OT- Suter/Parise/Semin/Nash Watch (AKA Free Agency Day 3)
Alot of BIG names still out there. I suppose that this is the last day we'll do this whole open thread thing, as the hockey hating contingent of the MGoCommunity will likely wake from their slumber to both neg bang this post and take extra time out of their day just to let us know how they feel.
However, skaters gonna skate.
Four big time players are hanging in the hockey atmosphere, will the Red Wings bring any of them home? Any big surprises?
Please, help me get my mind off of this massive pile of work on my desk and the agonizing possibility of our Wunderkind Trouba leaving us for the always dickish OHL.
Happy free agency, puck heads..
EDIT: Well, it's lunchtime and nothing very sexy has happened.
Free Agents:
Suter: No announcement, high probability he's a Wing.
Parise: Many think he's leaning towards PIT or MIN, but who knows?
Semin: No word as of yet.
Trade Bait:
Nash: Concerning reports and tweets, Detroit is on his "approved" list, but it may just cost the franchise to bring him to the D
Ryan: Not much has been said here, either.
Someone posted that a very possible outcome could be signing Suter and Semin, and then making a trade for Ryan out of Anaheim. Thoughts? Who would we let go of?
The more I sit and think about it, the more I want Semin on the Wings. I know he's had effort issues, but the guy is good enough to get 40+ goals if he plays alongside Datsyuk. He's got probably the best wrist shot in the league and his hands are magic. If Babcock can get him to play with effort night in and night out, he could compete for a Rocket Richard.
Plus he's actually a fairly solid penalty killer based on his play for Team Russia, but Boudreau and Hunter never gave him a chance to play it at the NHL level. So Holland: grab Suter, let Parise do his thing in Pittsburgh (or Minnesota or New Jersey or Chicago or....), and get Semin for less money and similar impact.
Mike Babcock is in Minny right now. He must be visiting Parise.
@UND_WIH: Honestly just walked past Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock in the MSP airport!! I wonder what he is doing here #parise
That's the official Twitter account of North Dakota women's hockey.
think of Jonas Gustavsson move? I liked Joey MacDonald.
Gustavsson went 17-17-4, with a 2.92 goals-against average and .902 save percentage this past season
MacDonald, went 8-5-1, with a 2.16 goals-against average and .912 save percentage
I like Joey too, but I don't think picking up Gustavsson was a bad move at all. He gets to be a backup to a solid goaltender, and the Wings have plenty of his countrymen to maybe get him into a better comfort zone. If there is one team that has done a very good job of getting the most out of its Swedes, the Wings are certainly it.
MacDonald wants a trade now, and I can't blame him. Dude's gotta do what he has to in order to get an opportunity.
If MacDonald would have played more games, his numbers would be much higher. Besides, Gustavsson was playing for the hapless Maple Leafs. Apples-to-Oranges in a statistic comparison. He's not going to play more than 20 games at most (if Howard stays healthy), so it's fine by me. I was fine with MacDonald though. Not going to be a big deal either way IMO.
Remember...McDonald played with Lidstrom in front of him.
Gustavsson played with the whole Maple Leafs team in front of him...Speaks for itself.
I saw a scenario that would work good. Sign Suter and Semin and then trade for Bobby Ryan. I don't know who and the hell they would have to get rid of for Bobby Ryan but the cost would be much less than for Nash.
Franzen and Cleary, perhaps?
Admittedly I haven't looked much at the Ducks roster, so I'm not sure what they lack, but I'd be ok with those two leaving for Ryan.
I'd do Franzen and Cleary for Ryan straight up. Cleary hasn't been the same since 09 playoffs and Franzen is jus a mystery. Unstoppable at times in the past. Real streaky and seems to get injured a lot. Not strong on the puck at all. Best way to describe him in the 5 games against Nashville this year is "Weak".
I don't think the Ducks would take that deal; it gives them nothing that they need. Franzen's contract is going to make him really hard to move.
Franzen is definitely going to be the hardest piece to move. Keeping a guy under contract that long is always a bad idea. He had one amazing postseason, and from there has underwhelmed (relative to his contract).
Rumor is the Ducks want a 2nd-line center in the package for Ryan, so if we make a deal for Ryan, Filppula is probably going the other way.
I'm 100% ok with that. I do really like Fil, but if we could get Bobby Ryan, you'd have to let him go. Who else would the Ducks want?
and don't for get Brunner who we picked up from Switzerland on Sunday. Babcock says hes a "top 6 forward right now".
Yeah I think alot of guys like Bertuzzi, Franzen and Cleary are really going to be pushed to work if we slip these new signees/potential trades into the top lines. There was a point in time where Dats skated on the top line with Franzen and Bert at the same time. That's just not a good formula for the fast paced set up hockey that Z and Pav play.
Did Babcock really saw that? I watched two of his highlight videos and his skating looked terrible though he does seem to be a sniper
Pulled the quote out of the Freep article.
"He can play in our top six. He gives us a player for our top six. Now, the question is, he's never played on a smaller rink. But I loved him at Worlds. I think he has a chance to be a good player. I'm excited about having him. He gives us a right-hand shot on the power play. For me, it's a big deal. We sure think there's an opportunity here for him, now he has to do it. Going from the big ice to small ice, you never know for sure. But others have done it, so why can't this kid?"
Just saw this gem from Suter's agent in the Detroit News:
Suter's agent, Neil Sheehy, has heard enough. He tells The Associated Press: "When a young man is asked to commit for 13 years, why is it considered extraordinary to take a few days to make a decision? A deal will happen when it happens."
13 years? Uh-oh...
Come on Suter, You're a millionare who will continue to be a millionare and you will be playing for the Wings...pull the trigger.
Who are these guys? Any inside info?
Nicastro and Tvrdon
A quick google search shows that Nicastro was a 2008 draft pick, and Tvrdon a 2011 draft pick. Not big news, for sure.
I take your disagreeal and look forward to his future, good sir. I admit, I have not seen anything whatsoever about him, nor have I looked for it. Hopefully you are the correct one in this instance.
So he's got good character... that's what you're saying?
Flashbacks to the coaching search?
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N559LC
Jet is registered to the Red Wings and is leaving Madison for DTW. Suter on board? ZOMG SPECULATION!!!
I hope that's an old picture. Ilitch needs to invest in a new paint job.
Say the Wings get Suter and one of Semin/Ryan/Nash. Would they be any type of position next year to get Weber when he potentially becomes a UFA?
Without looking at the payroll and cap, so take this FWIW, I would imagine there's not a great chance. We'd have alot of money tied into Dats, Z, Kronwall, Franzen, Suter, and Semin/Ryan/Nash. I would think we'd have to make a move to open up some cap space.
Unlikely barring a cap increase similar to this year (which I would not bet on). Howard, Flip, Cleary, Nyquist, White, and Smith are all UFA/RFA next year and will eat up a lot of space, and they won't have much space left if they get both Suter and one of the big name forwards (I'd guess combined they'll need $14+ million per). So you're looking at $37 million committed next year, $14 million with Suter+X, and a guess at probably $16 million to get the aforementioned guys under contract. That's $67 million, and Weber will get $8+ next year, so a cap increase of $5 million would be necessary. Maybe if they trade Ericsson...
I hated Ericsson's contract when it was signed, and I hate it now. That is wasted money, no way he is worth $3.25 mil per. Underwhelming defender, makes way too many mistakes, and doesn't throw around his weight enough. He's a big guy, and he doesn't take advantage of that.
I've been riding the Ericsson hate-train for a long time now, but I don't think his contract is that ridiculous. As much as I'll grit my teeth saying this, he's been a fairly good penalty killer. He is a very high risk-mediocre reward sort of player and does not play up to his size very often.
But the contract is not what gets me, it's just having him take up a roster spot over Kindl/Smith. That I don't like one bit.
Do you really think that he's worth $3.25 million per season? That just seems like a crazy amount for a guy that likes to turn the puck over a lot. You're right, though, I'd much rather his roster spot be given to Smith or Kindl and let them develop more. I think they both have a much higher upside than Ericsson.
No way big E is worth half that. He has decent speed good size although he never uses it and his offensive game is awful. Brendan Smith should be playing right now and he should be in the minors.
Who says?
Thank you. Will be an interesting next few days.