Provost

Just a move to address some injuries for the rest of the season. We have a lot more NHL ready 4th liners in the system than defencemen. Call up Archibald and you have lost nothing by dropping Weise.... but Diaz > Weber/Sauve/Corrado for the rest of the season. Would have loved to get Emelin instead... he is struggling this year, but is REALLY what we need. Hansen for Emelin would have been a bigger version of this trade.

Yep... I can't believe Gillis has missed out on all those blockbuster trades that have been made this season....

I would trade Horvat for a top 5 pick in next year's draft and a mid level prospect Maybe we could go out and draft an actual scorer to go with all of our utility players.

There is a rule about it. Coaches can and have gotten disciplined for "player selection" as they call it. I think it is fair for Hartley to get a game or two and a fine, and Tortorella to get 5 games and a fine. I suspect the organization gets a fine too. The sad thing is Torts was up front with what he was doing and Hartley was a total weasel pretending that he was oblivious to everything. Man up and say you put those guys out there to make a point considering what the previous few Canucks games looked like.

It kicked in last year as I understand it.

I don't think it will happen... but really, you can't have enough centres. Most can play the wing, and often do at the start of their careers as there is less responsibility. Move Kesler to the wing (until his contract expires and he signs as a UFA somewhere in the East as I expect will happen), start Horvat on the wing as well for his first couple seasons until Kesler is gone.

At an $80 million salary cap in two years he certainly is. If you can lock him up for 3-4 years at that price, he becomes a pretty good bargain quickly. Top UFAs are going to be fetching $10 million plus the next couple summers. Prices for UFAs are going to be ridiculous this summer. All the cap teams will have a ton extra space, all the bottom feeder teams need to spend like drunken monkeys to get to the floor... and Florida is apparently moving from bottom dweller to cap ceiling team with the new owner. That is all a recipe for a whole lot of dumb contracts. Gillis is way better served making some trades for players with term left and stay out of that mess except for depth players. It isn't out of the question that Luongo demands a trade at the end of the season and Florida is way more likely to oblige with another of his top dollar years off the books and a much bigger budget to play with. He has name recognition there to sell tickets and he suddenly makes them a team that can contend for the playoffs.

Just watch the salaries this summer... it is going to be stupid because of all the new dollars available plus the knowledge that the cap will go up even more once the new TV deal starts counting, A 50 point player would definitely command those bucks in that world,

Because of two reasons: #1. It is a crappy poll because there needs to be another couple of choices... like "Depends on the price" and "We should wait longer than 20 games to decide" #2. the poll was created a couple of weeks ago before the Higgins/Kesler/Santorelli line really caught fire. A lot of responses have been of the variety of us needing a bigger sample size to know how to value him. There is some risk either way. If he keeps us this pace all season, then he is going to cost upwards of $3 million per year... or if you sign him now for more reasonable dollars, then he could go all Mason Raymond on us and we are stuck with an incredibly inconsistent scoring forward who we have committed too much money and term to. I would say as of today, a good plan would be to sign him to a 2-3 year at between $1.5 and $2.25 million... you have managed the downside and upside risks at that value. He gets some security playing for his hometown team and is on a winning team in a good position. Remember, 3 months ago this guy's NHL career was pretty much over... no one wanted him and we signed him to a two-way minimum wage contract. He was waived twice last year with no takers. If we re-sign him early, that will still loom pretty large in his mind and he could leave dollars on the table in return for a multi-year contract. If he wants to cash in and he scores 50 points this season, considering the rapidly rising salary cap and the need for many teams to spend like drunken sailors just to reach the cap floor... I would expect him to get a $4.5 or higher contract offer from someone.

Ummm... both Gillis and Tororella have said so outright in interviews. Torts even said it this week again.

Orpik doesn't have to feel obliged to fight some goon who can't play the game just because he delivered a clean hit on one of their players. Thornton should have gone and hit a Pens player with a similar clean hit in retaliation (that is if he could skate fast enough to catch anyone)... or one of the actual hockey players on the ice at the time should have tried to go after Orpik. Coming up behind and sucker punching a defenceless guy on the ground.... and then suggesting that is just defending yourself is something only the Bruins could rationalize.

The Bruins are bullies... they are all tough as long as they have a good match up where they have 20 pounds and 5 inches on the opponent. He will get something along the lines of Kassian's 8 games for something that was immeasurably worse than what Kassian did. He certainly won't face Aarom Rome level of punishment for a hit that was a second too late.

For those thinking he is a lock to be a top 6 guy on our team... he has never scored at that rate, even in his best year. You need your 2nd line guys (if you plan on being a contender) to be in the 50-60 point range every year. He had 41 points in his best year, and followed that up with 11 points his next year. I like the guy, and would love for him to stay here... but on a contending team he is a 3rd liner at best.

Note how I said at that price "even if" ... at the proper price (anything that wouldn't count against our salary cap if he got demoted), it doesn't matter if he maintains his current level of production. Looking at the dude's career, he is incredibly inconsistent... basically he is Mason Raymond at centre. If you sign him for some dumb deal at $2 million per and starts crapping the bed you have just pooched yourself because he doesn't bring much to the table if he isn't scoring... he is better as a 3C than Schroeder, but not what you want in that spot. He deserves a 1 way 2 year contract for low dollars in order to determine whether he is capable of being a regular top 6 player in the league.

You can't make a decision on that unless you consider dollars. If he wants a bit of security (he was a half step from being out of the league and playing in Europe before he joined us)... and signs for 2 years at $650-850k per year... then fly at er and sign him. At that price if he is just useful as an Ebbett type of 13th forward going forward it is fine. If he gets Anson Carter disease, then cut him loose as there are always fringe guys to sign in the offseason or give a rookie more minutes.

I would take Michalek in a heartbeat. Don't take any player's performance in Ottawa right now as an indicator of their skill. The word around town is that the Sens make quite a bit of money, and with the really low internal salary cap the owner is just pocketing a whack of profit. Not really much incentive to play 100% in that scenario knowing you have little chance to win.

You do understand that scratching a player doesn't negate their cap hit right?

Yes he is a great passer... that is actually the thing he is the best at, and why he has had significant success in the league. The issue in Washington is that he doesn't have any talent to pass to with where he is slotted in. If only we had a 2nd line centre who is mainly a shooter and who needs someone to set him up... Where did you get the idea that Booth hits people? I sure haven't seen it, and his stats sure don't back up that claim. Can Booth skate? He used to be able to.. but so far this year he would lose a footrace for Sestito. I am not saying Erat is any golden answer, but since blockbusters are almost impossible these days... trading two underachieving guys for each other doesn't sound out of this world.

It isn't just about the quality of the player's skills, it is also how well they mesh with linemates. Could Kesler use a speedier linemate who is more of a playmaker like Erat? One would think so... couldn't have worse chemistry than with Booth, the two of them together was some sort of passing and offence black hole. No way Washington does the straight up swap though. If Booth got waived, he almost certainly wouldn't get picked up... Erat probably would. That makes a big difference about getting stuck with a crappy contract.

Especially since he could be had for really cheap... just read an article where he says that his phone hasn't been ringing for job offers, but he does not plan on retiring. There are a ton of solid 3rd pairing guys out there who are going to be scrounging for work and likely getting paid $1 million or under. Hal Gill, O'Byrne, Hainsey, Murray, Ian White, Alberts, etc. You put most of those guys beside someone like Weber or Corrado and we are fine.

I call B.S. Almost certainly his agent trying for leverage where he has none. A no-name, journeyman player with limited offensive skill doesn't exactly sound like a huge win for the Russian league. I would imagine they would be going after flashier RFA's like Kadri long before anyone made a play for Tanev. Let him go if he wants more than $1.5 million... he is replaceable for cheaper. It had better be a huge contract in the KHL to make it worth making the move and losing an NHL career.

Well... last year, we had Garrison, Hamhuis, and Bieksa with better +/- and they were facing much tougher opponents instead of 3rd and 4th liners. Tanev is an OK 3rd pairing defenceman... but he doesn't contribute offensively and has does not play a physical game. He is worth $900k-$1.2 million considering what comparable players like him are getting. My statement was that he is going nowhere because he is not good enough for someone to offer sheet. If someone was dumb enough to offer him $1.68 million or higher I would happily save the cap space and take a 2nd round pick as compensation, then sign one of the couple dozen experienced NHL defencemen still out there looking for work who are available for significantly cheaper.

How would we lose him? He was qualified and has no arbitration rights. To think that another team is going to offer sheet him is a little silly. He is nothing special and there are a bunch of unsigned guys out there better than him.

Luongo is still a top 10 goalie in the league... he will be the starter for Team Canada above the "so-called" tier 2 guys on that list.

Time go go after Weber via offer sheet....