Proposal- Addressing The Issues

[bobby loocid dreamer]

Going into the trade deadline I thought we had 2 weaknesses- we lacked a big mean body who can play in the top 6 and we lacked a true defenseman that can lead.

I thought we had solved one of our weaknesses in getting Kassian but AV did not use him appropriately in the playoffs. We have a strong defense that plays by commitee but we lack that leader who will play 30 minutes a night. Edler may be that leader eventually but I dont think he is ever going to be a true star.

With that in mind here are my offseason moves.

To Van: Teddy Purcell, Mattias Ohlund

To TBL: Mason Raymond, Roberto Luongo

Tampa needs a goaltender as badly as anyone. They are the ideal trade partner for us. In return we get a legitimate top 6 player to play next to Kesler who can acutally pass. For cap reasons we would need to take some salary back which means Brewer or Ohlund. Preferably we would get Ohlund here.

To Van: Shea Weber (RFA)

To Nas: Alex Edler, 1st Round Pick

We need a legitimate 1A Defenseman to log big minutes in every situtation. Shea is that guy. The only reason I think we have a chance is that he is an RFA and we are willing to give an excellent player in Edler in return. Shea would come to Vancouver to play close to home.

To Van: Matt Martin

To NYI: Chris Higgins

I like Higgins. He plays hard. But we need to beef up our 4th line and he is not a 4th line player. Martin hits everything that moves. Put Martin next to Lapierre and Weise and that is energy, speed and a line that demands the other team keep their head up. NYI gets a very good player with a nice cap so they would do this too!

We buy out Manny Malhotra.

So here it is- My hopeful line up.

FORWARDS

Daniel Sedin ($6.100m) / Henrik Sedin ($6.100m) / Alexandre Burrows ($2.000m)

David Booth ($4.250m) / Ryan Kesler ($5.000m) / Teddy Purcell ($2.363m)

Jannik Hansen ($1.350m) / Samuel Pahlsson ($2.250m) / Zack Kassian ($0.870m)

Dale Weise ($0.700m) / Maxim Lapierre ($1.000m) / Matt Martin ($0.900m)

Aaron Volpatti ($0.725m) /

DEFENSEMEN

Kevin Bieksa ($4.600m) / Dan Hamhuis ($4.500m)

Mattias Ohlund ($3.607m) / Shea Weber ($6.900m)

Keith Ballard ($4.200m) / Chris Tanev ($0.900m)

Andrew Alberts ($1.225m) /

GOALTENDERS

Cory Schneider ($3.500m)

Eddie Lack ($1.000m)

BUYOUTS

Manny Malhotra ($0.833m)

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CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)

(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)

SALARY CAP: $65,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $64,872,976; BONUSES: $0

CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $127,024

[shawn antoski]

-as much as I used to like Ohlund, I think his career is winding down, he has has some pretty serious injuries over the last 3 years.

I wish willi mitchel didnt resign, id take him in a heart beat

-the shea webber trade will not happen... There is no wayyyyyyy Nashville will trade him to a rival

-I have been making proposals for Martin for the last 2 years. The guys a beast

But I dont think NYI will trade him hes a big part of that locker room

and I'd rather keep Higgins, he is a very versatile player, had the same value as burrows to me

[elvis15]

Ohlund had double knee surgery and didn't play for most of the season. There's no way anyone trades for him unless it's the final year of his deal and he's proven he can stay healthy. He still has 4 more years on his deal, and the only bonus to that is it's not a 35+ contract. He either doesn't play due to injuries and costs us cap space, or retires and we lose an asset. Gillis was right to let him go when he wanted the amount he did.

I'd rather keep Higgins for the 3rd than trade for Martin to go to the 4th. We have plenty of depth wingers for the 4th already.

We might get Weber for something similar to that, but we aren't going to buy out Malhotra.

To summarize, I've seen worse, but I don't see this happening.

[Stark]

Tampa is already thin on D and Ohlund is getting old and more injury prone.

And the Weber trade will never happen. Edler and a late 1st round pick will not grab you Weber, even with his RFA status.

And you want to trade Higgins, who has arguably been our best player and hardest worker out there night in and night out? I'd rather look towards free agency to acquire the big body you speak of.