An update on Mike Fisher, how quickly the Devils new GM Ray Shero can turn his club around and more Flyers speculation.
Predators GM hopes to re-sign Fisher.
Predators GM hopes to re-sign Mike Fisher.
THE TENNESSEAN: Adam Vingan reports Nashville Predators GM David Poile is making re-signing center Mike Fisher a priority. Poile said he’d love to bring back Fisher, who’s an unrestricted free agent this summer. Fisher, who joined the Predators in a mid-season trade in 2011, also expressed the hope of re-signing. He missed the first 21 games of this season to offseason Achilles surgery and three playoff games to a groin injury. When healthy, however, Fisher was productive this season. Vingan suggests an extension similar to Fisher’s current two-year, $8.4 million contract sounds plausible.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Given the mutual willingness of both sides in getting a deal done, as long as Fisher doesn’t demand a significant pay raise, he will likely be re-signed before July 1. He’s also married to country star Carrie Underwood, so there’s family incentive to re-sign with the Predators. I’ll be very surprised if he departs via free agency.
No quick turnaround for the Devils?
NJ.COM: Rich Chere reports Ray Shero, who replaced Lou Lamoriello as New Jersey Devils general manager, won’t make moves that hurt the club’s long-term future in hopes of bringing about a quick turnaround to their current fortunes. Shero’s first task is finding a new head coach, following by bolstering the Devils’ anemic offense.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I think Shero will consider drawing upon the Devils’ depth in young defensemen to land a young scoring forward. He could also peddle the club’s first-round pick, which is currently sixth overall, for a young scorer.
Latest on the Flyers.
CSNPHILLY.COM: Tom Dougherty recently responded to some reader’s questions about the Philadelphia Flyers’ offseason plans. While the Flyers would love to trade away center Vincent Lecavalier to free up cap space, Dougherty suggests that might not happen. He believes GM Ron Hextall will try to find trade suitors for defensemen Luke Schenn and Nicklas Grossmann, but doesn’t see any takers for blueliner Andy MacDonald’s hefty contract. Moving Schenn and/or Grossmann will free up cap space to promote one or two young blueliners like Shayne Gostisbehere, Samuel Morin, Travis Sanheim and Robert Hagg.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: If Hextall doesn’t want to buy out Lecavalier, he’ll either have to pick up half his remaining salary or take back another toxic contract to move him. It’s possible Lecavalier could be dealt to a club which needs to reach the salary cap floor, except that those teams can easily reach it simply by re-signing their key players and making a free-agent addition or two. Schenn or Grossmann have better trade value, though there won’t be many general managers beating down the doors for either guy. I’m not suggesting they can’t be dealt, only that it won’t be easy.
All this talk about holding back portions of the cap hit/salary for albatross contracts or sending them to clubs needing to spend to get to the cap floor is just that – media speculation with no basis in fact other than the ubiquitous “informed sources tell me” – at least where the big-ticket contracts are concerned. Yeah, I know, the teams with low cap hits as of now (Arizona, Buffalo etc) need to bring in some big hits just to reach the cap floor, but as Lyle says, they can do that by making deals for “one year to go” contracts like Legwand and Greening or pluck a couple off the UFA list who will be in the “beggars can’t be choosers” category as Raymond was two years ago and Booth last year and who won’t turn their noses up at one or two year deals anywhere. But why would they bring in high-end long-term deals just to reach the cap floor next season? They’ll soon have their own UFAs/RFAs to sign, not to mention high draft picks and having players like Lecavalier ($4.5 to 2017-18), Kessel ($8 mil to 20121-22), Lupul ($5,250,000 to 2017-18), Phaneuf ($7 mil to 2020-21), Clowe (4,850,000 to 2017-18 (IF he even plays again), Weiss ($4,900,000 to 2017-18), Richards ($5,750,000 to 2019-20) and Semin ($7 mil to 2017-18). And before the Leafs fans jump down my throat because I again mention Kessel and Phaneuf, I remind you, there’s a fundamental reason why their names are prominent in the Leafs house-cleaning and while both have skills that could be attractive to some top teams, their own cap issues get in the way. I may be wrong, but I just don’t see any of those names moving this summer.
the only thing i could say in regards to a kessel type player is if Spezza, Nash and Gaborik could be traded, im sure Kessel could be also. even for 8mil hes a premier goal scorer and that’s all he will ever be. not a captain or anything else like that, but gaborik was moved twice or 3 times and im sure it could happen again and they are almost identical.
That said, leafs fans need to lower their expectations of return on Kessel. the only thing coming back in a cap world would be a wasted overpaid bum, a couple mid prospects, or a mid prospect and a pick(mid or later first).
Much like recent trades that has been the norm. Seguin got Erikson and some mid prospects, spezza the same. Otherwise i agree with Phanny(really hard to move) and Lupul(leaf till his contract is up i think).
Cheers!
Clarky, ummm no Kessel and Gaborik are far from almost identical. First off Gaborik is actually quite good in his own end and at back checking from his Minnesota Wild days, which is why LA brought him into their D first system. Second, Gaborik had 2 more goals this season than Kessel, despite playing 13 less games and on a D first team in LA. Oh and the fact Gaboriks cap hit is only $4.8 mill compared to Kessels $8 mill is a HUGE difference.
I will give you this, they are similar in the fact they have put up big numbers in the goal category but thats where the similarities end, Gaborik is much more of a complete player at half the cost.
Hes Also had injury history and wasn’t a leader, and pretty much was only around to score like he was in New York, Columbus, Minny or any other team he was a part of. hes a goal scorer when he was younger. Kessel had a bad year compared to his previous 4. and a bad year was still nearly 25 goals. I was just comparing his salary when he was a 7mil player and traded two-three times.
he hasn’t been known to be a physical winger throughout his career much like kessel with 200 less games played kessel is only 100 and some goals behind him which really isnt too far off. I wasn’t insulting Gaborik, just saying they have plenty of similarities and and shared close contracts in their prime, of which gaborik was traded 2-3 times. so its possible. thats all i was saying.
I hold kessel in high regard as well as gaborik. but its hard to argue both players are bit pieces to a team, always have been, always will be.
Look, if Kessel didn’t have that hit for the next 7 years, yeah, he could be moved tomorrow if, say, his contract ran for 2/3 years. Spezza wasn’t encumbered with a long-term deal when he went to Dallas and it was THEY who gave him an extension. Plus he’s a C. As for Nash and Gaborik, when they were dealt the cap kept going up as the Canadian $ was at par and even higher for a couple of years. Not now, and with the Socialists elected in Alberta don’t look for it to get stronger any time soon.
I still think its possible for the proper return which doesnt include a top star young talent or a top 10 pick, and has a big long term mistake contract attached to it like a Wiess or Lecavalier(not saying kessel goes to either of those teams, just an example of fat useless contract) and maybe even holding 1m. Either way i see him being the best odds of moving out of Toronto just because of his ability to put the puck in the net. I get that its a big cap hit but GMs are willing to pay 5 mil for garbage during Free angency, i can see them giving a little more for a proven scorer.
Also im not saying you’re wrong, perhaps nothing does happen with him, but i just see him as the only trade-able player outside of JVR that teams would want.
George,
Kessel will be traded. Similar to a Nash or Kesler trade.
A 2nd/3rd liner or two or a defenseman and a draft pick or prospect.
Probably three pieces to make salary work and some type of future for toronto.
Despite the pinko commies coming to the party, the NHL will still make its billions off us suckers and guys like kessel, phaneuf and even guys like Ryan will continue to get more term and money than they should and then some other GM will trade for that bad contract which really isn’t that bad in the economy of the NHL….because the NHL is loony tunes.
I disagree and only because of that 7-year term. Any team taking him might get 30-35 goals for two years but if they’re a rebuilding team needing to spend to the cap floor, to what end? He’s not going to turn them into a winner any more than he has the Leafs. What will scare teams off is the possibility of having another out-of-shape F (like Heatley) who pays little attention to conditioning and who still has 5 years to go at $8 mil per. I Just don’t see any team taking that chance and certainly not a contender whose game is predicated upon a consistent two-way effort. As I said, I may be wrong and is so, I’ll tip my hat to whoever in the Leafs organization engineers the deal. And if it’s going to happen it will do so in the first few weeks following the cup win.
Ill go the otherway JVR young affordable 30 goal type player from NJ for the the 6 pick straight up, draft a center with the 4 if Hanifin is not available, if Hanifin is there at 4 take Hanifin, and draft Zacha with the 6…Keep Kessel.
Your mistake Clarky was comparing a player to a player on another fans team. It just causes your argument to be lost as people get their backs up and start defending their favorites. In my opinion Kessel will easily be moved. Any no movement clause he invokes will be the only stickler. Kessel is an elite goal scorer. There is not a person who denies that. Yes he may lack in other areas but scoring goals is the name of the game. There will be plenty of teams wanting to sign him up. They won’t want to pay a ransom as they know the situation the Leafs are in.
As for Phaneuf. He too will be traded. If one goes the other will. He is the captain and the name of the game is change. So they can’t keep him as Captain and they don’t want to remove the C and keep him on the roster. His contract will be more of a hurdle. The Price likely won’t be near what the Leaf faithful want but he will be traded aswell.
Did I just give two different names to the game. haha. Oh MY
I agree. Kessel and Phaneuf can and will be moved. Leafs want culture change. Any return is dependent on how many teams are bidding for them. The market may be limited which means low return. Leafs are ready to move on anyway.
Lecavalier has been shopped for a season now without takers, so he might be hard to move. The stickler is probably that Hextall won’t take “bad” contract back or won’t pick up portion of Lecavaliers salary. Hextall might have to pick his poison soon.
Lupul should be tradeable also, but that return will be miniscule. That’s more of a salary dump.
Clowe, Richards and Weiss are not tradeable unless another bad contract comes the other way. The only other option is for the team to pick up $2-2.5M of their salaries, for each guy, to be able to trade them. I can’t see their GMs wanting to do that, but it might be financially more viable, in order to avoid buyout cap hit. Haven’t compared numbers on it.
Semins contract is probably the worst in the league. There will be no takers and it can only be bought out.
Neither Buffalo nor Arizona need to bring in big hits to make the cap floor. Buffalo has 16 players signed, 10 forwards, 5 Dman & a goalie at 45.510 mil. If the cap comes in at 71.5 mil that will put the floor at or near 52.5 mil. So Buffalo needs to add 7 players at essentially a million per. Assuming Eichel; chosen 2nd overall & Reinhart both play in Buffalo next season they need 1 more forward, 3 Damn & a goalie. They have no issue hitting the floor with Reinhart & Eichel’s bonus laden entry contracts.
As for Arizona it’s not quite so simple. They have 34.749 committed to 11 players, 7 forwards, 3 Damn & a goalie as well as cap hits for both Riberio & Yandle in that #. That means 18 million approximately to hit the floor. Boedker probably see’s close to 5 depending upon term. None of their other RFA’s are going to see significant raises, Arcobello, Cunningham, McGinn, Dahlbeck, Gormley, or Moore. All may not even be necessarily resigned. I assume Domi & Duclair both play next season but if rumors are true Arizona could be active in the trade market for 2 scoring forwards. Ideally a RW & a C. What ever they do getting to the floor won’t be an issue. Boedker gets them to 8 forwards, 12 players meaning they need 11 more players to hit the cap floor & with Boaedker signed that’s going to be fairly easy especially if they sign a UFA or trade for 1 or 2 players.
Don’t worry about what the supposed experts say just do the math.
If I remember right Legwand held out as long as he could, hoping for a deal with Toronto before settling for Ottawa. So you’re right George, beggars can’t be choosers. If all teams were as cheap/financially unstable as Ottawa there would be no market for expensive long term contracts. But Ottawa is really kind of an NHL backwater, admit it. Every decent player they’ve ever had have wanted out.
that line above should read “and having players like —– is not good long-term planning.”
Do you realize how open the NJD roster is for next season? Shero is gonna be the busiest GM this summer.
NJD problem will be a lack of desirable forwards to be moved. Like stated above their turn around wont’ be quick and easy. They will want to build through the draft and will need to use the same draft picks to add tot heir roster through trades along with the D prospects.
Fisher = hometown discount , he is staying put