OT-Bieksa to stay with Canucks
Reported on ESPN. Deal is for 5 years/$23M. Sucks for any Wings fans on the board. Weber is probably staying as it is and now the second best option is off the board.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6709577&campaign=rss&source…
Christian Ehrhoff, please.
The Canucks signing Bieksa might actually improve those chances.
rumor has it they are looking at ed jovanowski... :-/
A hungry and somewhat healthy, cheap Jovo wouldn't be bad. He hasn't won one yet, is from just across the bridge and he plays tough. Might not a top 2 pairing defensemen on this team but if he comes for around 1.5-2 million a year for a year or two I could live with it. We gotta replace Raffy, Salei and probably Ericsson. Gotta think Kindl is coming up to fill a spot.
Ericsson is close to a deal. He'll be signed soon. There waiting to see if they bring back salei. Kindl can't be sent down so he's on the team unless he gets traded. Eaves or miller is reportedly going to test the market. I wouldn't be surprised if they both tested
I'm pretty sure Salei is done. Hopefully we land Erhoff to pair up with Lidstrom. Kindl is up, and I think they're bringing Smith up from Grand Rapids too. /waytooearlyspeculation
The Salei thing was a quote I read from Holland. They'll bring up Smith, unless he gets into the top 6/7, I just don't see them having him up there to be a scratch. I'm all for getting Ehroff, but I don't see him leaving Vancouver.
will probably command too high a price.
Jovanovski will demand a significantly higher salary than he's actually worth at this point, so the wings will have to decide if it's worth it. His last contract included a clause that gave his family use of a private jet to see his games several times a season, roundtrip.
The wings were very interested in Bieksa, but it was tough because he likes it in Vancouver so it would have taken a huge pay raise to snag him which wouldn't have been worth it IMO. I know they tried to make a few deals on the weekend but the right deal didn't present itself. They did the smart thing, unlike many GM's who get trigger happy and make mediocre deals.
I live in Vancouver, Bieksa is overrated. Terrible at puck possession, hard hitter but other then this year has not been great,.Carrer +/- is negative, all of Vancouver player had inflated stats cause of there offence..
So what you're saying is- he's gotten better as the Canucks have gotten better?? No way
No what i am saying is he is not that good, just his stats looked inflated because of the offence and decent goaltending i saw about 30 games and trust me not worth 23 mil Ehrhoff much better in his own zone
I think that Ehrhoff would fit the Wings style and with Rafalski's cap room it seems a natural.
Funny though, there aren't any rumors of Ehrhoff to Detroit. Is there some reason the Wings aren't interested?
James wisnewski(sp) from montreal is rumored to be the wings #1 target. Weber was never a realistic target as he is a restricted free agent, which Holland never goes after for one, and two Nashville tender him an offer so I believe he's only eligible for arbitration and can't be offered by other teams.
<br>Bieska was never gonna hit the market. Jovanoski is the backup plan if they don't get wisnewski. The talk was the wings tried trading at the draft but asking prices were to high.
<br>I don't think Ehroff is going to hit the market either. He likes it there and vancouver wants him back.
erhoff is overrated and is a serious defensive liability. bieksa is an offensive liability.
wisnewksi is a bit of a thug, but brings the rest of the package to the table.
wisnewski also has ties to this area. he played for a couple years with the whalers in the ohl.
He's from Canton.
the Wings trade away enough to get adam larsson, the swede who went 4th overall to the devils. I know it probably would have taken the entire year's picks, our two first and two seconds to trade up to #4, or a roster and a couple picks... But Larsson's supposed to be amazing.
with either Bieksa or Erhoff in the playoffs, I think the wings could do better
How come no one is mentioning Joni Pitkanen? I'd rather have him than over paying for Ehrhoff
Wings are rumored not to be a fan of Pitkanen.
Think Wings have a great shot at him, mostly because we (Mtl) just re-signed Markov, have to pay Subban next year, and drafted lots of d-men.
He will command a pretty high salary though. He is excellent on O, great skater...in his own zone average, skating backwards a bit lost, but defo not what you get a guy like this for.
Not a thug at all. Top 4 pairing guy with a goodskater who is more aware defesively.
I think bieska kinda set the market, unless someone does something crazy in the coming days/weeks. Which isn't out of the question.
This guy is available:
You can probably get him on the cheap too.
(I don't want him coming back to Boston, though he played well enough in the Finals)