Lou will provide.

C'mon man. This isn't rocket science

IF the Leaf get Luongo (still not convinced Gillis and Burke will do a deal) but IF....it will likely be a salary going back that the Nucks could use (maybe Connolly with Kesler missing the start of the year) and a second and half decent prospect.

That would be my guess.
- stormeyAlterEgo

i guess its gonna come down to schenider's stance.. if he is willing to split duties for a couple more years then it takes the pressure off of gillis..

if he says to gillis that he wont resign unless luongo is moved then gillis HAS to make a move.. and will get taken advantage of

so it all depends on the stance the heir apparant decides to take imo

I think it was clear in the playoffs that he would no longer be an understudy. I think they'd rather have Luongo play 30 games than Komisarek play 80.
- stormeyAlterEgo

2 games doesn't exactly make it a clear decision.

Morning gents... these blogs are dead today...

I come in peace!

I think that if Toronto were to get one of these top level goalies whether it be by UFA or trade... I think the NE division could have some of the best goaltending in the league...

Miller, Rask, Luongo?, Price, and Anderson..

Morning gents... these blogs are dead today...

I come in peace!

I think that if Toronto were to get one of these top level goalies whether it be by UFA or trade... I think the NE division could have some of the best goaltending in the league...

Miller, Rask, Luongo?, Price, and Anderson..
- JVince117

Why is Rask considered in the same area as some of these goalies? What has he proven?

Also, no encouraging us to get Luongo.. We have enough Leaf supporters who want him that we have to fend off

Edit: And good morning!

Thats the price in order to get rid of a 10 year contract. Eat two years of a bad contract.

Do you not get it??? Gillis is (frank)ed!! He has no team that will trade for Lou. He has to GIVE him away.

Gillis (frank)ed himself royally by giving him that stupid contract.

This really truly is a no brainer.

Leafs are not expected to do much, the Nucks window is NOW. If Gillis doesn't unload Lou and resign Schneider, he is screwed. He needs to unload Lou to upgrade the team with the available cap space that trading Lou will provide.

C'mon man. This isn't rocket science
- faceto27

What you fail to realize is that Luongo is still a top 10 goalie in this league and likely will be for the next 4 or 5 years. Then his actually salary starts to drop. If he is no longer playing up to expectations he will either retire or play in the AHL.

There is no way that the Nucks take on a salary dump without getting some assets back in the deal. No way.

i guess its gonna come down to schenider's stance.. if he is willing to split duties for a couple more years then it takes the pressure off of gillis..

if he says to gillis that he wont resign unless luongo is moved then gillis HAS to make a move.. and will get taken advantage of

so it all depends on the stance the heir apparant decides to take imo
- Dozzer

No way Dozzer

10 million tied up in your goalies for the next couple of years?? Not going to happen

Nope

Never

Forget about it

i guess its gonna come down to schenider's stance.. if he is willing to split duties for a couple more years then it takes the pressure off of gillis..

if he says to gillis that he wont resign unless luongo is moved then gillis HAS to make a move.. and will get taken advantage of

so it all depends on the stance the heir apparant decides to take imo
- Dozzer

There is an out, for Gillis:

- he can sign Schnieder to a 1-year contract, and then work like heck to trade Bobby Lu this season, while re-signing Schnieder to a multi-year contract before he hits UFA status.

Really risky, though.

Upside: if Luongo looks good, you may increase his value.

Downside: a whole lot of risks involved.

My guess is Gillis is going to realize he doesn't have any negotiating power, and engineers a trade which will be the equivalent of driving Luongo to the bus station and abandoning him there.

IF the Leaf get Luongo (still not convinced Gillis and Burke will do a deal) but IF....it will likely be a salary going back that the Nucks could use (maybe Connolly with Kesler missing the start of the year) and a second and half decent prospect.

That would be my guess.
- stormeyAlterEgo

It will have to be one salary dump player for Toronto going back.. someone that is a short term rental.. most likely a Connolly who has upside but injuries and all have flagged him..

A very good prospect..

And a pretty decent pick.. *NOT* saying the 5th overall.. but maybe 2013 conditional 1st rounder.. If Luongo wins X amount of games or make the playoffs its a 1st.. if he doesn't win X amount of games or make the playoffs then its a 2nd??

ideas?

2 games doesn't exactly make it a clear decision.
- Atomic Wedgie

Considering the importance of the games??? I think a message was sent.
Regardless Schneider is a RFA and unless someone offers him an offer sheet (doubtful), his options are limited.

What you fail to realize is that Luongo is still a top 10 goalie in this league and likely will be for the next 4 or 5 years. Then his actually salary starts to drop. If he is no longer playing up to expectations he will either retire or play in the AHL.

There is no way that the Nucks take on a salary dump without getting some assets back in the deal. No way.
- stormeyAlterEgo

The market will dictate what the Nucks get for Luongo.

So lets now declare the teams that would take on that contract.

The Leafs and................................. Who else?????

If there is only one team in the market bidding, well then there is no demand.

If no demand, then Nucks get nothing in return.

Why is Rask considered in the same area as some of these goalies? What has he proven?

Also, no encouraging us to get Luongo.. We have enough Leaf supporters who want him that we have to fend off

Edit: And good morning!
- mfreedman

I agree that he doesn't have the longest rap sheet.. but think about the year that he started in place of Thomas..

he brought 6th seeded Bruins to the playoffs.. beat 3rd seed Buffalo.. and then won the next round too if I am not mistaken?

Rask's stat line while starting 45 games in 09-10..

.931 S% and 1.93 GAA

give him some credit.

Morning gents... these blogs are dead today...

I come in peace!

I think that if Toronto were to get one of these top level goalies whether it be by UFA or trade... I think the NE division could have some of the best goaltending in the league...

Miller, Rask, Luongo?, Price, and Anderson..
- JVince117

Yes could be, but the defences or systems will see them getting a lot of shots, with the exception of Boston.

Last year when I said that Blowhard was getting hosed by his continuing to hang on to and add bad contracts like Komisarek, Lombardi, Armstrong and Connolly many hear defended Burke saying he was paying the price to build a contender. Well the Leafs are still a lottery team and some of the people who defended what they did last year in signing Lomnardi and Connolly are now twisting the logic in the belief that Blowhard has Gillis over a barrel and he will be forces to take one of these ineffectual overpaid players for one of the premier goalies in the league.

I get so frustrated by the failure of some Leaf fans to be able to grasp reality.

Last year when Blowhard made a few if those bad deals, I suggested the Senators would build a contender faster than the Leafs. Many of you ridiculed the idea. Can someone provide me with any evidence that Burke has even the remotest idea of what he is doing.
- spatso

Komisarek looked like a good pickup at the time as a solid defensive d-man. I recall more experts pointing the finger at Montreal for not being able to retain him at the same price. Clearly Komi hasn't lived up to his contract and, in hind-sight, it was a poor signing.

Same deal with Armstrong, except that most agreed at the time that Burke was overpaying. Army hasn't been able to stay healthy and, while he's been out, younger kids have taken his playing time.

Lombardi wasn't signed. He was the contract the leafs swallowed as payment for getting Franson. Lebda was the junk going back the other way. Many thought Lombardi would be on LTIR and the cap hit wouldn't matter. Either way, Franson isn't a bad asset and Lombardi comes of the books next year.

Connolly was a reaction signing to not getting Brad Richards, but it was a fairly smart signing. Burke knew the UFA pool for Centres was weak last year and this year, so why not overpay Tim for 2 years until something better comes up? Most will look at the contract vs output and say it was a bad signing...but he was affordable and, really, just a band-aid without long-term implications.

Leaf fans are incredibly impatient (somewhat justifiably so)...but I'm more interested to see how next off-season plays out when a ton of contracts come up. If the Leafs can somehow be competitive this year, it will go a long way to being able to attract some better UFA's next year. If not, hopefully some of our prospects will get the playing time and chance to grow in the bigs.

It will have to be one salary dump player for Toronto going back.. someone that is a short term rental.. most likely a Connolly who has upside but injuries and all have flagged him..

A very good prospect..

And a pretty decent pick.. *NOT* saying the 5th overall.. but maybe 2013 conditional 1st rounder.. If Luongo wins X amount of games or make the playoffs its a 1st.. if he doesn't win X amount of games or make the playoffs then its a 2nd??

ideas?
- JVince117

Way too much.

Canucks will take back some salary - but short term (Komi or Connolly or Armstrong).

And a middling prospect (D'Amigo?) so that Gillis can claim he got value.

But that's it.

Luongo's contract is designed to have the team eat $7 million over the last four years - not many teams are willing to do that.

Off the top of my head, that would be Toronto, Rangers and Philly.

Rangers and Philly are not looking to get Luongo.

Guess who that Leaves?

See what I did there?

What you fail to realize is that Luongo is still a top 10 goalie in this league and likely will be for the next 4 or 5 years. Then his actually salary starts to drop. If he is no longer playing up to expectations he will either retire or play in the AHL.

There is no way that the Nucks take on a salary dump without getting some assets back in the deal. No way.
- stormeyAlterEgo

Can we all agree on the following:

1) Luongo is an elite goaltender who is still considered by many (based on his play) very valieable.
2) His actual cost to be had will depend on the folllowing:
...a) His contract length
...b) His cap hit
...c) His age
...d) Other team's interest
3) Considering the points in #2, none of those work very well to increase his value, in fact, all of those seem to decrease his value at the moment.
4) If Toronto is going to be trading for Luongo, they will certainly be sending back some salary

Looking at these points, Luongo's value in a trade is certainly going to be less than what it would be if he were 30, and signed to a 3 year $4M contract.

Looking at his vlaue, I could see something like: Komisarek, Mac, Franson being fair value for a guy like Luongo at the moment. Maybe replace one of Mac or Franson with a mid-pick (i.e. 2nd-3rd)

There is an out, for Gillis:

- he can sign Schnieder to a 1-year contract, and then work like heck to trade Bobby Lu this season, while re-signing Schnieder to a multi-year contract before he hits UFA status.

Really risky, though.

Upside: if Luongo looks good, you may increase his value.

Downside: a whole lot of risks involved.

My guess is Gillis is going to realize he doesn't have any negotiating power, and engineers a trade which will be the equivalent of driving Luongo to the bus station and abandoning him there.
- Atomic Wedgie

I think so too ....will a better window to move him open up in the next year? Big risk. If Schneider is your guy ....don't piss around ...move Lou while you can and get on with it.

BB's altruistic approach will work in Gillis' favour because BB will give some value in return.

Franson, Scrivens and Armstrong.

Way too much.

Canucks will take back some salary - but short term (Komi or Connolly or Armstrong).

And a middling prospect (D'Amigo?) so that Gillis can claim he got value.

But that's it.

Luongo's contract is designed to have the team eat $7 million over the last four years - not many teams are willing to do that.

Off the top of my head, that would be Toronto, Rangers and Philly.

Rangers and Philly are not looking to get Luongo.

Guess who that Leaves?

See what I did there?
- Atomic Wedgie

What he said!!

Way too much.

Canucks will take back some salary - but short term (Komi or Connolly or Armstrong).

And a middling prospect (D'Amigo?) so that Gillis can claim he got value.

But that's it.

Luongo's contract is designed to have the team eat $7 million over the last four years - not many teams are willing to do that.

Off the top of my head, that would be Toronto, Rangers and Philly.

Rangers and Philly are not looking to get Luongo.

Guess who that Leaves?

See what I did there?
- Atomic Wedgie

I understand your point.. but all of the reports out of Couver are that they are looking to dump his big contract in order to take that money and spend it elsewhere.. not just take back someone else's garbage...

I agree that he doesn't have the longest rap sheet.. but think about the year that he started in place of Thomas..

he brought 6th seeded Bruins to the playoffs.. beat 3rd seed Buffalo.. and then won the next round too if I am not mistaken?

Rask's stat line while starting 45 games in 09-10..

.931 S% and 1.93 GAA

give him some credit.
- JVince117

I agree he has potential to be very good and has shown flashes of brilliance, but I put him in the same place as Schnieder. An unproven goalie hwo has good stats over short periods of time.

Didn't Raycroft do similar with Boston? How about Steve Mason with Columbus early on?

Morning gents... these blogs are dead today...

I come in peace!

I think that if Toronto were to get one of these top level goalies whether it be by UFA or trade... I think the NE division could have some of the best goaltending in the league...

Miller, Rask, Luongo?, Price, and Anderson..
- JVince117

good point.. not a good division to be in if you are trying to attract scorers.... or top line centres

There is an out, for Gillis:

- he can sign Schnieder to a 1-year contract, and then work like heck to trade Bobby Lu this season, while re-signing Schnieder to a multi-year contract before he hits UFA status.

Really risky, though.

Upside: if Luongo looks good, you may increase his value.

Downside: a whole lot of risks involved.

My guess is Gillis is going to realize he doesn't have any negotiating power, and engineers a trade which will be the equivalent of driving Luongo to the bus station and abandoning him there.
- Atomic Wedgie

Why only one year with Schneider. Pretty sure 3 years at 4 mill per would be doable.

Your analogy at the end is fitting however I doubt he would pick up a homeless person at the bus station and take him home and feed him for the next two years (Komisarek)

Komisarek looked like a good pickup at the time as a solid defensive d-man. I recall more experts pointing the finger at Montreal for not being able to retain him at the same price. Clearly Komi hasn't lived up to his contract and, in hind-sight, it was a poor signing.

Same deal with Armstrong, except that most agreed at the time that Burke was overpaying. Army hasn't been able to stay healthy and, while he's been out, younger kids have taken his playing time.

Lombardi wasn't signed. He was the contract the leafs swallowed as payment for getting Franson. Lebda was the junk going back the other way. Many thought Lombardi would be on LTIR and the cap hit wouldn't matter. Either way, Franson isn't a bad asset and Lombardi comes of the books next year.

Connolly was a reaction signing to not getting Brad Richards, but it was a fairly smart signing. Burke knew the UFA pool for Centres was weak last year and this year, so why not overpay Tim for 2 years until something better comes up? Most will look at the contract vs output and say it was a bad signing...but he was affordable and, really, just a band-aid without long-term implications.

Leaf fans are incredibly impatient (somewhat justifiably so)...but I'm more interested to see how next off-season plays out when a ton of contracts come up. If the Leafs can somehow be competitive this year, it will go a long way to being able to attract some better UFA's next year. If not, hopefully some of our prospects will get the playing time and chance to grow in the bigs.
- aj_furf

You're wasting your time typing this. I have said the same thing to this guy over and over, but he just continues to rant without readign what you wrote... You'll see.

good point.. not a good division to be in if you are trying to attract scorers.... or top line centres
- Dozzer

... maybe they will see it as a challenge and want to go against the best in the game?

most have blinders on... only know what Toronto is doing.

Brainwashed by the Toronto media.
- jimmc7722

Not all of us minlessly bash the Leafs.