2008/09 NHL Thread

It comes with a bad case of hockey hair and chiclets.

 

Flames jumped out to an early lead, Sabres about to go on a power play.

 

How much you want for that?

 

There's a rumour circulating that Sutter is trying to get Pronger.

Please, God. No.

 

That'd make you an instant Leafs fan.

 

Seriously, how much more does one girl need to endure?

 

Why would the Ducks be looking to looking to offload Pronger?

 

The trend is to sign young cornerstone players to long term deals. The players obviously want to get paid. The teams want to make sure that they can keep their good players through their free agent years (see Ovechkin's deal with the Caps).

The teams that are getting bit hard in the ass are, as JC noted, those teams that open the coffers without much in the way of forethought. According to a story I read earlier in the week, Philly's thinking about trying to deal Briere. Why? Other than the fact he's forever hurt, he's a huge cap hit.

The Rangers received kudos for signing Drury and Gomez two off-seasons ago. Before putting the immortal Dan Fritsche on waivers earlier today, the Rangers had $800K in cap space. If Sather gets the urge to make a deal at the deadline for a sniper (Kovalchuk?) or power forward (Guerin? Tkachuk?) or a dependable stay-at-home defenseman, he is going to have to shed salary. Is that Gomez? Drury? Michael Roszival (four years at $20 million)? Wade Redden (six years, $39 million and has a clause in his contract where he can veto trades to certain teams)? If Sather is able to find a team willing to make a deal, does that team have the cap room?

That's the danger for any team that deals for Lecavalier. Yes, he's a top ten player in the league. But which team or teams can absorb 11 years and $85 million while still be able to surround him with legitimate players? Montreal has the benefit of having 10 UFAs on the roster. Let's stipulate that Bob Gainey makes the deal for Lecavalier. Can he still re-sign key players (Mike Komisarek for example) while being able to add other players?

 

Dunno ... rumour belongs to Duthie on TSN.

 

2-0 Flames now ... er wait, no ... Stafford just scored for Buff.

 

According to NHL Network, before and during the All-Star Weekend, GM Bob Murray, Scott Niedermayer and Ryan Getzlaf all said there is something wrong in the Ducks' room. Murray suggested that if the problems aren't solved, he'll deal.

I don't know if Pronger is the problem or not. What I believe is that he could bring back a decent package of players and picks in a deal.

 

So, Flames up 5-2 late, I'll ask the question I heard earlier today. Are the Flames at the same level as the Sharks and Red Wings right now?