Official off-season thread

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That might be the progressive team for this team to do. First time for everything. As for Yandle, if we don't trade him which I think we should how the heck do we pay him after this season?
 
You go win a cup next season and worry about that afterwards. And if at the trade DL we are sucking it up, you can clearly flip Yandle then so you have nothing to lose. I don't see any way at all they deal him prior to the season. It would be stupid to move that great 2.6 mill cap hit we have him for, that is a big edge for us.

Only dman I can see being replaced is Boyle, and I would be fine with that.

And to play two unproven rookies as the 3rd pair on a cup hopeful team is not smart.
 
You worry about the stupid cap when you need to. Yandel at 2.5 is mind blowing you don't get that value anywhere else. Now God forbid we play like shit next year and it's trade deadline time, then you move yandel and fleece a team.
 
Ok ok we keep Yandle :emotions: but I want big mac a part of our D next year so boyle must go.
And good morning Al. Welcome to the mel-chuck early morning talkathon. Ha ha ha
 
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I am perfectly fine with Mac being up here, but he needs to improve his skating this summer to earn that shot. And I would much rather have him slated as the 7th dman with a vet brought in to be the 6th guy (assuming it isn't Boyle). This way Mac learns how to be a pro without as much pressure on him, and we all know the 7th dman plays a lot of games throughout a long season.

That's how I would play it assuming McIlrath does his part.
 
How is half this board giving up on Yandle already? Havent we had lengthy discussions on how difficult this system is for defenseman to pick up, leading to the slow start every year? Yandle comes in in March , plays 30 games and we're ready to trade him already. Fact of the matter is he's an elite puck moving defenseman, he made some passes this postseason that no other dman on this team could even dream of, and he hasnt even had a training camp yet. To get a player like him at 2.5m is an absolute steal and if Sather trades him this offseason he should be fired on the spot.
 
Im surprised nobody has mentioned the move that' could very well be coming...Brad Richards signing here for 2 or 3 years at a mil or so to play 3C.
 
I think the focus should be on a firery gritty top 9 righty shot winger. I would get rid of Hags OR MSL (if Hags wants too much money I would take MSL back for under 2 mill), and replace them with the righty winger and go from there.

I would not make big changes here.

Add that righty winger. Try and move Glass and somehow keep Shepp for Glass' money. Let Mac be the 7th dman if he is up to it. And maybe add a different vet for # 6 instead of Boyle (although if they kept Boyle in that role that would also be fine with me).
 
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Boyle wasnt a disaster. But with Yandle here he's expendable. We really dont need both. Boyle would be the guy to go since he has the bad contract, although as a right shot he's harder to replace. I give McIlrath that 6th spot and out of camp and if it doesnt work by December go shopping for a replacement.

The big add this summer should be a top 6 right wing to play with Kreider and Stepan. I dont necessarily think he has to be a bruiser, but bigger and tougher than St. Louis which will not be hard to do. I dont think our guy is on the FA market. Williams will be overpaid and is not a good enough skater for this system at all. He would have been a fit for Torts.

If we can get out of Boyle and Glass's contract I still think a Talbot/Hagelin trade for Jordan Eberle is the way to go. Obviously no playoff experience but the kid has talent and can score. Another possibility is Blake Wheeler; he a better fit in terms of size/toughness but will be tougher to get.

Patrick Sharp is going to be traded this offseason as well for sure, although he only has 1 more year left on his deal and we most likely will not be able to afford him afterward.

The possibilities are out there, Glen just needs to find the one that fits the best while also being cost-effective. Talbot, Hagelin and McIlrath if necessary are the chips.
 
I agree that is the need to me. A firery top 9 winger with more size than MSL/Hags. That's what we must add, and to me he needs to be a righty shot. The fact that we have one forward that is a R shot is crazy, and that is a C Stepan. You want a good PP...that is not the way to have one. We need to add a top 9 R shot winger. We do that and truthfully I don't think much else is needed.

Boyle I truly could go either way on. We deal him/move on from him...great. We want to keep him as the 6th dman...great. I am good either way.

On Mac I just don't think I can give him that 6th dman role. I think the smarter play, if we can afford it, is have a vet in the 6 spot and Mac as the # 7 guy to start the season. Let him be up with the team and learn to be a pro. He will get games as the # 7 guy, we all know that. And if he does well then he will play more and more. That's why if it isn't Boyle I wouldn't need the vet to be this great guy, just a nice solid vet dman that can be the 6th guy without making a ton of money for a year. This way if Mac is ready he can play and the vet can sit.

And I would love to exchange Glass for Shepp. That's the only way we can keep Shepp is if we get rid of Glass. Not sure we can do it, but I'd try. I would love a 4th line mix of Lindberg/Shepp/Moore/Fast. That is a very solid 4th line group.

Lastly, yes Talbot has to be moved. First I think we can save 500 K +/- on a different backup. And second he is 100% gone next summer. Unless the market is just nothing I would try and move Talbot this summer/at the draft.
 
All three guys I mentioned are right shots and, maybe with the exception of Wheeler, are very available.

Fast is also a right shot if he sticks in the top 9, but I think the ideal place for him next year is on the 4th with D.Moore where handedness is less important.
 
McIlrath does not need to improve his skating. He's a stay at home defenseman like Beuk. He should not pinch in much or take chances. He has a huge reach which makes him hard to get around. Chara was slow as molasses but his reach made him a nightmare to deal with.

The fact Yandle makes so little now with the deal Sather made will only increase his value a ton to a team that wants him. I have heard many times the Kings love him. If I could get Dwight King, a 2nd and a good prospect for Yandle I do that deal tomorrow. Skjei can take his place. You don't keep Yandle for one more year when your team is full of soft, pansy types and you can lock King up for another 4-5 years who is 240 lbs of toughness with some hands.
 
King is a FA after 2017. He's 25. Lock him up to a 3 year extension. I have no doubt the Rangers can do a deal like that tomorrow. They should. Kings need defense. Rangers need size and toughness. That move then gives the Rangers the option of shopping Nash for an assortment of players.
 
Fast is a R shot, but he is not at that level to be a legit PP guy. To me he is best in a 4th line role as you said Prod. I don't count him in the PP mix. For that we have one R shot forward, and it is an issue.

I simply do not see the logic in dealing Yandle and that 2.6 mill cap hit which will be a big plus for us when putting the team together for next season.

It is also very dumb, and yes that is the word, to think you are a SC team and would want two totally unproven rookie dmen in your top 6. Especially when neither is this top can't miss type of prospect. Makes no sense to me, and it will not happen IMO.

And lastly, now we are talking about Mac and Chara in the same breath...LOL. Awesome stuff.

You pretty much want to overhaul everything dump, and that is totally the wrong play here IMO. And on top of that I see very little chance it happens. We'll see though.
 
This is what I have caution some of our no vision posters about. No more of this crap where they make trades and don't build for the future. Make deals that help the team and the future. To me, players like King, McGinn and Berglund are the types of players they need to trade for. The Kings and Av's need defenseman. The Av's need scoring wings. The Blues need speed.

This team is soft and they don't draft the types of players to score pretty goals. They need to be a garbage goal team that is better defensively with the ability to score goals with a speed game if the game goes like that. However, if the speed is taken away by another team, they need to score garbage goals. A big reason they lost is when the speed was taken from them they couldn't score in front. They also need 4 lines. None of this 3 line crap. Yandle isn't needed. He's a turnover machine. He's left handed. Skjei can take his role. Yet, he is valuable around the league. It's just freakin stupid not to trade a guy that can bring back a high, pick a forward with size and maybe a prospect for a guy you can replace who will be here only one more year.
 
Sather needs to trade where he has depth. That's on defense. He has a left and right handed defenseman in Skjei and McIlrath who need to be developed. They need to re-do their forward unit which was incompetent for the most part. I saw a team that didn't show up in a lot of playoff games this year and who couldn't score tough goals. That is not a min0r fix. There has to be some significant changes. Make the changes that make sense.
 
So trade all these players, and go with two totally unproven not top prospect rookies on D, who have pretty much never played in the NHL (McIlrath a few meaningless games). Not sure that is a smart plan for a team looking to win a cup.

The CAP exists dump. Having a guy like Yandle at 2.6 with his skills is a huge advantage for the cap. Miller under 2 mill should be as well. Hayes will be as well. And Kreider at 2.6 mill also will be. You need these guys to make the numbers work.

You take the MSL savings and add a top 9 girtty R shot winger to fill the dirty goal need. And you flip Talbot as well and bring in a bacjup for 500 K less, saving some money there as well.

You don't tear it down and start again.
 
Regarding McIlrath, most of the the Hartford watchers and writers I follow say he improved drastically the second half of his season, and had a very good playoff run. His skating isn't great, but it isnt so bad to the point that it's a liability. Which goes to dump's point: he doesnt need to be a great skater. We dont need 6 McDonaghs out there. McIlrath was on Hartford's top killing pair and played the final tough minutes protecting leads. He hit and he cleared the crease. That's exactly what this team needs.

The one area that McIlrath still needs to improve is the time from when he gets the puck to when he makes the pass. He's too tentative and not smooth enough. In my opinion, that will come with the more and more reps he gets, and the more time he spends in AV's system. There's no reason he can't get comfortable making that first pass when he becomes familiar with his responibilities. But he cant develop that familiarity if AV doesnt give him the chance to at the NHL level.

Like I said before, it's becoming now or never for him. He should start as the 6th D and play until November or so. If it works, we finally have some toughness on the back end. If it doesnt, we finally have an answer and can go shopping. Keeping him up here as the 7th defenseman is pointless. He'll get no reps and no development.
 
theProdigy223 said:
Regarding McIlrath, most of the the Hartford watchers and writers I follow say he improved drastically the second half of his season, and had a very good playoff run. His skating isn't great, but it isnt so bad to the point that it's a liability. Which goes to dump's point: he doesnt need to be a great skater. We dont need 6 McDonaghs out there. McIlrath was on Hartford's top killing pair and played the final tough minutes protecting leads. He hit and he cleared the crease. That's exactly what this team needs.

The one area that McIlrath still needs to improve is the time from when he gets the puck to when he makes the pass. He's too tentative and not smooth enough. In my opinion, that will come with the more and more reps he gets, and the more time he spends in AV's system. There's no reason he can't get comfortable making that first pass when he becomes familiar with his responibilities. But he cant develop that familiarity if AV doesnt give him the chance to at the NHL level.

Like I said before, it's becoming now or never for him. He should start as the 6th D and play until November or so. If it works, we finally have some toughness on the back end. If it doesnt, we finally have an answer and can go shopping. Keeping him up here as the 7th defenseman is pointless. He'll get no reps and no development.
Click to expand...
if the dude is not dominating that level, what happens when the speed of the game jumps up a notch? he aint clearning the crease if the triplets are on the ice against him
 
I don't think it is pointless at all Prod. He has spent a few years in the AHL now. I 100% see the value in him being up with the pros learning the way and practicing with the team. And you know what...the 7th dman plays a lot of games during a long 82 game marathon.

He certainly doesn't need to be a great skater, but he does need to be able to skate well enough to stay with forwards and stay in front of them. If he can do that...awesome. I have no issue if he is here. But unless it is a no doubt type of deal I wouldn't make him my # 6 right at the start and feel good about it.
 
BigDaddyAl1973 said:
if the dude is not dominating that level, what happens when the speed of the game jumps up a notch? he aint clearning the crease if the triplets are on the ice against him
Click to expand...

Al, do you really see the triplets sitting near the crease like they did this series if big mac is in the vicinity. I don't
 
And this McIlrath thing is simply OUT OF CONTROL. My lord you would think this kid is some top prospect or highly rated guy, neither of which is the case. It really is insane how we build guys up. The grass is always greener...LOL.
 
Very doubtful mel. If/when McIlrath is a bust I will laugh my as* off. I certainly would give him a shot here as the 7th dman, but the fact that all you guys are obsessed with a guy who simply hasn't been close to good enough to get a shot yet is comical.

Let him prove he deserves to be here by making the big club as the 7th dman. Let him play some games here and there and learn to be a pro. If he shows he has game then give him a larger role. I have zero issue with that. But all you guys simply wanting to hand him a spot, or acting as if just him being here will stop teams from playing their game is comical.
 
Chuck, you saying you'd laugh at a first round pick not panning out so you can say you were right is pretty low dude. Now I remember why I didn't post here for a few weeks, thanks for the reminder.
 
Stop being so dramatic Prod...LOL. AS I SAID I want him to be up here and pair as the # 7 with a solid vet at # 6. BUT if he didn't pan out it would be pretty damn funny considering the way some of you guys are talking about him being this savior. I mean come on bro it is funny stuff and you know it.

DESPITE the fact that we lost games 5 & 7 on home ice being shutout 2-0 each game all you guys have talked about is Mac Mac Mac...it is comical now. Dump mentions Chara. Others saying of if Mac was here no team would ever hit us from behind. If you cannot see the comedy in that I am not sure what to tell you man.
 
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It's not being dramatic at all, I'm trying to make a point and you keep getting hysterical and pulling out bits and pieces you don't agree with.

Nobody disagrees that offense was the problem in the losses. But how do you expect to improve the offense and get that right wing without making changes on D? If you know of a way please walk me thru it because I don't see it.

Without nhlnumbers in front of me so these numbers are ballpark, we have MSL coming off at 5.6, Hunwick at 600k, and Shep with a pro rated hit at about 200k. That's 6.4. Cap going up 2m, so we have roughly 8.5m in space. Staal has a 2m raise, Zucc has a 1m raise, Stepan gets a 3m raise. That's 6 right there, leaving 2.5m. Say Fast and Miller get combined .5. That's 2 million left for your right wing difference maker, and we haven't even discussed Hagelin yet who you hope to resign. So how does the cap work?

That's what brings me to subbing McIlrath for Boyle. McIlrath is the only right shot in the system who can take that over. Not to mention the things he brings that this team lacks. All of a sudden we have a few million dollars more to get a RW whos actually worth something, instead of resigning MSL for a million which is probably what we'd end up with otherwise.

It's not about talking defense for the sake of talking defense, it's about taking a slight step back on D, which was a strength, in order to improve the weakness up front.
 
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