[Proposal] Myers to Florida

[Provost]

Florida is in the unusual position of fighting for the top of their division and really this is a year for them to make some noise.

Ekblad just went down with injury for the season and playoffs.  If they decide they still want to compete instead of folding up shop... would they consider finding a defensive replacement?

Myers is a RD, obviously nowhere near Ekblad... but he is at least a serviceable body that is higher end than some sort of waiver wire fill in.

Could we fashion a trade where we take Stralman and Gudas plus a sweetener (like a 2nd or a top end prospect) in exchange for Myers?

We need to take money back as they don't have a ton of cap space after this year, so taking back two of their D that both have 2 years of term lets them make that deal and have an even stronger defence next season.  We get two serviceable guys and much shorter term liability.  They both give us the minimum expansion eligible D to expose, and we still have extra protection slots to upgrade.  We get a ton of cap space after next season.

So a proposal:

To Florida
Myers 

To Vancouver
Stralman
Gudas
2nd round pick/high end prospect

 

[Coconuts]

I'm a proponent of retaining Myers, as I he brings a number of valuable elements to our D core, but if Florida's prepared to pay a good price it's something to examine. 

 

I'd rather offer up our 2nd in exchange for their 1st than take a 2nd. Stralman is currently negative value imo, having passed through waivers at 34, with an extra year on his deal at 4.3M. They're paying him to not play at the NHL level right now, we'd be doing them a favour taking him on top of giving them Myers. I'm not sure they'd want to give up Gudas tbh as he'd be good for them, they'd just be opening another hole. They might be prepared to take Myers and use the LTIR they'll get from Ekblad, and sort out their cap once the season is over? Or maybe give them Benn to slot in for Gudas?

 

Maybe Myers, Benn, and a 2nd for Stralman, Gudas, and a 1st? Taking on Benn would give them someone to replace Gudas, and his expiring contract would give them some cap flex going forward? 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Coconuts

[Coconuts]

Or maybe just Myers and a 2nd for Stralman and a 1st if the cap works? Gives us cap flex and a 1st while Florida gets a younger upgrade on their RD and moves a player they aren't even utilizing. 

 

Hell, maybe make that Myers and a 2nd for Stralman, a 1st, and a 3rd or 4th if we're operating under the context of Myers holding value as a top 4RD to a team who just lost their #1RD. 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Coconuts

[AV.]

If Dale Tallon was still running things, I'd say this could have wheels.  With that said, I don't think Myers would be somebody they would target under this new regime, even with Ekblad going down.  Logically, Stralman will probably return to the lineup and if not, they'd probably target somebody more short-term and cheaper than Myers.

[qwijibo]

4 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

Or maybe just Myers and a 2nd for Stralman and a 1st if the cap works? Gives us cap flex and a 1st while Florida gets a younger upgrade on their RD and moves a player they aren't even utilizing. 

 

Hell, maybe make that Myers and a 2nd for Stralman, a 1st, and a 3rd or 4th if we're operating under the context of Myers holding value as a top 4RD to a team who just lost their #1RD. 

Is Myers that big an upgrade on Stralman?  Ask so, Stralman has a 16 team NTC.  It wouldn’t shock me if every Canadian team was on the list.  If that’s the case I can’t see him waiving   Why go from a team that will make the playoffs to one that most likely won’t?  Then factor in weather and taxes.  He’d be a moron to waive 

[Provost]

1 minute ago, qwijibo said:

Is Myers that big an upgrade on Stralman?  Ask so, Stralman has a 16 team NTC.  It wouldn’t shock me if every Canadian team was on the list.  If that’s the case I can’t see him waiving   Why go from a team that will make the playoffs to one that most likely won’t?  Then factor in weather and taxes.  He’d be a moron to waive 

Well right now he just got waived... so playing in the NHL is better than not?  No idea if they will just bring him back up with the Ekblad injury or have lost faith in him to the point where they waived him and kept Forsling on the roster even though there wasn't a cap crunch.

[Coconuts]

14 minutes ago, Alain Vigneault said:

If Dale Tallon was still running things, I'd say this could have wheels.  With that said, I don't think Myers would be somebody they would target under this new regime, even with Ekblad going down.  Logically, Stralman will probably return to the lineup and if not, they'd probably target somebody more short-term and cheaper than Myers.

Depends on what the market is imo and who's available on the market as far as top 4D go. Are they confident that bringing up Stralman, someone they waived, is going to be a suitable plug in Ekblad's spot at age 34? It's the cost effective way to do things, but for a team like Florida who often misses out on the playoffs, is cost effective the mandate? 

 

They ain't getting a top 4RD from teams jockeying for the playoffs which further limits the pool of potential acquisitions. But yeah, I'd lean towards it not happening for sure. 

6 minutes ago, qwijibo said:

Is Myers that big an upgrade on Stralman?  Ask so, Stralman has a 16 team NTC.  It wouldn’t shock me if every Canadian team was on the list.  If that’s the case I can’t see him waiving   Why go from a team that will make the playoffs to one that most likely won’t?  Then factor in weather and taxes.  He’d be a moron to waive 

If you've been waived from the NHL are you, as Stralman, going to be as picky about where you're going? I'd think not, but who knows. 

 

Stralman isn't an Ekblad replacement as far as size goes, Ekblad being 6'4" and 215ish while Stralman is 5'11" at like 186. Myers has size. Myers is younger, Stralman will be 35 in August whereas Myers just turned 31 in February. Two points in Myers's favour. Obviously Stralman has shorter term at less dollars, but Myers should play respectable hockey for a while yet. Should Florida be comfortable slotting Stralman back into a top 4 role after waiving him? Hard to say what Florida thinks, but I'd consider Myers an upgrade. 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Coconuts

[NewbieCanuckFan]

4 minutes ago, Provost said:

Well right now he just got waived... so playing in the NHL is better than not?  No idea if they will just bring him back up with the Ekblad injury or have lost faith in him to the point where they waived him and kept Forsling on the roster even though there wasn't a cap crunch.

They kept Forsling because he was playing like a top 4 D should.  Man what a bad trade that was (Clendening for Forsling).

[qwijibo]

3 minutes ago, Provost said:

Well right now he just got waived... so playing in the NHL is better than not?  No idea if they will just bring him back up with the Ekblad injury or have lost faith in him to the point where they waived him and kept Forsling on the roster even though there wasn't a cap crunch.

Florida was at the 23 player maximum.  They likely thought they could sneak him through waivers to the taxi squad rather than losing a younger player.  A lot of good players have gone through waivers this year to go to the taxi squad.  Stralman has played 29 games for them this year.  The games he hadn’t played were mostly due to injury. I doubt the waivers affected his psyche thst much 

[qwijibo]

2 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

Depends on what the market is imo and who's available on the market as far as top 4D go. Are they confident that bringing up Stralman, someone they waived, is going to be a suitable plug in Ekblad's spot at age 34? It's the cost effective way to do things, but for a team like Florida who often misses out on the playoffs, is cost effective the mandate? 

 

They ain't getting a top 4RD from teams jockeying for the playoffs which further limits the pool of potential acquisitions. But yeah, I'd lean towards it not happening for sure. 

If you've been waived from the NHL are you, as Stralman, going to be as picky about where you're going? I'd think not, but who knows. 

 

Stralman isn't an Ekblad replacement as far as size goes, Ekblad being 6'4" and 215ish while Stralman is 5'11" at like 186. Myers has size. Myers is younger, Stralman will be 35 in August whereas Myers just turned 31 in February. Two points in Myers's favour. Obviously Stralman has shorter term at less dollars, but Myers should play respectable hockey for a while yet. Should Florida be comfortable slotting Stralman back into a top 4 role after waiving him? Hard to say what Florida thinks, but I'd consider Myers an upgrade. 

 

 

See my response above regarding the circumstances of his being waived. The taxi squad means  all waivers are equal this season. 

[Coconuts]

8 minutes ago, qwijibo said:

See my response above regarding the circumstances of his being waived. The taxi squad means  all waivers are equal this season. 

Fair, but I'd still consider Myers an upgrade. Does Florida feel comfortable jockeying for the playoffs with that D? Or confident they can win a round? Hard to say, but losing Ekblad is devastating and this version of Stralman ain't going to do much towards filling that void. He's not higher end Tampa Stralman anymore. 

 

The NTC is troublesome, no question. But if Florida approaches him about it, who knows. Does he want to stay if they make it known they'd like to move him? Being waived to a taxi squad and being asked to waive one's clause are different things. It's likely the move doesn't happen, but who knows. 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Coconuts

[qwijibo]

1 minute ago, Coconuts said:

Fair, but I'd still consider Myers an upgrade. Does Florida feel comfortable jockeying for the playoffs with that D? Or confident they can win a round? Hard to say, but losing Ekblad is devastating and this version of Stralman ain't going to do much towards filling that void. He's not Tampa Stralman anymore. 

 

The NTC is troublesome, no question. But if Florida approaches him about it, who knows. Does he want to stay if they make it known they'd like to move him? Being waived to a taxi squad and being asked to waive one's clause are different things. It's unlikely the move doesn't happen, but who knows. 

He’s sm upgrade. But big enough to justify taking on the extra cap and swapping their 1st for Vancouver’s 2nd?  I’m not so sure.  And I honestly don’t think he’d waive if Vancouver was on his list of 16 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

3 minutes ago, qwijibo said:

He’s sm upgrade. But big enough to justify taking on the extra cap and swapping their 1st for Vancouver’s 2nd?  I’m not so sure.  And I honestly don’t think he’d waive if Vancouver was on his list of 16 

I honestly think they'll give additional minutes/responsibilities to Forsling first & see how he handles it; particularly before taking on a contract the size of Myers (pocket change to our owner but not so much to another owner).

Edited March 29, 2021 by NewbieCanuckFan

[qwijibo]

Just now, NewbieCanuckFan said:

I honestly think they'll give additional minutes/responsibilities to Forsling first & see how he handles it; particularly before taking on a contract they size of Myers (pocket change to our owner but not so much to another owner).

Yeah.  I think they’ll look to their system before trading for a big contract 

[Coconuts]

8 minutes ago, qwijibo said:

He’s sm upgrade. But big enough to justify taking on the extra cap and swapping their 1st for Vancouver’s 2nd?  I’m not so sure.  And I honestly don’t think he’d waive if Vancouver was on his list of 16 

I mean, that depends entirely on whether Florida's interested in acquiring outside help or not and what the market for top 4RD is as well as player availability with teams still jockeying for playoff position. 

 

And maybe not, but we're all speculating at this point anyway. 

6 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

I honestly think they'll give additional minutes/responsibilities to Forsling first & see how he handles it; particularly before taking on a contract they size of Myers (pocket change to our owner but not so much to another owner).

Who's minutes does Forsling eat though as a LD? What changes on their left side? Ekblad's a RD going down, does Forsling play his off side?

Edited March 29, 2021 by Coconuts

[86Viking]

I am 100% behind this, take on a shorter deal with Gudas OR Stralman....save us some cap space but not both imo. Then get a decent draft pick or a decent prospect in return. I will pick up Myers family in Kelowna and take them to the airport!

 

I would entertain taking Connolly back if we can send Roussel to them or something in the deal also

[NewbieCanuckFan]

12 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

And maybe not, but we're all speculating at this point anyway. 

Who's minutes does Forsling eat though as a LD? What changes on their left side? Ekblad's a RD going down, does Forsling play his off side?

Flyers got the Finals once with all LD defensemen (granted one of those LD was Chris Pronger ).  It's something coaches prefer but I don't they'll put in an inferior D just because he happens to play that side.  And I think they'll spread the minutes around a bit (didn't mean to imply Forsling would suddenly be playing close to 30 minutes a game).  Myers isn't exactly Kevin Bieksa in his prime in any event.

Edited March 29, 2021 by NewbieCanuckFan

[Coconuts]

5 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

Flyers got the Finals once with all LD defensemen (granted one of those LD was Chris Pronger ).  It's something coaches prefer but I don't they'll put in an inferior D just because he happens to play that side.  And I think they'll spread the minutes around a bit (didn't mean to imply Forsling would suddenly be playing close to 30 minutes a game).  Myers isn't exactly Kevin Bieksa in his prime in any event.

That's fair, there's no rule saying they've got a have an RD quota 

 

In any case, it'll be interesting to see what happens with Florida, it'd be funny to see them make the playoffs and play spoiler

[NewbieCanuckFan]

5 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

That's fair, there's no rule saying they've got a have an RD quota 

 

In any case, it'll be interesting to see what happens with Florida, it'd be funny to see them make the playoffs and play spoiler

To be honest, I'd prefer to keep Myers.  I realize we should be "sellers" but want to avoid an Oilers situation where there aren't any decent vets to surround our developing players.

Edited March 30, 2021 by NewbieCanuckFan

[KirkSave]

Myers chose Vancouver specifically because he wanted his wife and daughter to be close to her hometown and family in Kelowna. Unless they really put the pressure and make some sort of ultimatum, no way would he be willing to go to Florida now that they've been back in BC, in such a good spot for his family connections/family life.

 

Florida is sooooo far from the OKGN. I know Myers has a M-NTC and I bet the Florida teams are on his no go list.