(discussion) which big fish free agent is the best fit for vancouver and which one would you prefer?

[billabong]

lots of discussion and rumors over the last little while with free agents being linked to vancouver with all the possible cap space they could have in the upcoming summer so i thought we should discuss and breakdown which player (if any) would be the best fit for the canucks.

 

lucic, 27 - LW he is a big, physical and stanley cup winner who can pot in 25 goals or so a season. he stands up for his teammates which is something the canucks dont have a lot of at the moment. he has been rumored to want around 6-7m over at least 6 years so that would take him to about 34 (hes turning 28 this year).

stamkos, 25 - C/RW the ultimate goal scorer. speed, great shot and leader who can score 40 goals on any team. he hasnt been dominating games this year like he should be, but is that him checking out in tb or something else? lost the pop in his step perhaps? he will be looking for at least 10m which is 1/7th of the cap. can the canucks afford that when the young kids come out of their entry level deal and need new contracts?

ladd, 30 - LW the all canadian captain who leaves it all out on the ice with 2 stanley cup rings to his name. he can pot in 25 goals and 55-60 points, but he is aging fast. been looking for a long term 6-7.5m per year deal which would take him till hes in his late 30's

the canucks could simply do nothing and hand this team totally over to the youth...

sedin-sedin-hansen

baerschi-horvat-virtanen

mccann-sutter-etem

burrows-cracknell-dorsett

shinkaruk, grenier, gaunce, kenins

does that look solid as it is? (i.e im assuming mccann will be promoted from 4th line centre to get better quality ice time)

personally, i feel lucic covers the most needs at a reasonable price BUT only if burrows can be moved to off set adding another vet so the youth doesnt get buried.

sedin-sedin-lucic

baerschi-horvat-virtanen

mccann-sutter-hansen

etem-cracknell-dorsett

lots of possible line combinations with the acquisition of lucic 

[WHL rocks]

All of them + Yandle.

 

[HerrDrFunk]

Lucic, hands down for me. Other teams are never going to stop taking liberties with the Sedins so I want the big guy with some skill who is going to murder anyone that even looks at them sideways. 

 

[MedicineHatCanuck]

Goligoski and Lucic/Ladd

 

[aliboy]

Buff or Lucic.

[smithers joe]

shattenkirk

Quote

 

 

[MedicineHatCanuck]

OR trade for Barrie if Colorado can't resign him. I really think he would be a good fit for this team

[Johnny Torts]

Stamkos

or....

Lucic AND Big Buff.

[Smiley2051]

48 minutes ago, billabong said:

ladd, 30 - LW the all canadian captain who leaves it all out on the ice with 2 stanley cup rings to his name. he can pot in 25 goals and 55-60 points, but he is aging fast. been looking for a long term 6-7.5m per year deal which would take him till hes in his late 30's

Whoa! I will be shocked if a team gives up any above 6.5 per year on Ladd, even on a shorter contract.

I'll say Yandle, probably cause it's halfass more realistic than my first choice in Stamkos, they severely need the blueline to produce again. If not Stamkos, he can range from the point to his sweet spot on the power play right? PP woes solved.

I would fear a contract with any of these guys down the road getting in the way of the young guys, but all teams deal with this.

 

[KariyaSakicAnderson]

As much as it may be fun to watch Stamkos on this team, i'd rather the Canucks look at a cheaper option and spend the money wisely the next 2 years and sign either Lucic or Okposo this year. As for defenceman I'm not big a Byfuglien especially for the amount of money he wants, I'd sign a cheaper dman or 2 like a Polak, Lovejoy maybe Schenn on a short term contract if possible. The only reason is I like the 2017 ufa dman class better, where there is Shattenkirk, Burns, Hedman, Kulikov, and a few other useful dman in Smith and Bortuzzo.  Imagine in 2017 with Millers 6 million coming off the books and Burrows' if it doesn't this year and hopefully some of the 7+ million saved that could have been wasted on Byfuglien, Hedman decides to go to UFA the Canucks can/should then really go for that top 2 young Dman. I for one hope Stamkos re-signs with the Bolts, 'cause with the amount of players they have that will need to be re-signed after the 2017 season, Hedman may very well be available. 

[Phil_314]

Gotta say bring the BC boy home!  I'd hope that Milan would sign for 5 years (takes him to 32) instead of more years when his contract could become an albatross, but he does have a very unique skill-set (heavy, physical presence for the Twins).  Then again, I wouldn't mind seeing either Etem or Virtanen playing with the Twins as they're also somewhat physical, unafraid to go to the crease, speedy and have a decent shot (traits which made Burrows, Carter and the likes successful with 22 and 33), plus I'd hate to see Milan's contract come back to bite the team when cap is needed to sign key young guys.

Stammer would be solid of course, but I think it's more pipe dream than anything.  He does have an elite shot but nothing wrong with giving the kids chances to develop in expanded offensive roles either.  He'd be a solid buy like an upgraded Vrbata but same as Lucic, don't let his contract handicap the team, and hope management does research on scoring trends to ensure he hasn't plateaued.

Lastly, an unmentioned candidate I'd suggest is R.F.A. Olli Maatta (via offer sheet for ~$3.6 million).  He's young, the Pens are cash-strapped (~$67 million already spent before R.F.A.'s and U.FA.'s, and only 16 signed) and we need an offensive D-man.   

[flickyoursedin]

Stamkos, Okposo or Ladd in that order. I think the Defence market is a lot better in the 2017 ufa period with the likes of Shattenkirk or Burns and we'll have a ton of spending money again that offseason.

[Outsiders]

i'd go for Yandle and Lucic

 

Lucic 6.25 x 4

Yandle 6.5 x 4

[Tom Sestito]

people don't factor in longevity when discussing free agents

like buff and lucic are going to be terrible value for half of the duration of their contracts

you sign a guy like demers who's going to be really good value instead.

[PhillipBlunt]

Milan Lucic. He's proven that he can still play a top six role and be effective. 

Provides the strength and ability to use it that this team could use. 

Now hopefully the Kings lowball him...

[-AJ-]

Of those, I'd only want Stammer. The others are too old to build around or are gutless trash. Stammer costs too much money, so unless we unload a stupid amount of assets, we aren't getting him.

[Sedintwinpowersactivate]

Dan Hamhuis.  Why is he leaving?  We need veterans on D.

[Darkstar]

1) Stamkos

2) Yandle

3) Lucic

[chon derry]

was never big on the  lucic idea but warming up to it given how our so called current inforcer sergeant prust might be on his way out lucic would curb all the bs and take pressure off dorsett ,helping him stay out of the box, concentrating more on a grinding role

[coastal.view]

1 hour ago, Outsiders said:

i'd go for Yandle and Lucic

 

Lucic 6.25 x 4

Yandle 6.5 x 4

i all over the value and terms for these deals

so i say yes, yes

but i doubt any higher end free agent will be signing for less than max term, which is 7 years

and i do not like lucic for that term

and i think it risky to sign 2 free agents to max term contracts

we never even signed the sedins to 7 year contracts