Storylines worth watching this summer, plus the latest on the Blues, Red Wings and Maple Leafs.Â
Offseason storylines worth watching.
Note: My comments are italicized.Â
Will the Lightning re-sign Steven Stamkos this summer?
ESPN.COM: Among Scott Burnside’s notable NHL stories worth watching this summer is the contract talks between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Steven Stamkos. The longer it takes to get Stamkos re-signed, the more rumblings will increase that he could bolt next summer via free agency.
And we all know where those rumblings will originate. I’m looking at you, Toronto!
If the LA Kings are successful in their efforts to terminate Mike Richards’ contract, is there a hockey home for him?
I believe an NHL club could take a chance on him, depending upon his conditioning and salary. He could be had on a cheap one-year “show me” deal.
Burnside suspects the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t done dealing after shipping Phil Kessel last week to Pittsburgh.
Most of the recent speculation suggests center Tyler Bozak could be next, but it could be difficult to find destinations for him now that most teams have addressed their roster needs (for the time being) via trades or free agency. It might take until training camp or preseason to find Bozak a new home.
If the Carolina Hurricanes fail to reach agreement with Eric Staal and Cam Ward on new contracts, one or both could be shopped. The pair are eligible next summer for UFA status.
I don’t think the Hurricanes have much choice. If they can’t or won’t re-sign Staal and Ward, it’s shop them before next season’s trade deadline or lose them for nothing to free agency next July.
The Chicago Blackhawks are still trying to shed salary. Wingers Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg and Bryan Bickell remains the likely trade candidates.
A lot of the trade chatter about the ‘Hawks has died down in recent days. It could take until September for the Blackhawks to find suitable trade partners.Â
Updates on the Blues, Red Wings and Maple Leafs.
NBC SPORTS: Ryan Dadoun reports the St. Louis Blues re-signing Vladimir Tarasenko to an eight-year, $60 million deal doesn’t give them much wiggle room next summer to re-signing pending UFAs like David Backes and Troy Brouwer or RFA winger Jaden Schwartz. After 2015-16, the Blues could be forced to trade players they otherwise would prefer to keep.
Which will ensure defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk’s name will be atop the likely list of salary-dump candidates heading into next summer, provided the Blues don’t move him before then.Â
DETROIT FREE PRESS: In the wake of the Red Wings signing Mike Green and Brad Richards, Jamie Samuelsen believes they still have other moves to make. He feels they should try to move goalie Jimmy Howard, as Petr Mrazek proved capable of filling the starter’s role last season. He also believes the Wings should draw upon their glut of talented young forwards as trade bait to add another defenseman or a big forward, suggesting Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar as options.
Wings fans likely agree about trading Howard, but I doubt they’ll concur about dealing Nyquist or Tatar right now. If Mrazek establishes himself as the starter during training camp, Howard could get peddled before the season begins, though it won’t be easy to find takers for his $5.291 million cap hit, especially given his partial no-trade clause. If the Wings fail to make significant improvement over the course of next season, perhaps they field offers for Nyquist, Tatar or another of their young forwards to address their needs. Much will depend upon the club’s performance next season.Â
TORONTO SUN: Lance Hornby reports Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock recently admitted his club still needs to find a marquee defenseman and they’ll do so when the time is right.
In other words, that move could happen today. Or tomorrow. Or next week, next month, next year or in a couple of years. Right now, I’d say don’t hold your breath expecting to see a marquee defenseman patrolling the Leafs blueline when the puck drops on the 2015-16 season. It could take some time addressing that particular need.Â
If the Lightning can’t come to an agreement somehow with STAMKOS the Sharks need to jump all over him. more then likely he’ll still be with the Lightning though. They’re foolish if they don’t keep him.
Well if Tampa doesn’t sign him for some odd reason there will be 29 suitors trying to.
Not just up to Tampa, Stamkos gets to pick now.
Ding! Tampa isn’t the only partner at the Stamkos dance anymore. They could offer him $15 million per season if they wanted, but if Stamkos doesn’t want to re-sign there, he’ll have no problem finding a home wherever HE wants to play. As Jeff said, there will be 29 other teams salivating to get his signature on a contract.
29 other teams may want to sign hand but realistically there is only a handful that he’ll want to go to and that will have the cap space to do so.
Except the Hawks 🙂
Hey St. Louis! Do the Sens have a deal for you! We have a lightly used Jared Cowen plus picks and prospects for only Captain Shattenkirk and 99 cents! But if you call now, we will DOUBLE THE OFFER!. That’s right, Buy Cowen and picks/prospects and we will throw in a speedy Mike Hoffman absolutely free! Just pay separate shipping and handling. Offer expires in… no this offer doesn’t expire.
If Shattenkirk is going to be traded for cost cutting, I think Cowens 3.1 cap hit is a deal killer. He also couldn’t find a roster spot on a much more shallow defensive roster…..How is he getting a roster spot in St.Louis?
Well I agree about Cowen, the hope the Sens have is he will find his game and that his development has been set back a few years due to injuries. It’s my hope as well, because he could be a valuable piece to Ottawa’s D if he can reach near to his projected potential when drafted. Young players don’t always progress in a steaight line. So with That being said I do find it hard to beleive St. Louis will take a chance on him more likely a player like Weircoich would garner more attention. If Ottawa were to offer up Last season team leader in goals, Hoffman. A good prospect and or draft pick perhaps A team feeling the cap crunch will take a chance on Cowen. After all they can simply let him walk if it doesn’t work out.
From the Sens perspective Shattenkirk makes all kinds of sense to acquire, it would not surprise me if it happened.
Shattenkirk would be absolutely montrous for the Oilers. As much as i like Draistl and think he would look great on a line with Hall and McDavid maybe its worth trading him for a guy as talented as Shattenkirk. He could be the #1 dman on quite a few NHL teams.
Draisaitl/Reinhart/1st 2016/3rd 2016/Broissant
for
Shattenkirk/Elliott
Then extend Shattenkirk for 7 years $7.0 M per
ahahahaha
no this offer never expires = nice touch
Wings will not trade Howard until next offseason. I don’t care if Mrazek does establish himself as the starter during training camp, it’s an 82 game season, not just a training camp season. If he shows he’s the clear #1 throughout the year, then you start looking after the season is over. This kid hasn’t had to play a full season yet and why get rid of Howard now when the total cost of the two of them is $6mil? Glut of talented young forwards? It’s D where they are stacked. Samuelsen is a moron.
I could only see Detroit trading Howard at the deadline if, and ONLY if, Mrazek is literally playing lights out hockey. Howard has been fairly consistent in being inconsistent. He’ll play a few games where he’s outstanding, and then he’ll have an absolute stinker of a game.
And also, I don’t feel like Detroit has a “glut” at either position, but we do have a bit of a logjam. Regardless, as long as we don’t re-sign Cleary, I’m okay with the roster as-is
The last thing the Leafs need is to sign Stamkos to 8×12 next offseason at the beginning of a rebuild. There are many years of his prime that will be wasted missing the playoffs before they can become a contender.
Same thing for a marquee defenseman – both the C and the D that the team needs must come from the draft and develop at more or less the same rate as the rest of the emerging core of Rielly plus the group of small forwards.
Can’t disagree with that sentiment Dan,
It’s a matter of timing, why sign a star who will be far past his prime by the time you’ll be knocking on the door?
I honestly don’t think Stamkos is going anywhere in the near future. But I can’t agree that if there was an opportunity to sign this guy you pass on it. He is only 25 years old. Aside from the broken leg last year, he has missed a total of 3 games (that was his rookie year under Melrose) in his 8 year career. If Toronto is looking for a 6-7 year rebuild, I’d agree. But adding a guy like Stamkos I think you’d be looking for a quicker turn around…3-4 years? I believe this guy is still young enough to build around.
I couldn’t agree more. No one currently in the Leafs system will be as good as Stamkos in 5 years, PERIOD. You can’t just say “not now, maybe later” with a player of Stamkos’ age and caliber. It is a matter of opportunity and timing in cases like this. I do agree though, he will stay in Tampa.
TO just got rid of Kessell because he will be past his prime by the time the team is competitive. If Stamkos is serious about moving on he should sign a two year deal then consider what is happening in TO? He can get max money for those two years then decide if he wants to go home or stay in TB? It might be more sensible to try for Traveres or both in a couple years? Getting decent and then having superstars taking a home town discount would be awesome besides after a couple of years at 10 million how much more money does one need versus the chance to lead your home town team to the cup?
IF stamkos wanted out, then that would be a good approach (except for coverage of any long term injury) as TB could win a SC and leafs need the few years of headstart.
That said if he is available and wants to, then there is no way on earth that the leafs say no…are you kidding me
I kinda understand what Dan seems to be saying but not sure what the point is in keeping up with the “smal” forwards is all about..Filpula Kucherov Palat Johnson Drouin are all barely 6 foot or under, the smallest group of forwards to qualify for the playoffs just won the Stanley cup, none of these teams top player are much if any bigger than the group the Leafs have now…its not like they are that small and still young enough that chances are they will be putting some mass on….plenty of good young players around the league are not that big, yet size is an issue with guys that are 20 years old or younger?
Shticky, I think you’re getting something out of my comment that wasn’t there. I used the term small forwards to save myself from typing out Nylander, Marner, Kapanen, Brown, Liepsic.
The point is that the Leafs are a long way from being able to make best use of a Stamkos. To me, a high profile free agent signing like that is one of the final pieces you put in place to finish your rebuild.
Just a pet peeve no offense meant, seems since the draft alot of posts here in the never ending “Leaf complaint file” are now about the size of prospects…lol appoligize if I took the comment out of context.
And your point is what? All of their young forwards are small or play small ie)Kappanen. Gauthier has size but has regressed to a 4th line prospect.
I’m not sure I would worry about it myself yet I can see validity in the complaint if you beleive bigger players make for a better team.
The leafs are obviously drafting skill regardless of size. There will be some who disagree and will sound the alarms. Montreal has been critizied heavily for this and have been attempting to adjust.
My point is they are prospects that are 20 or younger…Giroux 5’11 Ribero 6’0 Parise 5’11 Crosby 5’11 Datsyuk 5’11 RnH 5’11 Desharnais 5’11 Pat Kane 5’11 Johnson palat Goudreau Bennett…lots of good
players are small these
guys are not any sma
ller than a lot of guys
and still young enough
that its possible they
could still grow…and of they don’t it doesn’t necessarily matter but hey Rielly is a smurf too right 6’1 215 and a gym rat who out lift anyone on his team in the weight room…you just make this stiff up don’t ya? Lol
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Toronto can offer up Stamkos an 8 year contract since he’s not currently on their roster. Tampa Bay can since he’s their player, but any other team offering a contract can only max out at 7, I thought?
That is how I understand it as well
i concur
i think if a player is traded when he is a RFA, then the new team can only sign to 7 years (avoids circumventing the 8 year max)
ie. o reilly got 7 years as a rfa trade & sign
Thats what I thought, but wasn’t entirely sure on it. So IF the Leafs wanted to offer Stamkos a contract, the max it could be would be for 7 years then.
So tired of hearing about the Red Wings trading Howard… Samuelsen is not a credible source anyway.
Holland already said that he isn’t going to trade him, and if Red Wings fans should know anything about Holland, it’s that he absolutely REF– USES to trade roster players that he drafted and then watched develop into NHL regulars. I challenge any Red Wings fan to name one… ONE that he did trade…
The guy has an odd attachment issue and an obsession with going into camp with all 23 spots already entitled to certain players and then some…
Getting back to Howard/Mrazek… I need to see that Howard is completely removed from his early season All Star play before I think it’s OK for Holland to dump him off (even though he won’t ever do that). As for Mrazek, he needs to show that he can consistently carry a starters workload in the regular season. He started to fall off hard while playing every games filling for Howard (and Gustavsson) while Babcock refused to give McCollum a start.
Besides, if Holland does actually trade Howard, Wings fans SHOULD KNOW that he’d go out the next day and pass over every other decent UFA goaltending option to overpay Gustavsson to come back and back up Mrazek. How would it go again? Oh yea… “We like him, the players like him. He’s coming to camp healthy.”
Jarnkrok
Wasn’t a full time roster player
Matthias
Again, not a full time roster player
Though he was not drafted, Sean Avery.
Vyacheslav Kozlov was dealt for Dominik Hasek. Also, the Hasek trade caused Osgood to request a trade which Holland could not arrange. He was lost via waivers to the New Yorl Islanders.
Also worth noting is that now NHL regular Shawn Mathias was dealt to Florida, along with draft pick, for Todd Bertuzzi.
But I don’t think Matthias was a full-time roster player when he was dealt. I could be wrong and am getting him confused, but I don’t remember him having a full time spot. The Kozlov deal though is right. I forgot about that one.
Matthias was not on the NHL roster at the time of that deal, he was playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins if I recall correctly.
I mentioned Avery because even though he was an undrafted signee, I would qualify him as a young assett due to him signing a three year deal earned via a training camp performance.
Also, I just recalled a deadline trade from that same 2002 season. Pre cap era so that does change the situation some, but Yuri Butsayev was traded to Atlanta for Jiri Slegr.
Matthias never played a single game for Grand Rapids. He got traded while he was still in juniors. I remember because he played for Canada at the WJC the season after being traded and did good and plenty of Wings fans were freaking out about that trade given that Bert ended up leaving for the Ducks.
As for roster players being traded, wasn’t Anders Eriksson traded in a package for Chelios.
I also think Kuznetsov was traded along with Avery to the Kings for Schneider which was a roster player at the time and a Detroit draft pick.
There is also the Primeau trade for Shanahan which goes way back.
Holland really doesn’t have a habit of trading drafted roster players or just making trades involving roster players period.
But I don’t think Holland has done that since the implementation of the salary cap though, has he? It’s early in the morning, so I’m not firing on all cylinders yet, but I can’t think of a recent trade where it’s been roster player-for-roster player
Should read the comments section on the Jimmy Howard article. Wings fans ok with Nyquist being dealt. Probably even more so given the salary arbitration move as well. Torn. I want to believe Gus can be a great 2 way player but so far hasn’t shown us that he can be a tenacious back checker and play above his weight like Tats does. With Larmin, Mantha, new Russian guy and the rapid improvements by Bertuzzi, Wings are too deep at forward. Plus, AA is a sleeper in the bunch.
I’d be okay with trading Nyquist before Tatar, but I can’t see Detroit getting a whole heck of a lot for him on his own. MAYBE a 2nd round pick? I’d rather use him as a “sweetener” to get that top pairing D-man that we’ve been sorely needing since the retirements of Rafalski and Lidstrom
Hypothetically speaking if Toronto did sign Stamkos next summer and were able to draft a stud defenceman high in next years draft, how far off would they actually be from being a legit playoff contender? Everyone believes in the notion that it takes 5 years to build a Stanley Cup winning team, but I believe if you do it properly you can have your team back in the playoffs in 2-3 years. In saying that if Leafs pick up Stamkos next year they can potentially line up like this Marner-Stamkos-Brown Kapanen-Kadri-Nylander Komarov-Holland-Panik Matthias-Winnik-(TBD a good 4th line winger would be easy to pick up UFA)pending that some players are resigned and some are traded, IMO JVR would be a good trade candidate to pick up some good assets, Parenteau could resign and would be a good leader for the young players-Defence: Reilly-(Draft/Trade) Percy-Granberg Loov-(TBD)In saying this going forward I think the Leafs biggest needs are a Top pairing defenceman and still a big first line centre if Stamkos can’t be signed(Wishful thinking from a leaf fan), everything else seems to look good with what the leafs have in their young players and any other needs can be addressed through free agency.
2-3 year contender? No chance. The Leafs lack elite talent at every position, which is most likely going to have to come from the draft.
It takes 5 years for D to develop to their potential from their draft year, sometimes longer.
So if you’re drafting Chychrun next year, it’s six years from now when the Leafs contend with him as a cornerstone.
A lot of wishful thinking if you are counting on Brown as the 1st line winger.
I have made this comment before-In a few years Leafs maybe regretting passing on Hannifan or Provorov
I agree scott… I think after mcdavid and eichel provorov will be the best player in the draft. I like marner but still would have taken the dman
I am no scout but I seen Provorov play twice and was impressed. Guys in the Know like Craig Button are very high on him. Potential to be a Gary Suter type. 2-way dman with a mean streak
Buuton had Marner ranked higher then Provorov.
Bigbear, you still pretending to be a Leafs fan or have you admitted you’re a Sens fan yet?
I agree Hannifin was higher rated. However, Marner put up basically the same points as Strome (also taken before Hannifin) with a much less mature body.
The bet is that he will grow as his brother did until the age of 22 and that with a more mature body, there’s more upside there.
We’ll see… Pretending like you guys know more than Mark Hunter about these kids is a joke so just stop it.
Marner will appear tall in the team picture-standing beside the smurfs of Nyllander, Kappanen, Kadri and Reilly.
your a bit of an idiot dan39 lol I never once said I was a sens fan ever. I said I like marner but I would have taken provorov imo he is gonna be a great dman! what are your issues dan? why don’t you take a look at all the past high pick busts and tell me you know more than those gms lol ive read your posts on here most of the stuff you post is so far from reality its not funny
If you have an argument to make about hockey, we’re all ears bigbear.
If all you got is childish personal attacks, I expect Lyle won’t be standing for that.
why are you making stuff up dude? I never once said I like the sens so grow up
and dan I made a hockey comment and you went off topic stating I was a sens fan so again quit making stuff up lyle can read and see you started the whole thing
Rielly is over 6 foot and nearly 220 lbs…that’s a smurf?
Personally I think he rebuild to contender averages out to around 8years, sure some teams do it quicker but teams can take some sweet time getti there.
I think the Isles are jest getting to fender status, perhaps not quite yet. Columbus is slowly rising, look at Montreal. A good team but are they yet a true contender,
You can be come a playoff team in 2-3 years. You can be come a good one in 3-6 years. Personally the contender status is 8+ years and generally last half as long.
I agree Jeff. And I’m much more comfortable with the rebuild approach the Leafs are taking then the neither here/neither there approach of the Habs. I can’t see them getting much further with a lack of scoring and an aging defense. Price gets injured and they don’t even make the playoffs.
lol we have made the playoffs once (shortened season) in the last decade and your cutting up another teams approach? im glad about the rebuild but we are a long way off be realistic man we got some maybes for phil and he was our best trade piece dion,bozak,lupul aren’t getting much back! not too mention we haven’t won a cup in 48yrs lmao I might cut up other teams moves but never their approach cause we haven’t had an approach till shanny but who knows if that will work
Really guys? do you honestly believe that TB let’s Stamkos walk and he ends up in Toronto? I think all of you are delusional…there is no way that happens and even if by some kind of freak events, they don’t sign him…they’ll trade him or his rights and if by another freakish event it’s Toronto, you can kiss goodbye your line of Marner, Stamkos or Kapanen, Nylander cuz it would cost some of them kids to get Stammer…
But really…it’s just laughable that you people entertain that thought of Stamkos leaving TB…
Reality check: How many high profile player have been let go in the previous decade…? next to none…which explains why the FA market is getting thinner and thinner every year….
This is a rumor site you know … Stamkos not being signed to an extension right now might show signs he is willing to move on. That and the fact tampa will be in salary cap hell in the next few years might make him want to get out now.
I don’t believe he is going anywhere. However I can’t rule it out either. Not saying he ends up in Toronto…but…. Last time around he was left open to offer sheets, this time around they are flirting with disaster if they don’t get a deal done soon. I agree, you don’t see marque players on the move very often in the cap world. But look at most of the marque players out there today. Crosby, OV, Malkin, Giroux, Taveres, etc are or were locked up long term before they get a sniff of being UFA’s. I can’t remember the last time a 25-26 yo (on this level) was left open to the fa market. Not saying they can’t get it done before the start of the season, but it will be very interesting if Stamkos camp shuts down negotiations if they don’t reach a deal before the start of the season.
Its just fun to talk about, Tampa will open up the vault for him and handcuff the team with his new contract. Having watched the tampa play a bit last year it honestly might not be the end of the world if they do end up losing him.
I have been following Tampa for years. Long before Stamkos. I think going with Johnson over Stamkos would be a HUGE mistake. I like the little man, but his generous 5’9″ would scare me off a little. Not saying Stamkos is a huge guy. But I think Johnson in reality is about 5’7″. And I can’t remember a successful 1st line center near that small in the past.
Henri Richard.
Not sure if he was a first line guy but listed at 5’7
Stan Mikita 5’9
” modern era guys ” let me think about that one.
But yes go with Stamkos. No question.
current players or modern guys
Daivd Desharnais listed 5′ 7
Tyler Ennis listed 5’9
Derek Roy 5’9
Nathan Gerbe 5’5
I don’t think any of these guys are 1st line centers, or 1st line center mati
****material***
current no.
Henri and Stan yes.
My point is they are all short and sucessful. However they are not in the same area code as Stamkos. Mikita would be the only one.
So I am agreeing with you, just pointing out smaller guys.
Datsyuk Stepan Mckinnon all 6 foot or less….just off the top of my head.
Crosby Sakic Yzerman…all under 6 foot.
Cliff Ronning was what 5’8 170 pounds or something like that.
Under 6 foot yes, but 5’7″ is a far cry from 5’11”.
Just say’n I think too much can be made of size. Now I’m not suggesting a team rolling out 4 lines of guys 5’7 is going to go far or be a great idea but I’ll take
skill over size for the
most part.
Mark Messier came into the league 6 foot anf 180 and he was considered big.
I agree. In a salary cap era. Greed kills contenders and any chance at a dynasty in my opinion. It’s going to be interesting to watch Chicago over the next couple of seasons as they struggle with Toews and Kane’s contracts,
Stammer just went to the Stanley cup final. And if he has aspirations of being part of something greater then one and done. Players of this calibre should consider giving their teams a discount. A $12 mil contract would hurt his teams ability to be competitive. but at say $8mil, he is still a multimillionaire playing the game he loves, the game he grew up playing.
Players in his situation, have to ask themselves. What is more important to them, being richer, or being on a team that competes for the cup every year.
When the choice is money. They have lost sight of what their dream has been since they were young kids playing street hockey. And every goal was for the Stanley cup.
Some players actually DO do this. Lidstrom took less-than-market-value on his last two or three contracts, with the thinking that this would leave the GM a few extra dollars to spend on other quality players. I HOPE Stamkos does this as well, though I certainly wouldn’t blame him if he asked for $10+ million per.
thx for saying what I was too lazy to type:
money vs morals in relation to hockey, cap vs contending, and life (lol)
people lose sight of morals due to money. Unfortuneatly the need for money is such a demand that society dictates that money comes first (or so it seems). That really sucks.
With regards to hockey,
I’d like to add that we shouldn’t lose sight that these same owners (depends on owner) asking for a discount might be a tad hypocritical and illustrates their greed (rather than the viewpoint that it’s the players greed) and that some (like me) might feel that those same owners might actually deserved to get “screwed” back, as that would be a fitting outcome for people that put money before morals (generalizing)
Lets not forget that it was the owners who demanded and created stoppage (twice) to enforce the salary cap in the first place.
If you could get a $1000 raise, would you say no? I’d vote most people would take the cut for the team, if the team was a corporate machine out to grease you at every chance
correction
if the team WASN’T a corporate machine out to grease you at every chance
Leafs will not have to give up anything to get Stamkos. He is UNRESTRICTED meaning he owns where he goes
Pierre, Pierre, chill out man. I would put money down that 90% of us don’t think Stamkos is going any where’s. That doesn’t stop the fun of thinking upon the what if.
What if he was traded? Where would he go? Where would he fit best? Where would he like to go? Etc
Pittsburgh will take Stamkos… We will give you Scuderi and Kunitz 🙂
Malkin – Stamkos – Kessel
Perron – Crosby – Hornqvist
Boom
LOL. I hope you’re joking? That trade is never happening, and if it did, I think it will leave Pittsburgh with about $12.50 to fill out the roster…..I don’t mean 12.5 million….I mean twelve dollars and 50 cents.
LOL, you absolutely right and not only that way would you not put Stamkos on Crosby’s wing.
i’d sign on for that $12 and although I can’t even skate, i’d probably get some points…just because
I would love this!
Realistically, I believe that if the Pens were to sign Stamkos, you likely will see Malkin moved.
Scuderi and Kuntiz are irrelevant as they have 2 seasons left in the $3m range. bringing on Stamkos means buying out whoever they couldn’t trade in a dump, but Maata also is due for his first real contract after this season and any gains from moving one or both will largely be soaked up by this.
Leafs would need Stamkos to perform for the entire playoffs. I have been saying all along that the Leafs need a real # 1 defenseman to take the burden off Dion and the rest of their mediocre defensive corps. Where he comes from is another story.
I still do not believe Stamkos is going anywhere; Tampa is looking at a $10M/year contract with Hedman’s giant demands not far away.
Totally agree if Stamkos becomes available any NHL team would be stupid to pass on him. Have’nt leafs fans wanted a number 1 centre for like 10 years? Stamkos is a number 1 centre that every team except maybe the Penguins would love to have, the guy is an elite talent if you can sign him do it worry about age and competing later
I am huge Stamkos fan, but boy do I hate these $10M+ contracts and you know he’s gonna get one. Contracts like that will take approxx 13-15% of your salaries, alotta money to invest in one player.
Reagrding these contracts – it will be interesting to see the impact on the Black Hawks as a team, now that they have 2 $10M+ players on their roster.
high priced elite core & low paid role players with a proven winning system has been proven to overcome their cap “issues” already – just saying
Stamkos is 6′, 190# – not really that big either. Alot would be asked of Stammer in Toronto, more than he’s had to do in Tampa the last few years becuase of the quality of the supporting cast in TPA. Physical breakdowns
@dan39
Why would it take a defencemen like chychurn 6 years to develope??
I know defencemen take time but.. 6 years for the best D prospect in next years draft???????
So ekblad has 5 more years until he will develope??
Cause he sure has an impressive season as a rookie!!!!!!!
As for Stamkos.. He loves it out west so I can see him signing in Vancouver.. Plus the Nucks are way ahead of TO in terms of talent and prospects
Great Post K, and only calling out one person today and not a fan base good to see your growing.
Nice to learn Stamkos loves it out west (Not sure how you happened about this information when I havent heard or read it reported anywhere). I would think his style of play is more suited for the Eastern Conference but if ends up in Canada Ill be happy either way.
The Stamkos situation is definitely an interesting one from the Leafs’ standpoint. Many of you are right in saying that the first few years of his contract (if he were to sign in Toronto) would be wasted to a certain degree. But we could also look at it from a similar approach to the Mike Babcock signing, in that, if the Leafs don’t sign Stamkos when he’s available, then they may never have a player of his caliber for when they are competitive. He is still a young man (at 25), and I think it would be unreasonable to suggest that in five years or so he would only be capable of scoring <20 goals. The Leafs will have plenty of cap space going forward, and whether or not a chunk of that is spent on a player that they "don't necessarily need" in the present shouldn't really matter, as long as they have a chance at the cup in X amount of years moving forward. Stamkos has a ton of leadership qualities that would rub off on some of the youngsters coming up in the Leafs' system, which is extremely important in a rebuild (look at how the Oilers' rebuild has failed without leadership).
You guys are hilarious in here. Bunch of angry little children. Keep it up, great entertainment.
Stamkos will be resigned or moved.. There is absolutely no chance Tampa would let him walk.
So that puts TO out, as they don’t have assets to aquire him.. Would cost Riely/nylander/1st rounder as a starting point..
But I guess you can dream
I only said Stamkos to Vancouver as a joke.. Just wanted in on the ridiculousness!!!!!!!
K,you only see 2 options for Stamkos and you are missing the point.
1) yes he could be resigned by TB, therefore no Leafs
2) yes he could be traded by TB to whoever, and no Leafs while he is under contract
So the third option that you are missing is that once this contract runs out he will be a UFA and that means no matter where he gets traded he can sign a contract wherever on July 1 of the year he hits free agency. I’m not a Leafs fan but I do follow them because I live in the GTA so this is not coming from a diehard.
any player can be traded (unless no trade contract) as you suggest, but no player (due to CBA) HAS to sign an extension or a new contract, once traded.
therefore stamkos could still sign as UFA 2016
If he is not under contract then he is UFA; therefore, can sign anywhere, including Toronto (where he has family)
Not as ridiculous as you are implying
I’m curious as to what people think Eric staal value would be if he was to be traded
I assume he’d bring in a Kessel type return.. Maybe slightly more.. because he is that big centre and they are very coveted across the league
Thoughts?
I agree. Being a centre makes him valuable, there are plenty of teams wanting to upgrade the middle, perhaps the Habs and Sens could have a nice bidding war for him haha.
That would be a guys Tronna should be after. #1 center, hedging on staying in Carolina, maybe needing a change of scenery. He’s kind of wasting away in Raleigh
if E. Staal is available you have to think the Habs could be interested , they have been looking for a big center for years now. The price may be lower than expected because he is in his last year of his contract. Something like Eller , Emelin and Fucale or Tinordi may get it done. Beaulieu and Pateryn are ready for regular ice time.
Stamkos is not coming to Toronto because one Stamkos does not make a team. The hope is that in 3-4 years the rebuild will progress to where a star player of Stamkos calibre who grew up in the GTA cheering for the Leafs might opt for free agency to sign with Toronto.