Dan Wallace: Fleury and Ryan, Trades You Don't Make Are Best

Good to see both doing well -

I think I have seen and read enough about how bad the Wild deadline trade was and how much it has sucked that they lost in the 1st round. For the Minnesota Wild, the season is over and there needs to be marked improvement to keep this fan base going. Enough dwelling on what happened....it's in the past. Let's move forward and start tinkering (at least our ideas) with the roster to improve it.

First move I would try to make is packaging Pominville and Mike Reilly to Buffalo for Evander Kane. Pominville can go "back home" where he shined and mentor the Sabres young core for the next 2 years. Reilly is the enticement piece to play 2nd or 3rd line D at a relatively decent pricetag and the possibility that he could explode. And with Buffalo shopping Kane, I try to get this done as quickly as possible, so they don't get a better offer. Kane is only slightly cheaper than Pominville, but at least he will hit people in the corner. And if he is a drag on the team, he only has 1 year left on his contract, and they can let him walk.

This roster is built for the regular season, but doesn't have enough strength for the post season. It needs to be thoroughly flushed out. Kane might not be the best for this team, but if it helps in getting rid of a bad contract in Pominville, I'm all for it. And he could be the one year holder until someone like Greenway is ready to move in. What are some other moves that can be done?

I think I have seen and read enough about how bad the Wild deadline trade was and how much it has sucked that they lost in the 1st round. For the Minnesota Wild, the season is over and there needs to be marked improvement to keep this fan base going. Enough dwelling on what happened....it's in the past. Let's move forward and start tinkering (at least our ideas) with the roster to improve it.

First move I would try to make is packaging Pominville and Mike Reilly to Buffalo for Evander Kane. Pominville can go "back home" where he shined and mentor the Sabres young core for the next 2 years. Reilly is the enticement piece to play 2nd or 3rd line D at a relatively decent pricetag and the possibility that he could explode. And with Buffalo shopping Kane, I try to get this done as quickly as possible, so they don't get a better offer. Kane is only slightly cheaper than Pominville, but at least he will hit people in the corner. And if he is a drag on the team, he only has 1 year left on his contract, and they can let him walk.

This roster is built for the regular season, but doesn't have enough strength for the post season. It needs to be thoroughly flushed out. Kane might not be the best for this team, but if it helps in getting rid of a bad contract in Pominville, I'm all for it. And he could be the one year holder until someone like Greenway is ready to move in. What are some other moves that can be done?
- Gusrichards

Move half the team, or fire Fletcher... you pick, I simply can't decide. And pick fast. Mikko, Parise, Suter are turning the page in their book of uselessness.

Move half the team, or fire Fletcher... you pick, I simply can't decide. And pick fast. Mikko, Parise, Suter are turning the page in their book of uselessness.

I think Parise and Suter we are stuck with. Nothing is ever going to change with them. Now Koivu on the other hand only has 1 more year left. I was wondering if giving him a 2 year extension (2018-19 @ $4 mil, 2019-20 at $2 mil) would decrease his cap # for this year. He could continue on the path of 3rd line C with wings that are defensive shutdown players. He could do that for this next year and that first of his extension. That last year, he would have to become a 4th line C and faceoff specialist. Just wondering if that is a creative way of getting some minor cap relief.

And before firing Fletcher, I would honestly check with BB first. Ask if he Fletcher is trying to bring in the type of players BB wants? And I see that teams are starting to ask about Nino. I would rather we trade away Granlund while he is at a premium. Regular season, you can win with smallish players, but you need both skill and size to win in the playoffs. Keep Nino, trade Granlund.

Also, one of the new articles out there is saying that LV is going to build from the D out. The Wild need cap space. Protect Suter, Dumba and Brodin. Try to get LV to take Spurgeon. Again, I am a firm believer in size along with skill. Spurgeon got rocked during the playoffs. He would be a great fit for LV.

I think Parise and Suter we are stuck with. Nothing is ever going to change with them. Now Koivu on the other hand only has 1 more year left. I was wondering if giving him a 2 year extension (2018-19 @ $4 mil, 2019-20 at $2 mil) would decrease his cap # for this year.
- Gusrichards

No, extensions in the NHL have no effect on current contracts. His cap hit next years stays the same unless he is on IR; or is bought out this summer.

There is also a rule a contract can't vary more than 35% year to year, so your suggested extension would need to be more like 3.5m year 1, 2.5m year two in order to work. His cap hit would then be 6.75m next year (from current contract) followed by a cap hit of 3m each of the following years.

No, extensions in the NHL have no effect on current contracts. His cap hit next years stays the same unless he is on IR; or is bought out this summer.

There is also a rule a contract can't vary more than 35% year to year, so your suggested extension would need to be more like 3.5m year 1, 2.5m year two in order to work. His cap hit would then be 6.75m next year (from current contract) followed by a cap hit of 3m each of the following years as a 3rd and 4th line C. But I am also curious on what the cap is going to be at for this year.