Provost

Just one of them would do, both is greedy

That interview smacked of a public ultimatum to ownership... let me do things my way or fire me. I suspect we see Gillis fired as soon as we are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

That sound you don't hear is the point of the post flying over your head... Nowhere did I say that Garrison is a top defenceman. What I said was that you have to consider the cost of salaries this coming summer (and for the next couple as the revenue from the new TV deal starts taking effect). Add in the fact that the Panthers are going to suddenly be a cap ceiling team and have the space to basically overpay and add the top 3-4 UFAs on the market to their roster. Everyone else will have millions to spend competing for a very thin UFA pool of talent. All that equals stupid money being spent on average players. A guy like Callahan was smart to hold out for more because he will get it... and he is nowhere near an elite level player. Plug defencemen who are much worse than Garrison will get more than $5 million per year this summer. I would peg Garrison as a #4 guy... in the UFA market you will pay more than his salary for a #4 guy. Buying him out makes no sense when you have to replace him at a super premium.

Keep in mind the huge inflation we will see due to the rising salary cap this summer. Any top 4 D man will cost you a ton... #4 guys are going to be getting offers north of $5 million. The top pairing guys are going to get $8 million per, on long term deals. All of our players under contract will start looking like pretty good value,

I don't really subscribe to the "league is out to get us" mantra... but sometimes it is just nuts how inconsistent they are. Kassian gets 10 games if he does the same hit.

I thought he sold his place in Arizona, then sold his place in Thousand Oaks and now lives in WestLake or thereabouts... Of course, I don't think I am on his list of people to send his forwarding address to if he has since relocated again.

Gretzky got his $9 million owed from the league and wants to be involved in hockey again. How much would we have to bribe him to leave his nice California home and relative anonymity to come be the GM here? Probably more than the Aquilini's can afford. Having said that, as much as he was a terrible coach... he would be a great GM. He calls you and you listen. Players would sign here just on the force of his reputation.

He knows it will be a long summer with no playoffs so wants to improve his handicap early. The players will be following him onto the course in the near future.

Brutal....

That is fine, they don't need to give us Maata... I will take Neal instead

No idea really... I would say that we would take Clemmensen since there is little chance Thomas would report to a team in Canada, especially the Canucks. Then again, wouldn't it be a treat to see his backing up Luongo on the same team More likely, we would take Clemmensen and Thomas would get flipped somewhere else and they have Markstrom learning from Luongo I can imagine that Kesler could be convinced to go to Florida... they will be a player in the near future and it gets him out of the spotlight for a bit. He can sign wherever he wants in two years.

Tinordi will bring that to Montreal next year but with much bigger size. It is true that you can't have enough guys who are hard hitters on your blue line though.

I don't think it is that crazy to believe Ottawa would do this deal (with some other parts going either way likely). I honestly believe you could remake this team with just a few trades. 1. Edler for Ryan - both teams need changes, Jump on the Edler-Karlsson Olympic buzz while it is hot 2. Burrows +(Hansen?) for Emelin - Not sure what we would have to add, but we have plenty of 3rd liners, both players sucking bad this year. Burrows has a better resume to believe he will improve again, Emelin has a greater upside but is also a greater risk to see if he can ever regain form 3. Kesler and Luongo for Bjugstad, Goc and the 2014 1st rounder - Florida wants to spend money and make the playoffs next year. This trade gets them there even without spending the other $20 million extra they have to play around with in the UFA market. Goc is simply a piece to keep us OK for this season as he is a pending UFA. Kesler replaces Bjugstad in their lineup and is much better in the near and medium term. Luongo is far better than who they have or spending $7-9 million on a UFA goalie. All of a sudden we are no worse in the immediate term, and have a much brighter future. Next year: Sedin-Sedin-Ryan/Kassian Shinkaruk or the 1st round pick we get-Bjugstad-Ryan/Kassian Higgins-Horvat-Jensen Richardson-Lain-Sestito Santorelli Hamhuis-Bieksa Garrison-Tanev Emelin-Stanton

That is pretty uncalled for considering how things have shaken down in the past couple years for Luongo. They were pretty tame comments expressing his own feelings.

I have no idea what the team is thinking unless Florida is now in the market for Luongo since they have a ton of money to spend. I know the coach makes the on ice decisions, but his boss should have something to say about this if it means having an extremely unhappy starting goalie and yet another circus. They just have to trade the guy now and move on.

I don't know that is true in the cap world. We would almost certainly have to take some salary back... they would likely be a useful player, albeit likely someone on an expiring contract. It means we don't tank the season for just futures... but get something to keep us going in the meantime as well until at least next season or the season after.

Definitely need a better player coming back in return for a star player. Quantity almost never works out compared to quality. You can fill roster spots around an elite player fairly easily. Decent players get more minutes and improve, young guys get a chance for more meaningful roles, mid-range UFAs are always available. If you get a top player, it trickles down in your lineup making everything better. If we got a top line player, then Burrows gets shuffled to the 2nd line... maybe Higgins back to the 3rd line, Kassian to the 4th. Suddenly you have strengthened every line by inserting one player. A team like Buffalo could afford to take on two solid players in return for one of their top assets because they have so many holes to fill. For us, we have plenty of guys who fit in the roster kind of in the space between the 2nd and 3rd lines (great 3rd liners... but only good enough for temporary 2nd line work).

Yep... that is a good trade, even if we didn't get the 1st round pick (just like us, their mid/late round pick is likely going to be a project at best or just a washout) or if we had to send a serviceable roster player like Hansen their way. With Detroit's scouting staff I would rather THEY make the pick and then we include whomever they choose in the trade. They would look awfully nice if you added Kesler to Datsyuk or Zetterberg's line. Kesler playing the wing with an elite playmaking centre like either of those guys would be ridiculous. Detroit doesn't do that deal to win this year as some folks have suggested, they do it because Kesler is still signed beyond this year and they would have a good chance of re-signing the hometown boy for another contract (they would get a pretty big hint in that direction if he waived his NTC to go there).

Good grief... he can push all he wants, there are few places Luongo would want to go to less than staying here. Either a contender, or somewhere in the East where he can be closer to Florida and family.

Emelin plays a role that we do not have on the team. He hits everything that moves and would cause opposing forwards to think more about their personal safety than making fancy plays. Presumably if you pick him up, then Edler can move now or in the offseason as well.

I think the only guys I probably don't move are: Higgins - good value contract, seems to fit anywhere in the lineup... is our best utility guy. Sedins - Just re-signed them, if they get a decent secondary scoring line... they will have a much better year next year. Bieksa - even when having an off season, can still contribute in other ways. top 4 NHL defencemen are really hard to come by. Hamhuis - steady top 4 on a good contract... if you trade him away a comoparable player will cost you more. I could see the "unconsidered" player being Burrows. Montreal is sucking bad right now so may be ripe for a hockey trade to shake both teams up a little. Add something to that and get Emelin in return.

Montreal's defence has just been atrocious though. Alberts would probably be an upgrade for them On our (healthy) team he is a #7 Hamhuis-Bieksa Edler-Tanev Garrison-Stanton Diaz

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.