Looking ahead to the offseason version 4

[dannyb24195]

Trades

• Ryan Callahan traded to the Sabers for a 2015 4th round pick

The more the offseason drags on, the more I think Callahan is goner. I think Buffalo's a good fit for both sides. Callahan is from Rochester and move back north I think is what he wants as well as getting paid which Buffalo will oblige to do. He's also becomes captain of the Sabers and provides a good leader for all the youth they have there.

• Anders Lindback traded to the Flames for John Ramage and a 2014 5th round pick

Flames get a young goalie to pair with Ramo. Bolts get a solid young prospect who plays a stay-at-home style with toughness and character.

• Alex Killorn, Kristers Gudlevskis, Luke Witkowski and a 2014 1st round pick traded to San Jose for Patrick Marleau, Clifford Watson, Christopher Crane and a 2014 3rd round pick

This deal will happen draft day. I think Marleau will be a good addition but he will come costly as the price will be high plus with other teams in on him will drive the price up but with losing Callahan Yzerman needs to acquire a vet forward via trade as they FA market is poor.

I think the Sharks will want a young NHL player in the deal like Killorn. They also want to get younger in the goal and I think Gudlevskis would be they guy who they want. Witkowski will provide a toughness they lack especially on the blueline.

We get a soon to be 35 year old who is still good for 30 + goals and 70 points. I do think despite our strength of offense, I still think we need a boost up front, Marleau will offer more offensively than Callahan.

Watson is a 20 year old who was a 6th round pick back in 2012. Plays his hockey at Sioux Cityin the USHL. A big D man that plays a psychical game and outside of Koekkoek, the bolts lack a lefty shot dman coming through the system and Watson will help to add that depth we need.

Crane, a big enforcer who doesn't have the greatest upside but may make the NHL due to his toughness and gritty style. Crane played under Cooper for the Green Bay Gamblers when Cooper led them to the Clark Cup so Cooper knows what he'll bring and we all know Cooper likes his toughness.


FA

Anton Stralman - 4 Years $18 Mill
Tanner Glass - 2 Years $ 2.2 Mill
Justin Peters - 2 Years $ 2.5 Mill

I really like the way Stralman has played when I've watched him which has been mostly been this postseason but the word out there he's been a consistent performer all year. I like his game, moves the puck, plays a reliable stay-at-home game and plays with a physical edge, he likes to play the body. He's only 27 and just entering his prime I think he and Hedman's game hand in hand.

Glass, we need a bit more toughness and grit and Glass will provide that. He's a good role player, as I said play's with a gritty style, like to get in on the fore-check and hit and tough when it comes to dropping the gloves.

Peters, bolts get a more vet and accomplished backup than Lindback and for less $$$$, Peters would be a good signing, either him, Al Montoya or Chad Johnson but I like Peters, always impresses me when we play them with hi in goal.

Team

Palat-Stamkos-Johnson
Marleau-Filppula-Purcell
Brown-Drouin-Connolly
Glass-Thompson-Panik

Pyatt-Crombeen

Hedman-Stralman
Carle-Gudas
Brewer-Sustr

Barberio

Bishop
Peters

I have Connolly in there over Kucherov. I really think this is the year for Brett Connolly, he had a good camp last year and I think he'll make the team out of camp this year plus giving Kucherov some more seasoning would hurt plus if we have an injury he wouldn't be a bad guy to call up.

 

[I_Shall_Return]

Hey Danny, I don't really see him as a fit in Buffalo because Buffalo has always been an offense of speed & pizzazz (a lot like the Bolts). I remember the 1998 Stanley Cup Final where they were playing the Stars & even back than they were a team of very quick forwards. I don't think of "grit" when I think of Buffalo & I don't think many do (just like grit & the Lightning are seldom in the same sentence). However, a team that has consecutively made it into the playoffs for the past 25 years has "grit" in their arteries & veins. When you think of the Wings you think gritty & can even taste the grit! You also can see that they are a team aging very badly. Holland is absolutely under the gun to improve the team. To say that they are Stanley Cup hungry is an understatement! SY, being from there & being able to grab up my boy Filpp, is probably talking to Holland already. Cally is young, he plays both ends well, he's nasty, he parks himself in front of the oppositions net-minder, he IS what being a Wing is all about, hands down & period. I can't imagine Cally being on a pussyish team like the Bolts or Buffalo at all. All these teams are going to do is try to change his play style & simmer down is edge & grit. Not a win win situation for either side if they try to do this to him. Look at Gudas, for example, was a gritty & nasty mother f#*ker that opposition always took notice when he was on the ice & where he was. No one wanted their head down around him for fear of not seeing the hit coming! Now, he's a goal scorer true but far from being the MONSTER he once was!

And by the way, I still would love to see Killorn in a Bolt sweater more than Panik. Give Dick Panik up & not Killorn! One has talent & the other dreams of it!

 

[I_Shall_Return]

I also don't see the Bolts taking on an old timer at all. They have been weeding out the 30+ crop ever since SY took over. I still say Brewer is the next guy out & I personally like his play because it has much improved! But the fact is that he is the last of the 30+ crop or weeds to SY.

 

[I_Shall_Return]

I do want to say bro that I love all the research that you place into your postings. The info & detail are great! You & Todd usually hit it out of the ballpark when you post. Kudos to you both!

 

[dannyb24195]

I do want to say bro that I love all the research that you place into your postings. The info & detail are great! You & Todd usually hit it out of the ballpark when you post. Kudos to you both!

Cheers dude!

 

[dannyb24195]

I also don't see the Bolts taking on an old timer at all. They have been weeding out the 30+ crop ever since SY took over. I still say Brewer is the next guy out & I personally like his play because it has much improved! But the fact is that he is the last of the 30+ crop or weeds to SY.

I understanding what you are saying totally. He wants a young team but I Yzerman wants to get more experience in the top 6 to replace Marty's leadership. Callahan was a good leader but he isn't a leader that hasn't been there, seen it and done it like Marleau has. I've seen numerous reports saying we have interest in Marleau and a big reason why is because Yzerman respects his game and what he brings, this sounds a lot like last year when he signed Filppula. If Callahan goes which at this point seems likely, I could very well see Marleau being a bolt sweater.

 

[Todd1a]

I understanding what you are saying totally. He wants a young team but I Yzerman wants to get more experience in the top 6 to replace Marty's leadership. Callahan was a good leader but he isn't a leader that hasn't been there, seen it and done it like Marleau has. I've seen numerous reports saying we have interest in Marleau and a big reason why is because Yzerman respects his game and what he brings, this sounds a lot like last year when he signed Filppula. If Callahan goes which at this point seems likely, I could very well see Marleau being a bolt sweater.

With drouin coming I got to say I see us going after marleau also unless we sigh Callahan. I think yzerman wants to add a vet in his top 6 I also see stralman and peters would be a outstanding back up goalie to Ben bishop. But it will take time to become a gritty team adam Erne is a good start drafting him! Jt brown is a up coming gritty guy also we are getting there but we have a ways to go. That's why there is big time effort to resign ryan Callahan right now.

 

[Todd1a]

I do want to say bro that I love all the research that you place into your postings. The info & detail are great! You & Todd usually hit it out of the ballpark when you post. Kudos to you both!

Cheers also

 

[Todd1a]

What about going after steve dowine as a Callahan replacement ?

 

[dannyb24195]

What about going after steve dowine as a Callahan replacement ?

I liked Downie but I think if we need to replace Callahan we need a guy who can provide more offense e.g. Marleau. Downie's a good player but as I said I do think we need to replace Callahan with more offense and although I do like Downie's toughness and gritty game, he's also injury prone, he's only played 84 games the last 4 years.

 

[Todd1a]

I liked Downie but I think if we need to replace Callahan we need a guy who can provide more offense e.g. Marleau. Downie's a good player but as I said I do think we need to replace Callahan with more offense and although I do like Downie's toughness and gritty game, he's also injury prone, he's only played 84 games the last 4 years.

I get the feeling they are planning on drouin being that guy helping with the offense.

 

[dannyb24195]

I get the feeling they are planning on drouin being that guy helping with the offense.

I'm sure they will but I don't know about you but i'd rather have Marleau and Drouin rather than Downie and Drouin. I think we need more scoring depth, we need a bit more consistent secondary scoring.

About this whole Marleau rumor, this talk coming out of San Jose that a Boston could be lining up a Marchand plus more for Marleau. I don't you about you guys but I think Marchand is a very good player and I don't know if Yzerman has a player equivalent to Marchand who he's be willing to give up as the centre part of the return going to other way for Marleau. I'm just going to ask the question what if Marleau slips away from us? Does Yzerman up his offer to Callahan? Does he look at the FA market at a Thomas Vanek or a Matt Moulson? or does he look at the trade market at a James Neal or Evander Kane? Should be interesting to say the least.

 

[Todd1a]

I'm sure they will but I don't know about you but i'd rather have Marleau and Drouin rather than Downie and Drouin. I think we need more scoring depth, we need a bit more consistent secondary scoring.

About this whole Marleau rumor, this talk coming out of San Jose that a Boston could be lining up a Marchand plus more for Marleau. I don't you about you guys but I think Marchand is a very good player and I don't know if Yzerman has a player equivalent to Marchand who he's be willing to give up as the centre part of the return going to other way for Marleau. I'm just going to ask the question what if Marleau slips away from us? Does Yzerman up his offer to Callahan? Does he look at the FA market at a Thomas Vanek or a Matt Moulson? or does he look at the trade market at a James Neal or Evander Kane? Should be interesting to say the least.

Or he might do nothing a bring bret Connolly up full time next year. It's a slow build to a contender yzerman won't trade the farm for a 35 year old marleau. My gut feeling is he looks in FA but not vanek or moulson maybe hemsky dowine etc.

 

[I_Shall_Return]

If the Bolts were going to go after an older veteran player, I'd honestly love to see them seriously go after PK Subban. I really think the players you both mentioned are good but I feel that PK has so much more left in his tank & is even way more gritty than Cally. But I'm really not convinced that the Bolts are looking for over 30 nor grit. We'll see what they do or if they do anything at all. I can't wait for the 5th version and beyond. Very interesting scenarios that really give me something to thing about and hope about in our off season. Cheers guys & thank you both for the great efforts, research & info you pack into each posting!

 

[dannyb24195]

Or he might do nothing a bring bret Connolly up full time next year. It's a slow build to a contender yzerman won't trade the farm for a 35 year old marleau. My gut feeling is he looks in FA but not vanek or moulson maybe hemsky dowine etc.

I just don't like the FA forward group. Vanek, highly skilled but wildly inconsistent and would demand to much. Moulson would be my # 1 choice if we dip into FA, he's a good 2nd line player. Hemsky, highly skilled, but again too inconsistent for my liking. Cammalleri, would be my # 2 choice, good goal scoring ability, good speed and would be a good fit in Cooper's system and but injury prone. I like Downie, I like his toughness and gritty style but to me he's just a solid 3rd line player and he's also injury prone.

I hope Yzerman acquire a forward via trade and acquire a dman in top 4. I think Yzerman is targeting Marleau, but if I were Yzerman I would be targeting James Neal and the Pens are floating that idea around. It would be an expensive trade I imagine, something like Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, Kristers Gudlevskis and a 4th round pick for James Neal and Adam Payerl, something like that may tempt the Pens. With Neal comes a little baggage but provides top end elite skill, a 40 goal scorer and he's just entering his prime. Speed, skill, size, he's tough to play against, he's the type of forward we lack and with a cap hit of $5 mill per with 4 years left on his contract, I think he's just a perfect fit.

As for the top 4 dman in FA, I really like Stralman. It going to be tough to land him because really the FA market is weak, it's # 1 Niskanen and # 2 Stralman regarding Right handed defenseman. I like Stralman's overall game, it's nothing really flashy it's just solid in all aspects and I think it goes hand in hand with Hedman's. I imagine Stralman is looking at a $4.5 - 5 mill per deal over 4 or 5 years so again a another good fir in mu opinion.

Trade Lindback to Calgary, sign Tanner Glass and Justin Peters

Team

Palat-Stamkos-Johnson
Neal-Filppula-Purcell
Brown-Drouin-Connolly
Glass-Thompson-Panik

Payerl/Pyatt-Crombeen

Hedman-Stralman
Carle-Gudas
Brewer-Sustr

Barberio

Bishop
Peters

 

[dannyb24195]

If the Bolts were going to go after an older veteran player, I'd honestly love to see them seriously go after PK Subban. I really think the players you both mentioned are good but I feel that PK has so much more left in his tank & is even way more gritty than Cally. But I'm really not convinced that the Bolts are looking for over 30 nor grit. We'll see what they do or if they do anything at all. I can't wait for the 5th version and beyond. Very interesting scenarios that really give me something to thing about and hope about in our off season. Cheers guys & thank you both for the great efforts, research & info you pack into each posting!

Cheers again dude, keep up the good work also

 

[Todd1a]

I just don't like the FA forward group. Vanek, highly skilled but wildly inconsistent and would demand to much. Moulson would be my # 1 choice if we dip into FA, he's a good 2nd line player. Hemsky, highly skilled, but again too inconsistent for my liking. Cammalleri, would be my # 2 choice, good goal scoring ability, good speed and would be a good fit in Cooper's system and but injury prone. I like Downie, I like his toughness and gritty style but to me he's just a solid 3rd line player and he's also injury prone.

I hope Yzerman acquire a forward via trade and acquire a dman in top 4. I think Yzerman is targeting Marleau, but if I were Yzerman I would be targeting James Neal and the Pens are floating that idea around. It would be an expensive trade I imagine, something like Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, Kristers Gudlevskis and a 4th round pick for James Neal and Adam Payerl, something like that may tempt the Pens. With Neal comes a little baggage but provides top end elite skill, a 40 goal scorer and he's just entering his prime. Speed, skill, size, he's tough to play against, he's the type of forward we lack and with a cap hit of $5 mill per with 4 years left on his contract, I think he's just a perfect fit.

As for the top 4 dman in FA, I really like Stralman. It going to be tough to land him because really the FA market is weak, it's # 1 Niskanen and # 2 Stralman regarding Right handed defenseman. I like Stralman's overall game, it's nothing really flashy it's just solid in all aspects and I think it goes hand in hand with Hedman's. I imagine Stralman is looking at a $4.5 - 5 mill per deal over 4 or 5 years so again a another good fir in mu opinion.

Trade Lindback to Calgary, sign Tanner Glass and Justin Peters

Team

Palat-Stamkos-Johnson
Neal-Filppula-Purcell
Brown-Drouin-Connolly
Glass-Thompson-Panik

Payerl/Pyatt-Crombeen

Hedman-Stralman
Carle-Gudas
Brewer-Sustr

Barberio

Bishop
Peters

still not out of the question in signing callahan I would not give up on that yet. As for monday look for ryan malone to get bought out. So that gives us some room for callahan!

 

[Bolt Fore]

I'm not sure they have to use a buyout on Malone. There must be a clause that nullify's his contract because of his behavior.

 

[Todd1a]

I would guess we will see this next season! lines! I think purcell gets traded for a 3rd round draft pick malone gets bought out or put on waivers.
Palat- Stamkos- Johnson
Drouin- Flipper- kucherov
Killorn- Thompson- Connolly
Jt Brown - Paquette- Panik/ Crombeen

Hedman- Gudas
Carle- Stralman
Brewer- Sustr
Barberio

Bishop
Montoya or justin peters now canes want to keep peters and move cam ward

 

[I_Shall_Return]

I think if the Bolts want grit they should sign Cally, dangle a couple of the skilled young guns & grab PK Subban. Two dilemmas though: 1) Both JT Brown & Cally are RW's. 2) They need a gritty Center.
Otherwise I was thinking:
JT Brown/?/Cally
Gudas/PK
Bishop
This would make 1 Hell of a nasty gritty line!