< NHL Discussion Thread >
 

Stanley Cup Playoffs are over. Congrats to the Boston Bruins.

Now let's start discussing the offseason.


Can one of the mods please lock the old thread?

I'll kick off the discussion with this article:
http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index....red_wings.html

Jaromir Jagr wants to return to the NHL and Detroit is his preferred destination.

I'd love to see it so long as he doesn't make more than 2 million.

Will this be the year where the Sharks finally pull it off?

Pens will win the cup if Sid and Geno are healthy.


/end homer.

We should each give a rundown of our favorite team's expected offseason moves. I'd like to know how each team stacks up better.

I'll work on Detroit's.

Off the top of my head for Boston:

-Marchand needs to be re-signed
-Kaberle will probably hit the road
-Recchi is gone
-Savard?

Marchand is really the only guy who needs to get re-signed for next year and that will happen. Next offseason we have a lot of contracts up so some guys could be getting extensions soon. We're like 10 million under the cap so we have room to work with.

Detroit Red Wings - Projected Offseason

*I'm projecting a Salary Cap at $62 million.
Salary Figures come from here: http://www.capgeek.com/charts.php?Team=15

Players under contract for 2011-12:
Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, Jiri Hudler, Daniel Cleary, Todd Bertuzzi, Tomas Holmstrom, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Jan Mursak, Brad Stuart, Niklas Kronwall, Jakub Kindl, Jimmy Howard :: Total: $41.36 million (11 forwards, 3 defensemen, 1 goalie)

*Cap space = $20.64 million

Expected to resign (with estimated cap hit):
Nicklas Lidstrom, D, $6 million (expected to return one more year)
Patrick Eaves, W, $1.25 million

Possible re-signs:
Jonathan Ericsson, D
Drew Miller, W
Kris Draper, W (would retire if not resigned)
Chris Osgood, G (would retire if not resigned)

Not Returning:
Mike Modano, Ruslan Salei, Joey MacDonald

Offseason Needs:
- Two defenseman (one top 4 caliber, one third-pairing caliber)
- Two forwards (scoring third line winger, 14th depth forward)
- Backup netminder (and possibly a third goaltender)

Top Five Prospects:
1. Tomas Tatar, W
2. Brendan Smith, D
3. Gustav Nyqvist, F
4. Teemu Pulkkinen, W
5. Riley Sheahan, C

Analysis:
First, I'm hoping the Wings don't bring Draper or Osgood back. As critically important as they've each been to this team's two decade run of success, they just aren't capable of contributing the way the Wings need them to anymore. Sounds like neither will be guaranteed a roster spot and both will likely retire.

The top priority this offseason will be to bring in a replacement for Brian Rafalski (who retired and freed up $6 million). If Lidstrom were to unexpectedly retire, the Wings would have as much as 12 million to spend to replace them. I expect Kevin Bieksa will be targetted in a big way.

Jonathan Ericsson is a possibility to return, but I feel like another team may offer him more money and the Wings will be able to offer a "take it or leave it" offer. Drew Miller is a player they'd like to keep in the fold, but there may not be room for him without a trade of some sort.

Jaromir Jagr has expressed interest in returning to the NHL to play for the Wings. I think that's certainly a possibility, though they won't spend more than $2 million.

The Wings need a backup to Jimmy Howard in net. I expect they'll acquire a solid veteran in search of a Cup, but for no more than $1 million. Howard is the man.

The Wings are looking at about $13 million to spend and two-thirds of that money should be devoted to signing two defensemen. They definitely will need a blueliner capable of running the power play.

The Wild need top talent. Our best player (besides Backstrom) is ******* Cal Clutterbuck. We don't have a single player that scares the other team. We won't bring back Kobasew. Miettinen can be gone as far as I am concerned, we probably won't take him back either. Brunnette would be awesome to bring back, but he is getting up there in years, I dunno if he will come back. John Madden was solid for us this year, but I don't really know if we will take him back, since that would give young guys like Casey Wellman more PT. Hopefully we can use our first rounder on someone with a lot of offensive potential, since we really need that park on offense. I don't know **** about the NHL draft, so I couldn't tell ya who that is.

The Pens really depend on the health of Sid and Geno. If they are healthy and ready to return, then the Pens should have no problem making a deep run with their D and MAF. I hope to sign Mike Rupp back and try and get Tyler Kennedy long term.

On the free agent market, I want Ville Leino or Tomas Kopecky. Troy Bouwer would be a nice pick up if he leaves Chicago and could be a nice 20-20 guy for the Penguins.


I also expect Eric Tangradi to finally make the team out of training camp and be a top 6 forward. I like him with Malkin. From what I understand, they're going to try and put Staal and Geno together somehow.

I also have high hopes for Dustin Jeffery.

Mikko Koivu is our best player.

bruins look to be in good shape, with a lot of young talent. seguin will continue to develop, and hopefully we will see more flashes of elite offensive skills next year. don vito basically said everything thats need to be said about our offseason.... however.....

there is another thing to look forward to... we have the #9 pick in the nhl entry draft... sweet deal, just keep adding the young talent :)

I'm curious. How do Wild fans feel about the possibility of getting shifted to the Central Division? It appears to be a given since the team shifting East after next season is gonna be Nashville or Columbus.

Yeah, Cal was a hyperbole used for effect lol.

I would prefer to stay in the Northwest because I like the rivalries we have with the Oilers and the Canucks, but I dunno, I don't really care too much I guess. It just seems more right to me to be in the Northwest.

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index....red_wings.html


yesssssss


*edit: just saw that xio mentioned it but im still keeping it up cause im that excited. a pp with dats, zeta, jagr, lids, and kronner would be sex

I haven't seen anything that actually says Jagr would prefer Detroit over the other 4 teams that Svoboda has talked to.

"Cal Clutterbuck"

"best player"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no. Mikko Koivu, Martin Havlat and Pierre Marc Bouchard are all ahead of Clutterbuck. Clutterbuck shows a lot of heart, but his offensive skillset is rather limited. He in now way should be the offensive centerpiece of the Wilds offense. They have plenty of people who can pass the puck, what they need is a bonified goal scorer, a la Zach Parise.

I'm creaming my pants over the Ryan Murphy projections at #9.

I love the team Chiarelli has put together. I loved watching people complain about every move he made and ***** about Claude Julien (I couldn't believe there were people who weren't ecstatic about this guy coaching the B's).

Prior to his concussion, I used to argue that Patrice Bergeron is the best player in the NHL. He's back and healthy, and after what he did in the playoffs, I'm sure I have a bit more support for that take.

No, you don't. Because Patrice Bergeron is not the best player in the NHL.

Casey Wellman sucks. Cal Clutterbuck is a good player but not even close to our best. Koivu, Burns, Havlat, Bouchard, Latendresse (when healthy), Cullen, and Zidlicky have all proven to be better. I love Cal (and his insanely cap friendly contract), but that was a huge stretch of a statement.

the devils need to keep Zach Parise or else I will cry and die

Bergeron isn't even the best player on his own team.

Draft next weekend. Who else is excited?

I'm not giving up on Wellman yet, and yeah, it was a stretch, but the point remains.