NHL Off-season Thread

[notyoueither]

Wow

I was expecting Lowe to make an offer on Eminger (Wash) but there was a lot of buzz about Vanek yesterday, so...

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=212929&hubname=

Oilers sign Vanek to offer, Sabres match
TSN.ca Staff with files
7/6/2007 12:34:16 PM

The Edmonton Oilers made a huge splash in the restricted free agent pool, and the Buffalo Sabres were quick to calm the waters.

The Oilers signed forward Thomas Vanek to a seven-year, $50 million offer sheet, a signing that carried a price tag of four first round picks. Sabres general manager Darcy Regier called a media conference on Friday afternoon to announce that the team would match the offer.

The deal will pay Vanek $5 million in the first two seasons, and $6.4 million in each of the following five seasons. The contract will also pay him a $5 million and $3 million signing bonus in the first two years.

Vanek, drafted fifth overall by Buffalo in 2003, made $942,000 US last season. The native of Austria finished fifth in the league in goals with 43 and 19th in points with 84 in only his second NHL campaign. In two seasons with the Sabres, Vanek has registered 68 goals and 64 assists in 163 career games.

The Vanek signing marks the second time in as many years that a team has tried to land another club's restricted free agent. Last year, the Philadelphia Flyers offered Ryan Kesler a $1.9 million US deal that was easily matched by the Vancouver Canucks.

It has been a tough off-season for the Sabres, who have already lost forwards Chris Drury, Daniel Briere and Dainus Zubrus, all of whom were unrestricted free agents. Drury signed a $35.25-million, five-year deal with the New York Rangers, Briere signed a $52-million, eight-year contract with Philadelphia while the New Jersey Devils signed Zubrus to a $20.4-million, six-year deal.

[Kontiki]

Edmonton really can't catch a break, can they.

[notyoueither]

This one is no big deal. At least the player was willing to sign here.

Lowe most likely knew Buffalo would match, but he wants to drive up the salaries of the 'safe' players so that the 'big market' clubs will have less cap room to vacuum up all the best UFAs (I think that's why he did it, anyway). He most likely also wants to break the taboo on this as a practice.

The Oilers have tons of cap room and lots of cash. They need to push the dynamics towards fewer big names at each club to be able to compete with geography. Maybe some other teams having problems attracting FAs will follow suit.

I'm pretty sure there'll be more.

[cinch]

What a circus!

[Brundlefly]

Last year Flyers had no one who could step up as a leader when Forsberg was off the ice indefinitely and then traded. Now, through, offseason trades they have acquired the captains from 3 other teams: Timonnen(Nashville), Smith(Edmonton), Briere(Buffalo).. Which of those would you give the 'C' to?

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by cinch
What a circus!

No other thoughts?

Originally posted by Brundlefly
Last year Flyers had no one who could step up as a leader when Forsberg was off the ice indefinitely and then traded. Now, through, offseason trades they have acquired the captains from 3 other teams: Timonnen(Nashville), Smith(Edmonton), Briere(Buffalo).. Which of those would you give the 'C' to?

Smith would not be a bad choice, but it depends on what you want to reward/encourage.

[cinch]

Originally posted by notyoueither


No other thoughts?

Well, what can be said, really?

Would I love to have Vanek? Of course!

Would I love to pay him $7m+? No, but I could live with it.

Would I give up FOUR first round picks for him? No, probably not... Not when we're rebuilding! Of course, we draft like morons (Niiniimaaki?), but nevertheless...

So, I mean, we can't do nothing, so I get why Lowe would want to take risks. But the team management already has a bad reputation (the Smyth & Sykora situations, et. al.), and this just burns more bridges.

Do I think doing the same to Parise or Penner is going to work? No.

Our best bet is just to wait and hope for arbitration scraps that we can scavenge. Trading Rolie at the deadline will also be a good idea, when the time comes.

[notyoueither]

Assuming no new signings, where do you put the Oilers in the conference?

[cinch]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Assuming no new signings, where do you put the Oilers in the conference?

With no new signings, I'd be hard pressed to see how we'd stay out of 15th. I don't want to sound theatrically pessimistic, but we'll NEED at least 2 or 3 more players to even compete. If we can get one or two depth defensemen and some forwards (perhaps even one who can score?), we might be able to challenge for 11th or 12th.

The Depth Chart (as of today):

Raffi Torres--Shawn Horcoff--Ales Hemsky
Geoff Sanderson--Jarrett Stoll--Fernando Pisani
Ethan Moreau--Marty Reasoner--????
Patrick Thoresen--M.A. Pouliot--J.F. Jacques (on his OFF wing!)/Zack Stortini (AHLer!)

Wildcard centers: Robert Nilsson, Ryan O'Marra, Rob Schremp

Pitkanen--Smid
Tarnstrom--Staios
Gilbert--Greene

Roloson
Garon

**************************

That's just not good enough. Torres and Horcoff are not first line material, and I doubt they ever will be. Torres can be a really good second liner if he tones down the coke habit. Horcs COULD be a decent second-line center if he had someone kicking (rather than kissing) his ass along the way. Sanderson and Pisani are also not really second-line material. Sanderson was, and might be okay filler for now, but he's not that dependable. Pisani's a great third liner... and that's it. Moreau and Reasoner are solid checkers; no problems there. Thoresen and Jacques are good young guys, but I wouldn't expect them to carry the team to greatness. I expect Pouliot to put up decent numbers this year (maybe 10 goals, 20-30 assists, with decent +/-).

Schremp, Nilsson, and O'Marra are too tough to call right now. I'd wager that 2 out of the 3 won't play much for the big squad next year. Schremp still needs to prove he has his head screwed on right. Nilsson and O'Marra could be really good players someday, but I doubt they'll be challenging for the Calder. If one of them can have a standout (within reason) rookie campaign, I'll be happy.

Our defence is okay, but nothing to write home about. I love Pitkanen and Smid. Tarnstrom's a good pickup. But we don't have much in the way of 'shut-down' guys. Pitkanen and Tarnstrom will be our PP guys. Smid is good all-around, but he's not that deadly against the other team's top line. Staios is a good shut-down guy on his good days, and on the his bad days... Well, you know. Greene is a monster, which is both good and bad. He still doesn't have the hockey smarts to be more than a bruiser, though. Gilbert is just a big "?".

________________________________________

So, in my humble opinion, this team desperately needs some scoring touch up front and some shut-down power on D. For the latter, I'd like to see Lowe make an offer for Ossi Vaananen and/or Danny Markov, both of whom haven't yet been signed, I think. Now, as for the scoring forwards... There's just not much left. Unless Lowe can wheel and deal some sort of big trade--but what is there left to trade?--we're just going to have to settle for risky C-level UFAs (or, if we're lucky, arbitration scraps)...

Does anybody miss... Anson Carter?

Sadly, this is the level we've reached. At the end of the day, we'll just need some warm bodies so that we can ice a full team for every game.

And that's why I think we'll be in the cellar unless something is done. Even something little--e.g., Carter & Vaananen--might be enough to stem the tide and make a push for 12th... But it would take a helluva lot more to make for the playoffs.

[cinch]

Also, to clarify: I'm quite all right with the Oilers not making the playoffs for the next year or two. We're rebuildings--that's cool, and I'm okay with that. It's just that I'd at least like to see the team improve somewhat from last year. This summer has been a big step back, not a sacrifice for the future. And that's what makes it such a disappointment.

We didn't need the Gomezes and Druries of the world this summer. We needed key young pieces of the puzzle--your Tom Preissings, your Dainius Zubruses, etc. But we couldn't even scrape that together. And so it looks like it might be a bit longer of a road back to the postseason than I originally anticipated.

[Kontiki]

Oh man, this is classic

Alexei Yashin, according to his agent Mark Gandler, is not happy with the contract offers he has received from NHL teams.

''We are still talking to some teams. So far the offers we have received we are not happy with,'' Gandler said in an interview with CKNW Radio in Vancouver. ''If we are not going to get what we are looking for, then he (Yashin) will definitely go to Russia.''

Gandler went on to say that he was looking to get near market value for Yashin and wouldn't take a fraction of market value just because Yashin got a buyout from the New York Islanders.

''I think that what's making an impression on the teams is the fact that he received this huge buyout. I don't know what else is weighing on them.''

''I'm looking at players who are older and less productive and they are getting significant salaries. He just does not want to be the whipping boy. That's just not going to happen.''

Despite his disappointment with the offers so far, Gandler says there is still interest in Yashin.

''We have some ongoing discussions with some teams that are pursuing Alexei seriously, but as I said the level of which they are doing so does not make sense for us,'' Gandler told the Vancouver radio station.

Yashin had 18 goals and 32 assists this season, when he missed 24 games with a sprained right knee. He was scoreless in the Islanders' five-game first-round playoff loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by cinch
Also, to clarify: I'm quite all right with the Oilers not making the playoffs for the next year or two. We're rebuildings--that's cool, and I'm okay with that. It's just that I'd at least like to see the team improve somewhat from last year. This summer has been a big step back, not a sacrifice for the future. And that's what makes it such a disappointment.

We didn't need the Gomezes and Druries of the world this summer. We needed key young pieces of the puzzle--your Tom Preissings, your Dainius Zubruses, etc. But we couldn't even scrape that together. And so it looks like it might be a bit longer of a road back to the postseason than I originally anticipated.

Pretty reasonable. This post and the last.

Only thing I'd say is that Pitkanen is a step in the right direction. If there's no playoffs this year or next, I'd prefer the Oilers cash in their older chips for younger ones (that includes both Sm*th trades).

Clinging to 8th (with some luck) isn't my idea of a future.

[cinch]

I can drink to that. (And the booze might be necessary...)

[notyoueither]

Way ahead of you.

:beer:

*hic

[Lord Avalon]

So Anaheim & LA are opening the season with two games in London, Sept 29-30

Anaheim then visits Detroit on Oct 3.