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Free agency begins at noon ET. Will Hughes be in "GMs go wild! spring break in July" mode or be Mr. Ebergevin Scrooge?
DiscussionHow can we trade Price's contract now that Arizona has moved and become a real franchise?
Yeah there's 4.2 mil next year just from Petry and Allen (guys who don't even play for us). Dvorak and Armia are useful players but not irreplaceable too. Plus that's when Anderson and Gallagher get into "a buy out isn't so bad" territory if we're making a play on someone big
I want Struble to stay. Big steady defensive D. You need those to win.
Harris is good but disposable.
Priority #1 should be extending Slaf. Get him to agree to guaranteed money in the bank to make him one of the richest athletes in Slovakia. Sure he might be leaving money off the table by signing this year vs next year, but I have confidence that former agent Hughes will figure out a way and not to let this drag into the season and next offseason.
We're much more likely to go mild than wild, but I'm down for trying the Hayton reclamation project and would be happy to see a Laine trade come through as well, if we are making acquisitions.
Compared to last few years, I'm definitely expecting an NHL player compared to fringe/AHL players. Just depends who.
Hold tight, it's another year of (competitive) rebuilding and the UFA crop is underwhelming.
If a decent forward is available after the initial UFA rush that's willing to sign a short term deal and is easy to flip, I'm sure KH will be pursuing it.
I’m expecting no significant free agent signing. Maybe a filler piece or two, but it would be premature to make a big splash in free agency this year. Next year or the year after, I expect us to sign a huge forward. But not this year. We need to sign our young guns long term first.
I predict a reclamation project a la Newhook type of player!
Lots of interesting RFAs didn't get qualified
They might wait a couple days for the market to settle and try to pick the best of the rest. It's slim pickings and guys like Stamkos/Marchessault are going to have bidding wars going on.
I think he's going to try to add a veteran top-6 scorer to a two year deal, a veteran RHD who can go up and down to Laval if needed, and a few vets to play in Laval
What kind of "veteran" can go up and down to Laval?
One that will pass through waivers without getting claimed. Like a Belzile
So... an AHL journey man? You think Kent Hughes is looking at a list of AHL journey men to target when the free agency period begins?
Cool opinion, but I disagree.
They sign these guys every year on July 1. They just don’t get a lot of attention. And even if they don’t sign someone like that tomorrow, I’m just saying that will be on KH’s to-do list. I could see him going after a francophone player with NHL experience whose NHL career is likely at it’s close and they just want to play closer to home. Gabriel Bourque did it. Maybe Benoit Olivier Groulx or Vincent Desharnais would sign.
Anyone with NHL experience and over the age of 25 is likely waiver eligible.
I mean
The other commenter isn’t wrong, every team goes after these guys every year
I’ll take one lightly used Patrik Laine
Moderately played at best
Hoping for a Laine trade
I don't think they can until he's out of player assistance
Laine requested the trade. I believe it’s permissible
This actually seems advantageous to us, if everyone else has blown their load early on the current crop of free agents.
Yes and no.
Before UFAs, teams would want to keep their money to pursue players.
After, those who missed might want to pay more to acquire him as a backup plan
Ebergevin Scrooge lol perfect
Debrusk would make my day
If love to see him to after Stammer on a 2-3 year deal. We definately need a veteran (other than Gallagher/Anderson) in our top 6
I only want Stamkos so that no one else can have him. The idea of him being a bruin or a leaf pisses me off too much.
One year, huge over pay in bonuses and trade him for picks to where ever he wants to go at the deadline.
I’d like it too but Stamkos seems like the guy we’ve always wanted and have been linked to every time he was out of a contract but we’ll never get.
my expectations are 1 guy who can play top 6 on a short term deal(stamkos, perron, marchessault etc), could also happen via trade
and a couple veterans for Laval
While I’m not sure how much of this would happen today or even this week, but I’d love to see Slafkovsky extended this offseason, the logjam at LD turned into a young-ish middle-six forward with the ability to fill in on the top line when needed, and a veteran forward added on a deal that would be easy to flip at the deadline if that’s how things trend.
I think we stay quiet, realistically. But I'd like for us to trade and/or sign some vet players to better round out the team. We have Gallagher and Anderson, I hope they improve next season. We also have Matheson and Savard. But I'd be happy if we provide a bit more support from veterans to our younger players. Take the pressure off, show them some of the ropes of the game, and avoid putting too much on the shoulders of the youngins.
I wouldn't be against going for Ekblad. I think he could be a good contributor in games and role model for all the young D we have. Plus he doesn't have much term on his contract so if it doesn't work out, too bad.
I'd be happy to see Laine added too. For similar reasons as with Ekblad, but he adds more offensive upside.
I could see Gorton talking to Hughes about taking a flyer on Lundkvist. Would also explain why we traded an RD instead of an LD. I would take the gamble vs playing Barron.
I would not be surprised if they made a pitch to Stamkos or Marchessault. If Stamkos signs, Dach moves to the wing, if Marchessault signs, he’d probably be with Dach as his center. Two big ifs through. They would have to take a 2-3 year deal though which is not super likely on a losing team.
Trades maybe but a UFA signing would just be dumb. Hughes isn't dumb. This is a rebuild. Rebuilding teams don't sign UFAs. Teams in their windows do. We're a couple years out from that at least.
Rebuilding teams 100% sign UFAs, I don't know what you are talking about. You need veterans to play with the young guys.
Not saying that WE need one, since we have a couple of vets (Savard, Matheson, Gallagher, Armia), but rebuilding team definitely need some help from UFA. They just don't need the top UFAs.
So you want to pay for a player instead of getting them for free
?
The winters are getting warmer but has the tax rate gone down?? 😂
Talking about a pressure cooker bomb brings me back to the horrible image of the Boston Marathon and is in poor taste IMO.
Am expecting Harris or Strubble to be traded with the logjam at LD, maybe 1 or 2 small additions (RD and a Winger) but nothing crazy. Next year is when stuff will start to move fast not just because of Demidov potentially playing in the NHL but a lot of contracts will come out of the book and we might see a buyout and maybe even consider trading Price's contract.