Coconuts Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Most of us would likely agree on the fact that 4.2M is too much to spend on a third pairing defencemen. People have speculated that the Canucks intend to buy out Keith Ballard at the end of the season, and I wouldn't be against that. But I've got a question. Ballard has been one of our steadiest D men this season, and has pretty good chemistry with Tanev. He seems to be a good teammate and a good fit in the locker room. He hasn't put up anything close to the numbers he put up in Phoenix or Florida, but he's been used differently here in Vancouver when he's been put in the lineup. If we do end up buying Ballard out would you be against re-signing him to a cheaper contract and keeping him around? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opmac Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Teams won't be allowed to re-sign players they buyout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobHo Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Teams won't be allowed to re-sign players they buyout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 Teams won't be allowed to re-sign players they buyout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanKnucklehead89 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Either way it would just be kinda sh***y to buy him out and then resign him, I know I wouldn't want to resign with a team that just bought me out anyway, it's a bit of a slap in the face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoolander Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm fine with paying Ballard 4.2m if he continues to shut down opposing teams like he has Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucks_rule1 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 for 4.2 and the cap coming down it will be very hard to keep him around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Right now he is worth every penny.......I mean nickel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdubuya Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Ballard has been OK this year. TBH I actually thought today was the best game I saw him play. Having said that, I think hes still been vastly overrated this year. He seems a lot more comfortable. I've noticed a few ballsy moves hes made that could have paid huge dividends, but for every one of these plays theres an errant in front of the net pass that gets picked off and could prove costly. He seems to be a high risk- high reward type player. But he hasn't produced. Hes not worth 4.2 in cap space with the defensive pool we currently have and considering the fact that no team would give up much for him he's a candidate to get bought out. Looking forward to next year, I'm sure we could keep him on but I think the best move would be to trade him for scraps, if not buy him out. I don't really see this happening. IMO we could do much more with his savings and fill his current void for less. For arguments sake, even if hes been one of our top dmen this year, that doesn't really say anything. Hammer, Edler, Juice, Garrison and even Tanev all seem to be better guys to go with at the moment. Who cares if they haven't played their best hockey yet? He wont be a top 4 on our team in the forseeable future and theres no point keeping him on the next few seasons at 4.2 million. Next year with the cap lowering it will be a numbers game for the top teams and even if we lose him for nothing I'd rather see him get a fresh start elsewhere. Especially when his replacement could be making under a million dollars and probably not cost us all that much for productivity. What really does this guy bring to the table? Looking at this year alone, he seems to be prone to defensive lapses and doesn't add much to our offense. He works hard and he's tough, but for the cap space he's taking up I think we could do better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Canuck Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 That would be circumventing the system...Also if they did end up buying him out, how bad does that trade look now? MG gave up a 25-30 goal guy in Grabner and a 1st round pick that could've been Howden or Kuznetsov for an over-paid 3rd pairing d-man who was barely used for anything. One of the worst trades in Canucks history imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VicNuckleHead09 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 That would be circumventing the system...Also if they did end up buying him out, how bad does that trade look now? MG gave up a 25-30 goal guy in Grabner and a 1st round pick that could've been Howden or Kuznetsov for an over-paid 3rd pairing d-man who was barely used for anything. One of the worst trades in Canucks history imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rawkdrummer Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 That would be circumventing the system...Also if they did end up buying him out, how bad does that trade look now? MG gave up a 25-30 goal guy in Grabner and a 1st round pick that could've been Howden or Kuznetsov for an over-paid 3rd pairing d-man who was barely used for anything. One of the worst trades in Canucks history imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maninthebox Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I like Ballard and agree he's played well this season in his role. I see no reason he can't be traded for a mid-low round pick to a team like NYI in the off season. No reason to buy him out. Waivers next season, maybe. Here's hoping one last kick at the can proves beneficial for him. Good guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danthecanucksfan Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Right now he is worth every penny.......I mean nickel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingleysniper Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Ballard is a good dman but he needs to be given some pp time to gain more confidence and his offensive side, why not try him on the second unit with Garrison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marleau_12 Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Either way it would just be kinda sh***y to buy him out and then resign him, I know I wouldn't want to resign with a team that just bought me out anyway, it's a bit of a slap in the face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananas Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 He's worth the 4.2 if he continues the way he's been playing. Bieksa, on the other hand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmotamed Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 It's also too much to spend on a back-up goalie (a.k.a. Schneider)... But we're doing THAT too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icycold Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I think people are tending to forget that, at worst ballard then a number of the ufa's due up next year for us can be trade bait along with Lou could possibly pay out huge dividends and we're still in the wait and see mode as a lot of other team evaluate what their going to need and as each game passes it will get closer. Fortunately for us MG is waiting it out as anyone who is wise would do since trying to make a desperate sale usually blows up in your face right away or somewhere down the line in losing out. I agree with Cam Neely being our worst ever mistake in trading and it's good to know MG was no part of that lol If Cam Neely wanted out then MG would be doing the exact same thing he's doing right now, waiting.............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice orca Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 It's also too much to spend on a back-up goalie (a.k.a. Schneider)... But we're doing THAT too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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