Should the Dallas Stars pursue Marc-Andre Fleury? What could the Detroit Red Wings have in store? Latest in your NHL rumor mill.
Should the Dallas Stars pursue Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury?
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Responding to a reader’s question about the Stars pursuing Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, Mike Heika suggests that wouldn’t be a good idea. “I am just guessing at this, but I believe the fear is Fleury’s playoff woes are just as significant as (Kari) Lehtonen’s.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That’s an irrational fear. Yes, Fleury had several seasons where his playoff performance left much to be desired. But in his last two postseasons as the Penguins starter, he was solid between the pipes. While he had a poor showing in his only appearance in the 2016 playoffs, that was largely due to his not seeing game action in nearly two months after being sidelined by a concussion.
Fleury backstopped the Penguins to two straight Final appearances and a championship in 2009. Compare his playoff record with Lehtonen‘s and it’s no contest: Fleury is the better goalie. If there’s an opportunity to acquire him from the Penguins for a reasonable price, I think the Stars should seriously consider it.
MLIVE.COM: Ansar Khan opened his mailbag and responded to readers’ questions regarding the Detroit Red Wings. Khan claims the Wings didn’t intend to address their need for a puck-moving defenseman via free agency owing to the limited depth in the UFA pool. They prefer keeping their trade options open for someone like Anaheim’s Cam Fowler, St. Louis’ Kevin Shattenkirk or Colorado’s Tyson Barrie.
He believes they’re positioned to make a trade for a defenseman. For somone like Fowler, Khan suggests the centerpiece of the return could be either Tomas Tatar or Gustav Nyquist, considering those wingers their best trade chips. He also notes the Wings tried to trade goalie Jimmy Howard but couldn’t find any takers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Wings were linked to Fowler and Shattenkirk in trade speculation leading up to the recent July 1 start of the free-agency period. The Ducks need scoring depth on the wing, particularly the left side. They recently signed winger Mason Raymond, so that suggests they either aren’t receiving the type of return they want for Fowler, or they’re going to go with a more affordable option for now and see how the season unfolds.
Sounds like the same thing with Shattenkirk. It’s believed the asking price for him is too high, though there’s no indication what it could be.
Avalanche GM Joe Sakic insists Barrie won’t be shopped even if he goes to arbitration, which he has. If the Avalanche decide to walk away from Barrie’s arbitration award, you can be the Wings will be among the clubs very interested in signing him.
Fowler, Shattenkirk, and Barrie should all be on the radar for the Oilers. Yakupov, RNH, Eberle, and even Draisaitl should be dangled the other way considering Hall went for Larsson. Even one of these guys would help Edmonton immensely! They need defence.
It has been reported that Chiarelli has been on the phone to Sakic almost on a daily basis about Barrie. Fowler is left handed and the Blues high asking price they would have to let the Oilers talk to Shattenkirk’s party about an extension.
Agree with @Steven-one more forward should be shipped out by the oilers-for Fowler or Barrie. (not Shattenkirk as he will be difficult to sign)
Doug Armstrong knows that he gets potentially a higher return by letting Shats talk to other GMs about a contract extension. It is all speculation, but I believe Shats has said he wants to test the open market and will not sign any extension – a gamble on his part, but I have to believe that is his objective. True, he may not want to go to Edmonton, but I would be floored if he did not want to go to Boston. As such, Army has probably allowed him to talk to Boston, and he has said “no thanks,” buy me next summer. As a Blues fan, I believe he is screwing the Blues…but that’s business. Or he may have asked for an unreasonable extension, and Boston said no. Either way, if Shats was being reasonable in negotiating an extension with Boston, or any other club, I am sure a deal would be done already.
I think if these Dman are actually available; Shattenkirk, Barrie & Fowler, & who really knows, the cost has just been to high for teams to bite. I’ve been running the #’s for StL & it appears to me they have enough cap space to resign Shattenkirk & Steen if so inclined assuming the cap stays stagnant & only increases to about 75 million. It even fits with their protected roster requirements.
…they also need to sign Schwartz, who will ask for more than $6 mil, and pay Sobotka at 2.5, which eats the remaining 8.7 mil in cap space.
Scott agreed on Schwartz contract. It should come in some where between 5 & 6 depending upon term but an extension for Shattenkirk is next years problem not this years. Berglund comes off the books next season as does Steen although I think he will be resigned & at least 1 contract is coming off the books in the expansion draft. If I had to make an assumption today I say StL would lose Gunnarson. That’s 2.9 mil cap hit.
Still no real word if Sobotka is returning yet & StL once Schwartz is signed has 13 forwards not counting Sobotka & the only 1 that doesn’t have to clear wavers is Fabri.
Tatar is not much of chip for those D-men. Small and one dimensional and I would suggest a non starter for those trade discussions.
Ehh I agree about Shattenkirk, possibbly Barrie, but Fowler I could see Tartar being a piece in a deal…I dont watch much of the Ducks I admit but just judging by stats Im not sure Fowler’s value is at much of a high.
I would think Tatar and 2nd would do
Fowlers value is high as he is very much sought after.Good size, speed and skills. Averaged over 22 min a night in playing time.
Tartar is small but he is speedy and gritty as well as a scorer.He’s a year older then Fowler.
Det has 1 1st rd pick ( NYRs) and 2 2nds. No 3rds. I cant see them moving a 2nd out because of the no 3rd rd pick.
I can see a deal like Tartar, Sproul and the 4th for Fowler.
I’d be offering up my best deal ASAP as Anaheim could pull the trigger on Fowler anytime.
Don’t see Anaheim taking Sproul. Murray isn’t taking any D prospect that would be expansion draft eligible.
Didnt check to see if he was exempt or not. If hes not then I agree.
Expansion presents a ton of hurdles & issues for a whole range of teams. How much do you pay to acquire assets for a kick at the cup this year? Would a contender take on a player with a contract past this season that would help significantly but cost them a solid asset in expansion?
Yankee Fan…”Det has 1 1st rd pick (NYRs)” really??
again my bad ty. I was looking at general fanager and saw the pick. Didnt realize it was 2016. ( thought that would have been down )
So much for being straight in the morning. Whiskey time!
A 2nd on top of Tatar is very little to get a 2nd pairing dman
He lead Anaheim in TOI/GP & PP TOI/GP & was just nominal lower at SGH TOI/GP 0:04 less than Vatanen & 0:05 less than Despres although Despres only played 32 games. That says he’s a 1st pairing Dman.
I agree with your point. I don’t trade Fowler for Tatar & a 2nd.
Ok call me confused here. BBB posted earlier in this thread a 2nd and Tartar would do .
Now its very little to get a 2nd pairing d man.
While my suggestion built off that idea I added more to try and include a d man that doesnt have to be protected. I didnt check to see if Sproul needed to be ( he does ) and i got the available draft pick years messed up.
So what is it bbb ? I think Fowler would cost more then just the 2 assets coming back.
By the previous posts you made this thread Yankee you are confused? I said Tatar and a 2nd would be enough after you got all confused about detroits picks I said adding a 2nd is not much to get a 2nd pairing dman
@striker those are the stats that get you into trouble fowler is a 2nd pairing dman no more no less lindyolm and vatenan are 1-2
Yes I am confused and still dont get what youre saying. I posted my confused comment ( 1:13 ) after you said Fowler was worth a 2nd and Tartar. ( 10:46 )
You said it before my post and after. One more and my head will have spun 360 !
I think the ducks would take a 2nd over sproul and a 4th the 2nd is worth more
And for Detroit I would still give up the 2nd it’s ” very little ” to give up on top of Tatar to GE a 2nd pairing dman
Chychrun would’ve been a great puck moving defenceman for Detroit. Especially with “limited depth in the UFA pool.”
Just sayin.
Or not. There’s a reason he fell like a stone.
Yeah, I also don’t think most teams saw Chychrun as a capable Press/push the pace defenseman the game now hold in much higher regard. He wasn’t making decisions quick enough with his hands , feet and had at the junior hockey level, so he dropped out of that can’t miss/already fairly rounded group of five junior defenseman.
Think about how the Red wings had no problem trading out of this slot and opted to spend the development time on the fleet afoot college-bound Dennis Cholowski, and although right now he doesn’t project as high as the 2nd pair #3 status Chychrun had, they figure he will maybe get there but as a skating mailman whereas Chychrun didn’t in their eyes…
(Not trying to obscure the real reason for the move the Pavel Datsyuk contract, but still…)
He fell due to his position he played and nothing else. If you look at what teams took before him they were addressing the needs of their team and viewed the forwards they took as better options. Chychrun really didn’t fall at all he was always thought to be the 3rd best D. I believe he was the 3rd D taken. Perhaps 4th.
Chychrun will be looking nice next to Oliver in a few years.
Totally agree Jeff. I never really heard any legitimate knocks on Chychrun leading up to the draft. I heard a few say he was the same man/boy they’ve seen for two years, which makes me think scouts just got used to seeing him for so long. Either way he’s gonna be twice the defenceman Cholowski will be. Detroit gambled by thinking they had a shot at Stamkos and clearly lost. This will haunt them.
Jeff, Durt: the contention that Chychrun did not fall is absolute nonsense.
Even by the standard of the final aggregated rankings he fell, being ranked at 12 and taken at 16. However, that was after he had already fallen from 7 in the same aggregated rankings.
It’s worse, though.
This is a player who in 2015, was ranked at #2 behind only Matthews. It was not until 2016 that he had fallen out of that slot on aggregate rankings.
He didn’t fall out of the top 3 until April of this year… And then he kept falling and falling and fell again on draft day.
He was the 5th Dman taken… I don’t know how you can argue that there aren’t some serious flaws to the development of his game over the last year.
Dan39 perhaps over the coarse of a year or two yes but I was talking more along the lines of where he was thought to be taken. 12 was pretty much the lowest he went 16th. big deal.
Dan, Chayka himself said they considered taking him at 7. Which tells me not all scouts had him pegged in the last half of the first round. Personally I had him in my top 10 but figured he would go between 10-13. Either way he was a gem at 17, and my point is that Detroit will regret passing on the fortune of him falling that low.
Indeed Jeff, it’s a crap shoot with Dman to a large degree and any one of these kids could emerge as a top pair 7 years down the line when the draft is mostly forgotten.
I think with Chychrun the concern was that he didn’t progress in the final year and that maybe his earlier dominance was down to having physically matured early.
5th D overall
Colorado isn’t walking away from an arbitration award for Barrie if it gets to that point. That would be brutal asset management.
Yes, but nothing Colorado does will surprise me.
Considering they have an owner with deep pockets It doesn’t make sense to me how Colorado is run.
It makes you wonder why they consistently have these issue with top players at contract time.
Is it simply just a hard line with $$, or something more.
I get when players get to 30 and begin the back 9, but these are young guys entering their prime.
Perhaps some of these guys just want out for another reason, hence no deals getting done?
Whatever it is, it is odd.
Totally agree Raybark. My sister lives in Boulder & I hub out of Denver a ton flying, so often stay over for a day or 2 to visit. Beautiful place to live & play but something is out out sync there. Perhaps Kroenke is forcing the Avalanche to survive on hockey operations revenue. Having lost 3.7 in 2014-15 it helps explain why Colorado spent almost 5 mil less on salary’s in 2015-16.
Solid top end talent pool but the depth on the 3rd & 4th lines & 4 through 6 D isn’t good.
Well, I assume he made his money running profitable businesses. Seems like a short term view of things though, almost the US Corporate view. Not sure that works building a hockey team, when it needs to be done through drafting and developing. Dropping them when they come into prime makes no sense. Winning sells tickets in a competitive market like Denver (and yes a great city) It happens frequently now with players coming off ELC’s, they know their value. Even though they don’t have financial leverage, teams are giving them the deals as opposed to going through what COL is going through.
Or Roy is just an A-hole to play for, and they want out.
detroit used their pick to trade datsyuk’s cap to make a run at stamkos… who would you rather have stamkos or unproven chychrun… *just saying*
now they have neither…
Perhaps not so narrowly as simply going after Stamkos. Players like Shattenkirk and Barrie are on their Radar and there has to be other options that can be expensive via trade that they may wish to pick up.
Blues still want a run at the Cup. Worth the risk keeping Shattenkirk and losing him to UFA.
Stars GM already said he will keep both Finns.
I say Tyson Barrie will be a Ranger.
Still think the Blues need to replace Brouwer and Backes with some braun, scoring up front. Shattenkirk is most likely to get them that. Otherwise, the Blues window may be closing shut. The rumors of Krejci, though a great player, would not include a deal for Shattenkirk. St. Louis does not want to add a $7 million salary for the next 5 years to a player with injury issues. Armstrong has a history of not adding unwanted term, which is why we lost Backes.
Barring a trade of Shattenkirk which I assume will be primarily futures with expansion looming, a younger Dman who doesn’t need to be protected come the expansion draft StL roster is set.
Schwartz, Lehtera, Tarasenko.
Fabri, Stastny, Perron.
Berglund, Stastny, Jaskin.
Upshall, Brodziak, Paajarvi.
Spare Reaves.
Shuffle the top 3 lines anyway you want. You know Hitchcock will put them in the blender constantly.
Bouwmeester, Pietrengelo.
Gunnarson, Shattenkirk.
Edmunson, Parayko.
Lindbohm, Burtuzzo.
StL also has a solid stable of prospects. Several studs coming in Barbashev & Walman; what a pleasant surprise at 82nd.
I forgot Steen, Ha-ha!
Totally agree on MAF. With the situation the pens are in its a perfect time to get him for Dallas. A top 10 goalie for fairly cheap… shouldbe niemi and a 1st or good prospect… stars hold 1 mil of niemi.
I not sure trading MAF is the best option. Depends on the cost of keeping both him and Murray. Right now I am leaning towards Pitts swinging a Deal with Vegas to allow them to keep both.
I agree…. MAF to Dallas ! He back stopped the Penguins to back to back Finals in 2008/Cup in 2009….was terrific in last years playoff loss to the Rangers… all one goal games…with no Letang, no Martin or no ERhoff….he was great this whole season with 30 plus wins and over a .920 save %.. without him from October to December when the Pens were struggling we don’t get in the playoffs..
Yes he sucked in 2012/2013 but the last three years have been terrific and Lehtonen sucks.
Dlaas is scary good with that offense that add one more defens eman to Hamhuis and Klingberg look out MAF only needs to be solid and good at times.
As you said relatively cheap compared to Bishop who after this year UFA will want $7 million a year.
I lliked your trade assessment…what do you think of this
Marc Andre Fluery + Derrick Pouliot To Dallas
Niemi ($2million) retained and Valerie Nichushkin to Pittsburgh
The problem with taking back Niemi is that he has two years left. So, while the Pens can eat his salary next year because MAF’s is already on the books…the year after that Murray, Dumoulin, Bonino and Rust all need new deals.
But I liked the trade before I remembered Niemi’s term.
Hew George, Is sending Hoffman to Anaheim for Fowler a good idea. Might leave a hole in the forward ranks but certainly would shore up the Sens D nicely? Just spit balling and looking for a partner haha.
Oops, *Hey not hew.
Not that having a defenseman of Fowler’s abilities will hurt the Sens but I don’t know where he plays for them.
The sens have a top 4 of Karl, Methot, Ceci and Dion. They could look at the all too rare three way trade
Looks like the negotiations with Ceci have hit a brick wall according to Brennan in the Sun this morning.
Arg that sucks George. I like Ceci. I did play around with the idea of sending him to Edmonton for RNH or something.
That is true Taz. My main concern with the Sens D is what they do once Methot gets injured again.
Ceci is a solid, defensive defenseman who hasn’t yet fully developed. Those are the types of players that the media and stat-ists forever undervalue (see Hall for Larsson). I wouldn’t be trading him for the likes of RNH, a 2C on a full value deal.
Im thinking Methot moves down. More so now if he is indeed injury prone.
Dan39. Ceci is a solid 2 way Dman just scratching the surface of his potential offensively. 10 goals & 26 points last season seeing no power play time, PP TOI/GP 0:32. Ceci has scored at every previous level & will eventually in the NHL. Just not going to see a ton of PP time with Karlsson playing the point on both units & Phaneuf in front of him. He will continue to progress offensively & in 2 or 3 years will easily be a 40+ point Dman that scores 10 to 15 goals. He’s almost a #2 now but doesn’t yet have to play those minutes, with #1 potential. He’s going to be a stud.
That’s what I’ve been advocating and hoping to hear re Methot for some time YankeeFan. He always seems to come down with some nagging injury somewhere along the way (usually at the most inopportune time), which might stem from his playing 27-30 minutes a game at times alongside Karlsson on the first pairing. He’d prob ably extend his career by being a 5/6 pairing and mentoring guys like Chabot. The question is, who plays with Karlsson? Getting a top pairing D can only be done at this stage via trade and so who/what are they prepared to give up? Might be better and less expensive in terms of players/picks/prospects to pair Phaneuf with Karlsson and go after a 3/4-type D. But that’s why they’re paying Dorion the big bucks.
No point adding that asset until after the expansion draft. Can’t protect him so why give up assets today to acquire him.
This isn’t meant to be confrontational George but if Methot has ever played 27 mins a night I would be shocked. Unless it was a playoff game that dragged on for significant time.Not saying it hasn’t happened really have no idea. He doesn’t see any power play time what so ever. in the last 4 years Methot’s TOI/GP has been between 20:39 last season his lowest in 4 years & 22:40.
I think they top 4 stays as is.
Methot, Karlsson.
Phaneuf, Ceci. Both are righties but Phaneuf has played both sides a ton in his career.
With Phaneuf now & Ceci really developing & ready for more responsibility Methots minutes on the PK could be reduced. He continue’s to see 5 on 5 time with Karlsson, great safety net but moves to the 2nd penalty killing unit & Ottawa gets his ice time down into the 18 min range.
I had really hoped Ottawa would add a solid 4/5 guy as a UFA but hasn’t happened yet & the kitty is drying up fast. Ideally on a short term deal as he would have to be exposed in expansion regardless.
Ceci is more of an offensive 2 way dman the sens have a good one in ceci
Once again I did NOT say he plays 27-30 min a game ALL the frikken time. I said “at times” – will you PLEASE read what others say thoroughly?
I read it, George calm down. I even said I’m not trying to be confrontational. I don’t think he ever has. It’s meaningless regardless.
Hey Jeff, quick question. Vegas expansion. Karlsson and phaneuf protected. Who’s your third d-man you protect? Ceci, fowler or methot?
Logical deduction would ensue that you’d be losing either either Ceci or fowler since you’d protect one of them and leave the other exposed.
See? No a good idea to go after fowler. In this world methot is apossibility of getting exposed but damage control wouldn’t be too bad.
Logic guys, logic!
Good point Broken hip.
Dang expansion! *shakes fist in air*
But to answer you question. I’d likely protect Ceci over Methot due to his age and Methot’s injury hx. Yet I would ponder leaving Phaneuf unprotected if I thought his cap hit would deter Vegas from picking him.
Agreed
Phaneuf has a NMC. Automatically has to be protected. And yes, it was implied that Ceci would be protected.
As for methot, I’m not going to put guarantees that he will be picked either because Vegas has to stay under the cap as well. It’s not like they can pick up 23 players that are making 4-7 mill per season. Some teams will see a mid-level player lifted from their ranks. Another reason pageau has to be protected.
Phaneuf has to be protected he has an NMC. Ottawa’s 3 keepers at D will be Karlsson, Phaneuf & Ceci.
It wasn’t that I agreed with Jeff but Broken hip.
Not only do you need to factor in expansion today when looking at trades but the business of hockey in this cap world. In this cap world players waiver rights, salary, arbitration eligibility, etc. are all significant factors in teams working out trades.
Dang it guys. Ottawa askes Phaneuf to waive it. haha. There.
Where did I suggest that?
Not enough for Fowler IMO
MG yeah true that Niemi does have two years maybe Dallas could eat $3 million they have more cap room than us……
I heard Bonino’s reps are going to be asking $5 to $5.5 per season you buying or selling at that price…?? thoughts
Tatar and Nyquist numbers plummeted this season for a couple reasons. Wings sucked at moving the puck out of the D zone and would just randomly flip the puck on too many occasions. Tatar, after excellent numbers the previous season, decided to remove some of his edginess from his game. He would create turnovers and opportunities if he gets back to that style. Also, gross mismanagement by Blashill. Tatar and Nyquist should not be on the same line. Neither is a net front presence or great digging pucks out. Whoever gets him is looking at a consistent 20 goal scorer. Fowler would be an underpayment for Tats.
ridiculous as a fan of neither team I wouldnt move fowler for either player..top 3 defensemen are worth wayyyyyyyyyyyyy more than inconsistent forwards….
tatar isnt a consistent anything, Nyquist is a bit better but still not worth fowler. Holland of all GMs should know this given the state of his defense.
addionally detroits defense is getting up there in age as kronwall, Quincey and Green have all lost a step and are trending downward. No GM in his right mind will help Holland out of his predicament out of the goodness of his heart.
even Holland doesnt think much of Tatar and nyquist, aince he’s brought in retreads Richards, Ott Nielsen and Vanek, since tatar and Nyquist showed they arent able to shoulder the load of expectation…..
This is a team fighting to hold off mediocrity
Really happy for Kyle Palmieri with the new contract he signed today. Hometown kid making a name for himself in front of family & friends for the next 5 years. Shero is doing some good stuff down there in Jersey
Hall-Henrique-Palmieri
Very early stages of something in NJ, I don’t even know what to call it. Not certain there is a worse team on paper in the NHL. NJ may be the worst team in the NHL next season baring the addition of additional NHL talent. Certainly bottom 5 if not 3. At least Shero has started to restock the kitty but it’s going to be years 3 to 5 before NJ is a playoff team again
I think they will surprise some teams
The impact of the quality goaltending cannot be overlooked, but it will also make any true rebuild impossible.
NJ’s D is beyond brutal, Greene, Lovejoy, Moore, Merrill & Severson currently. Thank God for Schneider he can win games almost single handedly & he will need to playing behind this group.
Here is a silly, dumb yet fun question to ponder.
What if a team gave all their D a No movement clause for the year’s surrounding the expansion and their top 6 or 9 forwards.
Could that team then decide who on the NMC’s to protect since they’d all have to be protected. Or could they then increase the number of players protected. haha.
It’s a silly scenario guys. For those silly enough to ponder.
Montreal and ducks have been talking for a while and heard a possible big trade
To Mtl:
S Despres
C Fowler
To Anaheim:
A Emelin
N Beaulieu
M Condon
C Hudon and 2nd rd pick 2017
Thoughts??
Hahahahahhah. Yeah sure.
If that’s the discussion, I would expect the Leafs to get in on it with a package of
Marincin
Loov
Bernier
Gauthier
2017 2nd
And ANH can keep Despres!
There is no way MTL trades half their d-corps for 2 d-men. They’re definitely not ridding themselves of their hits leader in Emelin.
Where did you hear that garbage proposal? Hockeybuzz? Hockey30?
Complete nonsense and total habs fantasy dream scenario. There’s value there for sure from the habs but it’s too diluted for the ducks not to get better pieces back elsewhere. NEXT!
Classic really, fans are always dreaming up trading a collection of mediocre-replaceable pieces from one or two really good pieces. It rarely ever happens except of the lower tier, 5 pieces of TOR garbage for Grabner type of trade.
E5 broken hip lol
Yeah good luck with that, Why would Ducks GM Bob Murray want those pieces for Fowler, If Montreal wants Fowler bad enough then you’re looking at either Gally or Patches going the other way.
A couple of weeks ago I would have thought that’s over rating Fowler but unless PC is totally inept at his job then maybe that IS what the market is…
so Montreals junk for a top 3 defender…..what are you smoking
Just heard that the Sens signed Chris Kelly for 1 year at $900,000. Might mean the end of Lazar since he wants to play C.
It might but hard to argue with the contract of 1 year for $900 000. It’s added depth and I like that but nothing to right home about.
If they are smart they will hang on to Lazar. I think he came up to soon, so some time in the AHL might be exactly what he needs.
Great kid, was the leader of the Oil Kings when the won the mem cup and competed for the WHL title 3 years straight, winning it twice. And he can skate, compete, has decent hands. Never gonna be an elite scorer, but too early to give up on a guy like that.
They may be able to move him or Kelly to the wing.
He can learn a lot from Kelly too.
The thing is, he made no bones of the fact he considers his best position to be at C and if they intend to put Kelly at 4th line C (I doubt he can contributed now at a wing position) that moves Lazar back to the wing. The top 3 Cs are Turris, Zibanejad and Pageau and since none of them are going anywhere at the moment, they suddenly had a log-jam at that position on the 4th line. Maybe Puempel is the odd man out since they just signed RFA Dzingel and still have Nick Paul – who can also play C – to slot somewhere. Lazar for Yakopov? I wouldn’t do it, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see it happen.
Way to young to give up on & he won’t be moving to center anytime soon. Just turned 21 in February & has 143 games of NHL experience. Still almost 2 years away from even showing what he will be in the NHL. Icetime was up by almost a minute per game in year 2, still only good for 9th by TOI/GP for forwards just seconds above Chaisson so played essentially as a 3rd or 4th line RW. PP TOI/GP went from 0:08 in his rookie year to 0:51 last season. He will be fine. He has scored at every other level he’s played at. I’d say 10 to 12 goals this season 30 to 35 points & the season following 12 to 15 goals & 45 points.
He will never be a #1 or really even a #2 line player. Should settle in as a solid #3 RW eventually a C possibly, that can play in the top 6 when necessary due to injures.
Hard to truly gauge what he is at present as he’s barely played really & when he has it’s been with pluggers.
There was talk of lazar starting out in bingo.
Keep that in mind.
That, too, wouldn’t surprise me. He never did get AHL development time and he’s no MacKinnon or McDavid.
I predicted Kelly would score under 5 goals last season and I was right.
I will repeat my prediction this season. I think he’s done and better options in AHL.
They didn’t get him to score goals. They have enough goal scorers – they needed someone who can show others how to be responsible defensively and how to approach a pk. Name someone in the AHL with his experience who’s better at that role.
Krejci and Subban for Shatts?
That would end up being Krejci for Shattenkirk even up because Subban is still a work in progress with all of 1 NHL game under his belt and very average stats at the AHL level. I doubt they get Shattenkirk even up for Krejci.