Updates on Mike Richards, Cody Franson, Steven Stamkos and Alexander Semin, plus the latest on the Leafs, Canucks, Ducks, Stars and more.
Kings and Leafs may have discussed a swap of Mike Richards for Dion Phaneuf.
SPORTSNET.CA: Elliotte Friedman believes a deal between the LA Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs involving Mike Richards and Dion Phaneuf was seriously discussed but the Kings refused to include Tanner Pearson or Tyler Toffoli in the deal…The Anaheim Ducks are expected to go “all in” this season and could make a move by the trade deadline…The Dallas Stars are believed seeking a defenseman with a right-handed shot…The Minnesota Wild are looking at NHL and AHL goalies…Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos said last week his plan is to re-sign with the Lightning. He’s an unrestricted free agent in July 2016 and could seek a deal similar to the eight-year, $84 million deals signed last summer by Chicago’s Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Though it’s possible the Kings might find a trade partner for Richards, the reality is his declining performance and $5.75 million annual cap hit through 2019-2020 makes him difficult to move. Rival clubs will either want them to pick up a healthy chunk of his remaining salary or include another key player in the return. I believe the Kings’ only option is to buy him out in June, which could cost them an average of $1.467 million per season for ten years…I expect the Ducks and Stars will make moves before the deadline. The Ducks could also use another right-handed shot on their blueline…For now, Devan Dubnyk is saving the Wild’s bacon…Stamkos will re-sign with the Lightning, probably this summer, and for over $10 million per season for eight years.
TSN: Darren Dreger reports the Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t decided yet if they’ll be buyers or sellers at the March trade deadline. The next several weeks will determine their status. There’s interest in Leaf UFAs Mike Santorelli and Daniel Winnik, with the Pittsburgh Penguins having made an offer last week for him…Pierre LeBrun reports Cody Franson’s camp believes the Leafs will soon make an offer to the pending UFA defenseman, but LeBrun doubts the Leafs will make an offer close in dollars or term for what Franson can get on the open market. There could be plenty of interest in Franson if he hits the trade block before the deadline… Dreger also claims the Vancouver Canucks have reached out to the Boston Bruins with interest in defenseman Matt Bartkowski.
TORONTO STAR: Dave Feschuk reports Cody Franson is acknowledging he faces an uncertain future with the Leafs. Though he’d prefer to re-sign with them, it admits it’s a possibility he could be dealt at the trade deadline.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I’m calling it now: Cody Franson will be dealt at the March trade deadline. Winnik and Santorelli could also hit the block if the Leafs continue their current tailspin.
THE PROVINCE: Ben Kuzma reports two Bruins scouts attended the Canucks recent game against the Anaheim Ducks. The Bruins need wingers and could have interest in Canucks winger Zack Kassian. Kuzma wonders if the Canucks might ship Kassian to the Bruins for pending UFA blueliner Matt Bartkowski.
ESPN.COM: Pierre LeBrun reports the Vancouver Canucks have taken goaltender Jacob Markstrom off the trade block as they’re impressed by his play with their farm team.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Canucks GM Jim Benning said he’s replace the sidelined Kevin Bieksa with Frank Corrado, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to land another experienced defenseman. The Canucks also need another top-six forward. The Bruins scouts couldn’t have been impressed with Kassian’s poor performance against the Ducks.
NICHOLS ON HOCKEY: TSN’s Darren Dreger wondered if the St. Louis Blues might trade for Toronto’s Joffrey Lupul or Arizona’s Antoine Vermette…Dreger doesn’t believe the Leafs are strongly pursuing Colorado Avalanche forward Ryan O’Reilly…Bob McKenzie believes the bidding will be “fast and furious” leading up to the trade deadline on Carolina’s Andrej Sekera, Toronto’s Cody Franson and Arizona’s Zbynek Michalek. This trio of defensemen are eligible for UFA status this summer and playing for non-playoff clubs… Pierre LeBrun would love to see Jaromir Jagr dealt to the Montreal Canadiens but doesn’t expect it to happen.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Why anyone would want the injury-plagued Lupul and his $5.25 million cap hit through 2018 is beyond me. As for the Blues, they shipped Maxim Lapierre yesterday to Pittsburgh for Marcel Goc, so maybe that’s their big depth move…The Avalanche don’t have to move O’Reilly this season. If they do, there will be considerable interest in him…Jagr’s not coming to Montreal. I don’t see how he’s a fit with the speedy Habs.
NBC SPORTS: Mike Halford cites a series of tweets from Raleigh News & Observer reporter Chip Alexander noting the growing frustration Hurricanes coach Bill Peters feels toward expensive, underperforming forward Alexander Semin. Alexander wonders if demotion and a contract buyout could be in Semin’s future.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Semin’s like Mike Richards, a declining forward with a contract too expensive to trade. He has three more years at $7 million per season left on his contract, and I believe the Hurricanes have no choice but to buy him out in June.
Does it cost the Kings more or less if a team claims Richards on re-entry versus the summer buyout?
There are no more re-entry waivers since the new cba.
Thanks NYR4LIFE I was not aware of that change…
I was amazed then when Canes signed Semin to the 5 year deal. This guy is a classic example of a player that needs to be on a series of one year deals. Good when he’s playing for the contract, that’s it.
Just wondering if the Wild have contacted Buffalo about the keeper they gave up in the Pomniville deal? Hackett is back in the NHL, getting another audition after that bad knee injury last season. I happen to like the kid.
Doing soon me reading yesterday, I found it may be worse to trade Richards VS buying him out because if he retirees before his contact ends the Kings could have up to 4 million a year put onto thier cap unexpectedly.
I think Mike Richards has better odds of becoming a 50 goal scorer before he willingly walks away from that money.
He only would be walking away of a few million dollars as the contract is front loaded. So I do think that’s a risk
He has $6.0 due in 2015/16, 5.5 due in 2016/17, and $4.5 due in 2017/18. That is 16 million in 3 years, A LOT more than a few million….I don’t know too many people walking away from 16 million at what could be the end of their career. I’d say it’s safe to assume Richards is going nowhere for at least the next 3 years.
But apparently the later he retires the worse the hit the Kings absorb because of the cap relief recapture (i.e., toecap hit having been less than the actual salary in the early years)
My gut instinct tells me Mike Richards won’t really care about the cap hit the Kings have to absorb either way. LA can’t force him to retire, and I highly doubt he walks away from that kind of money.
If he did decide to retire, best-case scenario for both parties would be to land him on LTIR somehow, like Philly did with Pronger (although Pronger had a legitimate injury). Richards would still get paid and (I think) that would keep him from showing up against the cap.
With that said, I don’t know how easy it is to fudge LTIR.
just ask boston and marc savard
A few million? You nuts? Waaaaay more than a few million.
Pretty sure if Richards did retire (which I doubt he would), that it would be PHILLY who get hit with the penalty, BC they signed him to that contract, not LA
Richards has a cap hit of $5.75MM.
Only 900,000 – 975,000 of the contract would be taken off the books.
Demoting a player on a one-way contract to the AHL. This savings is calculated as league minimum plus $375,000.
I think it still costs the Kings as a regular buyout, which is a $1.8975 mil cap hit for the next 10 years.
(When you use a regular buyout, its for 1/3 of the hit for 2x the amount of years left…)
THIS is JUST a FISHING TRIP to see IF there IS any interest, whether the Kings are looking to package a goaler with richards to get the contract gobbled up. There are certainly two teams looking for a netminder, but to me that is a stretch with the playoffs coming and a back-up almost necessary. But who knows? Maybe they are deciding IF they can make a push to BE IN the playoffs?
It is hard to figure what goes on in these decisions.
Just because you put a player on waivers doesn’t mean you have to send them down. If they clear, it just means you can.
You have to wonder if the same off ice stuff that was rumored in Philly surfaced in LA.
High cap hit + low production = not needed anymore.
Mike Richards is over 26 years old so his buyout is 2/3 of this contract spread out over twice the remaining years. Under 26 is 1/3
Yeah I realized that after I pushed SUBMIT COMMENT, and there is no going back here, LOL!
Richards could be traded to a team that struggles to make the cap floor. As his contract is front loaded, the last years are very cheap in actual dollars paid for the large cap hit. If you are a team just trying to make the floor, an actual cost of 3M for a 5.75M cap hit is a good deal.
Every one of those teams “struggling to make the cap floor” have good young prospects in their systems which they would be better served offering good “bridge” deals to get to the minimum rather than tossing away money on washed-up veterans.
I agree with both these posts.
Teams like Florida and NYI which used to be cap floor teams are actually putting out a great product this year and they can invest in their younger stars and be really good the next few years. Buffalo and Calgary are getting there as well and should be solid in the next 3 years or so.
To agree with Shazbo, a team like Phoenix might look at this as an opportunity while they try to solve the gongshow that is their organization. Thats the only team I see doing this though.
Arizona has a few of their own top prospects coming through the system like C Max Domi, C Henrik Samuelson, C Laurent Dauphin,C Ryan MacInnis, LW Brendan Perlini, RW Tobias Rieder, D Brandon Gormley and goalie Mark Visentin – all highly regarded. They wouldn’t want to be stuck for the next 4 years with a contract like that of Mike Richards, considering they already have better players coming up for UFA status such as Vermette, Erat and Michalek, who they’d be better served overpaying to bring them to the cap floor, not to mention RFAs like Boedker and McMillan.
Richards couldnt be given away .. He was on waivers and any of the mentioned teams could have had him for nothing. The reason he wasn’t grabbed was because of the term on the contract and other teams trying to leverage their cap space into other assets in the Richards deal.
I doubt any of those struggling teams have interest in a contract like that. Sabres do not need him and I believe Edmonton already publicly said no. I can see him in Calgary seeing they need that depth at forward for a good run in the playoffs. Richards and Kings pick up a mill a year for his contract for Sven Baertschi or John Ramage would be a good deal. Looks like Sven needs a change of scenery.
The thing is team “struggling to meet the Cap Floor” don’t get ANYWAY around the pay-out / Cap hit by simply adding him to their team.
This is not a easy add – you can’t think the Kings pay with a pick or prospect and THAT even being payment enough.
Richards is BIG fat long term contract you eat to acquire some prospect who I have to be certain ISN’T on the top of the Kings list as future top six replacements.
Like I had said before, I felt that the Leafs were chasing Toffoli or Pearson and were willing to take on Richards contract, sending Phanuef the other way…and as CdnKing pointed out…no way LA goes for that deal…I still think there is a deal to be done here, but it mat require the Leafs to make another deal or two first and get some other assets/picks to spruce up the deal and interest LA. If they do manage to flip Kessel, depending on the return, some other players/prospects/picks could be used in a package deal to send Phanuef elsewhere. All this being said I don’t expect that if the Leafs deal for Richards, it is with the expectation that he makes the team better. More that he can play a few seasons while the team restructures and once his buyout hit is more reasonable in 2-3 years (if the cap continues to increase) the Leafs will buy him out. Even in 2-3 years Phanuef’s buyout will be too high. Without a strong supporting cast, he is just an above average-good player making elite money. Put him on a strong team and I think just like any average player, he’ll look that much better.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the intention was to have Richards play on the top line with Kessel.
The thought may have been it would revitalize his game and give the Leafs the two way center the have been looking for.
Richards could cover them long enough to get a kid in this draft to be a long term solution when Richards is really done.
IMHO, a two way center is more valuable than an offensive D-man the Leafs long term success.
Especially if the Leafs are able to retain Franson as a result of doing so. I have a hunch that Franson is waiting to see if Phanuef is dealt, and whether or not he signs an extension with the Leafs will depend on it.
Franson is gone. Whether it is via trade in March, at the end of season, or he walks away as a UFA. Too many hard negotiations with the team coupled with the fact he pushed his level of play up high so he can cash in and the team won’t give him what he could get elsewhere. No hometown discount will work here.
I think everyone is seeing Mike Richards as the 2010 version-not the 2015 version. He has lost any speed he has and can not keep up. He at very best is a 4th liner,
Honestly I’m just looking at him as filler with less of a cap hit than Phanuef. He gives the Leafs more cap space, and he is a gamble. If he regains any of his game, great, if not, he’s a buyout. I’m certain if the Leafs were to deal for him, he wouldn’t be the centerpiece of the deal, but would be required for cap reasons.
I think Nonis would have bought Richards out, saving 5 mill on the capspace and picking up Pearson or Tiffoli in the process. Not sure there is anyway else it would work…the Leafs would still have to extend which ever player amd wouldnt be able to the same as the Kings with out doing ot that way…the same position with more contracts to sign…it would have been Kadri Pearson Franson Bernie, Panik and others with only a mill difference in salary from the swap of Richards for Phaneuf….if that trade would have happened I cant see anyway Richards doesnt get bought out this summer…just my 2 cents and it doesnt matter anyway because its not going to happen but that deal wasnt to land Richards it was an attempt to land Tiffolli, and clear capspace…props to whoever came up with that plan, too bad it didnt work…lol
Glad that the actual report was posted. Earlier it was being suggested that the Kings said no to a Richards for Phaneuf swap. It would be crazy for the Leafs to touch this with a ten foot pole. I can see the Leafs asking for Richards plus Taffoli/Pearson and I can also see why the Kings didn’t want to do this.
It all makes sense now
It’s amazing in toronto how much weight a name carries. Richard was good, capital WAS. Richards only helps leafs by allowing them to rid of a high contract themselves. That’s it he’s not what they need now.
Nonis is an idiot and kinda poor judge on how to build a team… but the onething he is pretty decemt (not horrible anyway) at is geting somekind of value out of some trades if you look at his hostory with the Leafs and Canucks…he just sucks with drafting and contracts for the most part and throws draft picks away a lil to easy…I dont hate his history of trading so much as everything else.
Calgary is rumoured to be trying the same thing. To get Richards and Tifolli or Pearson.
It remains to be seen if Calgary is willing to offer enough to tempt L.A.
If they wanted Richards it could be done for a 7th round pick. And I am not sold that Calgary wanted those players more like they were trying to get LA to take Smid or Engelland back who both have term left.
Well I don’t think Calgary wants Richards but they can handle his cap hit and bring to their team with him one of LA’s promising young players. It be tough to get LA to part with hem but I guess it would depend on who Calgary was willing to give LA.
I’m not looking at the cost for Richards, but the cost for Tiffoll or Pearson adjusted by also picki up Richard.
There is absolutely no deal to be done there. The Kings are not giving up one of their best offensive young guys in Toffoli for a fill in for Voynov. If they had to include Toffoli in the trade I’m sure they’d much rather try and land Yandle or Myers. Kessel I doubt gets traded. The Leafs are better off trying to trade for O’Rielly. They wouldn’t have to take a bad a contract in return. On hockey news it said that the Canucks declined a trade that sent Edler to the Avs for ROR straight up… Toronto should offer up Phaneuf while taking back about $2 million in salary.
Oh n who do they give then?
Give ur head a shake…
I don’t see why the Canucks would want another small defenseman like Bartkowski unless he’s being shipped with a second or third rounder. I’ve given up on Kassian, he needs a Messier type to slam him against the wall and tell him to get his head out of his rear. Maybe Chara can do that!
Absolute crap “rumour”. Maybe Boston was frustrated that they couldn’t steal Kassian for peanuts so they’re poisoning the well.
Hey, latest rumour is Reilly Smith for Yannick Weber! Go run with that.
Why wouldn’t Vancouver want him?
You do realize Benning was one of his supporters in Boston, right?
I completely understand Spector is down on Lupul based on his extremely unlucky injury history. But I do think Lupul will be traded to a contender and get a surprising return. Lupul is an extremely hard working player who makes things happen. It is his driven involvement in the play that likely causes these freak injuries. Lupul is an effective offensive player who elevates the play of his line whether 1st or 2nd. I think a team like Winnipeg will take a long look at him, especially if the asking price is low.
Would be great for the Leafs but I doubt this happens. Unfortunately. Lupul’s injury isn’t a one off and all the other GMs know this.
The asking price will be low but not sure if anyone is gonna take that risk in the CAP era.
Don’t get me wrong, would love to get Lupul off the books to get some of the younger guys signed.
Gotta say that given his inconsistency and terrible injury history I wouldn’t be all that surprised if Lupul passed through waivers with no claim just like Richards did. Lupul can be a very solid player when healthy but paying him what he’s getting paid to play less than half a season as he often seems to is way too much.
Surprising return? Lol ya the surprise being only to Leafs fans that he didn’t get 3 firsts in return.
Lupul is oft injured n overpriced. Untradeable unless draft pick.
I suggested a trade yesterday for Richards and one of their two second round picks (Leafs, Buffalo) to Buffalo for a player (Mitchell or McCormick) and a third round pick.
Maybe instead its Richards and Martin Jones for one of Buffalos two goalies who will both be UFA, Mitchell or McCormick, and a pick. LA gets rid of Richards contract, frees up cap space, gets a decent backup goalie behind Quick (not going anywhere for a long time) and has a draft pick to dangle in a trade if they need to. Buffalo gets a great goalie for the future who they can extend and will be a legit starter and a veteran 2 way centre to help lead the team until they become contenders in 4 to 5 years and have the cap space. It may look lopsided but teams will do that to get rid of long term pressure.
With Hackett waiting in the wings, I do not see a point to BUF landing Jones, nore do I see LA making that downgrade from a great young goalie in Jones to a so-so backup in Neuvirth/Enroth. Especially if they can lock up Jones long term to a reasonable $2-$3m contract.
Why not keep it simple? Hodgson for Richards, both could use the change of scenary, saves LA a bit in cap hit and gives BUF a veteran center to “role model” the young guys the way Gionta does the wingers and Jorges does the D.
McCormick is out for the season with a blood clot.
Like I said yesterday. There is no need for Richards in Buffalo. We have so many centers coming up that he’d just be a very expensive paperweight.
What is nonis and dreger smoking when they say the leafs are sure whether they are buyers or sellers?.? SELLERS! They have to be sellers. And the sooner they start trading off assets the better. They are going to totally screw up there draft position. They may not get eichel or mc david but Hanifan or strome would be a reasonable expectation.
You realize they are cousins right? Dreger just ki da throws things out tjere alot of time to drum things up and alot of time his “sources” are Dave… a Symbiotic relationship like fleas to a hound.
They are distant cousins. They are not real tight.
They are second cousins Scott, Dreger seems like a class act so I can only assume he is very very “tight” with Dave “Nothing Without Burke”Nonis.
And the Leafs are sellers,
Dreger is from my home town. They are acquaintances through the industry. Never had any family connections
Ugg … Red Deer Half way between Heaven (Calgary) and Hell (Edmonton). Just curious or bored at work but how did you become privy to the personal relationships or Mr. Darren Dreger or as I affectionately call him little Bob McKenzie?
Litlle bobo lol
Just for the record I was McKenzie’s paperboy 25 years ago…so I’ve got the inside tract on everything…(I actually was McKenzie’s paperboy 25 years ago…)
Actually to add to my list of useless information he was raised in small town Saskatchewan-Langenburg-where everyone knows everyone. But I regress-as it has absolutely nothing to do with anything.
wouldnt it be funny if we had another nealy?
If Markstrom is off the trade block, then I guess we should assume Lack has now replaced them?
If the Nuck’s should do a trade with Boston, they have to go for Louis Ericsson imo. He’s a good fit with the twins. Given their age, they would make a great 2:nd line. Question is what would be there 1:st?
I bet if they couldn’t sign Verbata, then they might tried to get Loui Ericsson last summer, similar players.
So true, Nucks need to search/groom a #1 center asap. In the meantime, split the twins up and give Hendrik and Verbata a young gun (Jenson, Shinkarick, Virtanan), then Daniel, Bonino, and the remaining prospect/Burrows.
I don’t understand how the Richards situation was allowed to fester to this point. The last 2 seasons were CLEAR indications that he was no longer worth the contract. He should have been bought out last summer. I called for it the last 2 summers. I was not wrong then and I am not wrong now. The Kings have several pieces that would bring back a boat load right now. 2 years from now, they are dead weight too. Williams is the highest on that list.
RE: SPECTOR’S NOTE: Semin’s like Mike Richards, a declining forward with a contract too expensive to trade. He has three more years at $7 million per season left on his contract, and I believe the Hurricanes have no choice but to buy him out in June.
What do you guys think about trade proposals (not considering the “fights” last game (leaf vs Car))
1. On 2015 draft day before carolina picks, they swap their pick (3rd – 5th) + Semin for Phaneuf + Leafs pick (5th – 10th) or they just swap picks (no semin) for franson
These could help both teams. Hypothetically, carolina would need to weight pick vs their league standing while committing to stall bro’s long term.
2. Phaneuf (plus take back salary in a short term player) or Franson/yandle + something, to minnisota wild for matthew dumba.
Again, I assume carolina and minny are not happy with salaries vs standings and would wish for immediate to mid term help to have someone to play with Suter.
Same could be said of nashville (weber) if they did not have dman prospects and were not at the top of the league…obviously they’re ok as they are
Thoughts?
For minn trade, i forgot to mention salary in short term player back to other teams as they are tight to cap, but not impossible
Why exactly would a newly rebuilding team like Arizona and Carolina want someone like Phaneuf? It makes zero sense. The teams you guys should be looking at is Colorado and Edmonton.
So the NHL is adding Corsi Fenwick and other analytics to ther websire and accepting them as stats…this means those stats will be used in contract negotiations…which wasnt the case prior to now. Get used to hearing them.
Can they also get rid of the all-star game? I’ve let this go without saying for DAYS! Had to be said.
What alll star game? I refuse to watch it..luckily there is generally junior hockey on here in town on Sundays or atleast on TV…I just cant stomach another all star game….I even turned off the skills comp this year, its brutal.
Agreed! I had company over (non hockey fans) during the skills competition and I was actually embarrassed….Turned it off. BRUTAL! I did all star weekend in 94 and again in 99…..NEVER again.
I never used to mind the skills comp never liked the game it self but now its jist so fake and gimmiky. I couldnt watch it after the first 15 20 mins.
Lol NYR4life, I too had non hockey friends over and I to was embarrassed for the NHL. I don’t think I will bother with the all star game next year.
Agreed, Shticky and Jeff. Embarrassing. Sad I went to the 94 and 99 weekends. The skills were entertaining and the game didn’t have NFL scores…..Just baseball scores
Spector – This is a general observation on this forum from someone who’s been around for a while…
Your “Spector’s Notes” have really gotten away from what made this rumors page so unique (IE–talking about where players might go). Most of your notes talk about “overpriced”, “hard to move”, “high salary”, etc. We all know that these players are going to move – it’s the nature of the business. We also know that when most NHL player hit 27-30 years old they have higher salaries, cap issues, and probably their points are down. Yet, each year these guys move on to another team to fill a role or turn their play around.
I see it each week with Mike Richards and Chris Stewart in your notes – high salary, hard to move,etc. etc…. As sure as you write your column, it just as sure that these guys will be with another club by the end of the March deadline. I think you should expand your Note section to include IN MY OPINION and put out some rumors about where they “might go” or where you “see a player” going?
First of all, Bart, you’re overgeneralizing my comments. In most cases when I’ve claimed a player is overpriced, hard to move and high-salaried, it’s the truth, which is borne out time and again. Sure, there’s the occasional exception, but by and large I’m proven right. It’s not because I’m smarter than everyone else, but rather, the trade market has become predictable. Expensive players are difficult to move, especially when their skills fail to match their salaries. It’s a salary-cap world now, making it more and more difficult for teams to move their expensive mistakes. As for putting out my own rumors, I’ll leave that to others. I deal only in facts as reported by legitimate media sources, which is the real reason behind my site’s popularity. At times I have suggested where an oft-rumored trade candidate might go. When it comes to expensive, hard to move, overpriced players like Mike Richards and Chris Stewart, I’m merely calling it like it is.
Lol There you go again hating on Buffalo players Spec. It’s not hard to move a player like Chris Stewart. A big PF who can put the puck in the net and can play in all situations, with most of his contract paid off and a UFA at years end IS NOT a hard sell. Richards has what 5 seasons left on his contract? That’s what you call a hard sell, not a PF like Stewart who’s got 0 years left on his contract.
Stewart is a rental n Lyle is not hating on him at all. Buffalo is askin too much for him. So hardly wasy to move him. At best a 2nd or 3rd rounder IMO
Lyle,
Like I mentioned, I’ve followed your column for years and if I got hung up on your comments, I would have become uninterested a long time ago!
My point is that with the current state of the NHL, when a player is “on the block”, more likely than not they are going to move. Since these players are “older” we know they carry a higher salary, numbers are declining, etc. Take a look at last years “most talked about players on the block” and the vast majority moved to a new team. I remember people talking it up about Steve Ott. He’s overpriced and has no impact. I think he settled in well in St. Louis.
Like I mentioned, I value your opinion. I guess it would be interesting if you had a spot in your notes that said “Possible Destinations” etc.
Actually, Bart, the vast majority didn’t move. Ott was an exception, not the rule.
How about:
Kassian/Lack for Coyle/goalie
This deal does absolutely nothing for either team…
Lack and Kuemper are a wash
Coyle’s better than Kassian
Of course Coyle is better…
Lack for Kuemper is ur choice but idc which Minne goalie in return.
LOL HAHAHAHA
Leafs wanted Toffoli or Pearson + Richards for Phaneuf? Pretty sure Lombardi just hung up on Nonis after that.
Well Lomdardi hardly in position to do much. Hang up all he likes but he’s not getting anything without giving.
What about shipping Phaneuf to Edmonton for Phaneuf and Edmonton’s 2nd rounder this season? It wouldn’t be the worst of ideas. What you think Leafs fans? Yakupov is quickly falling out of favor in Edmonton and Phaneuf seems to already have fallen out of favor in Toronto.
Mac T hangs up.
What would you give up? Eberle or Yakupov probably would have to be part of the deal. Unless just give them a couple of prospects like Klefbom or something plus the first the Pens gave them?
For dion….. I think the pens first and the oilers second might work, not yaks or ebs, it just does not make sense for the oilers to move either those guys for dion. Possibly klefbom or Shultz and a pick. Can’t see the leafs doing it, cause they are not a drafting club, more of a quick fix club. Don’t get me wrong, I like dion, I don’t understand why leaf fans have turned on him, he is still the captain. his poor play I think reflects the poor play of the team. Like Taylor hall this year, his numbers are worse than last year, is it due to his play, or the play of the team? The trade you suggest is a salary dump for the leafs, while getting blue chip players in return. Oilers are not going to move yaks or ebs and take on a perceived toxic contract. One thing the oilers management is good at is cap management. IMO, the leafs need to follow suit of the Sabres, avalanche, flames and oilers….. So that why I suggest they get picks back and draft. It would just be really hard for leafs nation to stomach a rebuild. So my proposal has as much a chance as yours. Your trade the oilers don’t bite, my proposal, the leafs don’t bite because they don’t have the patience.
What are you talking about Benning should be fired? Lol Kassian is an absolutely horrible player. He’s like the Canucks version of Kaleta. Getting Bartkowski in return for him is a huge plus.
*NeEly*
@ Johhny Uppercut
Dumbest thing i read here yet.
Why would Richards want a bad injury to appease LA’s cap hit?
I Hope u go on disability n lemme know how u like it LOL