Running 2008 NHL Playoffs Thread

Well if they let Hossa go, unless of course he drops his price tag, and they get to resign a handful of role players, I am fine with that.

I have a feeling there will always be a guy they can get in a midseason trade that will allow them to split Malkin and Crosby.

Will Staal be as good as Hossa in a few years?

 

I disagree. With the cap going up, I think Ray Shero is going to re-sign Hossa. For two and a half years, speculation what Crosby could do if he had a scoring winger on his line dominated the sport. Now he has one of the premier wings in the game and you let him walk away?

Nothing against Orpik, Malone, Ruutu or Laraque, but if three of those guys sign elsewhere, it is not a devastating loss.

 

Nope. Staal's going to be a shutdown center. He's going to be a Selke candidate for 15 years.

 

Not as a scorer then, but there is no shame in Staal manning the third line. Actually, to have two top scoring lines and a top shutdown line sounds pretty good to me.

 

I've posted this once - perhaps twice - before. If I'm the Penguins, I try like hell to keep Hossa. He wasn't on their radar until Atlanta was dumb enough to deal him at a discount price (Hello JC ... we've argued this point once. Not again, please).

Given how well he's performed with all the other weapons Pittsburgh has, I think you lock up Malkin to make sure he knows he's a cornerstone in their long-term place, but you also do just about everything you can to lock up Hossa. And yes ... for Pete's sake, get Jordan Staal a long-term deal. If that means Marc-Andre Fleury doesn't get a Martin Brodeur-type deal, so be it.

If they hold on to enough of the front-line weapons, one of us on this board could stop just enough shots for the Penguins to win with all that firepower on the ice.

Of course, sign all the other guys you can. HB knows NY hockey, so perhaps Brooks Orpik is gone. But I don't think you let Hossa simply fly away without a serious effort at the negotiating table.

 

I think Fleury knows that he has a chance to be Grant Fuhr-esque winner if he stays with the Pens.

 

No problem Mr. Mills we'll agree to disagree about what Atlanta received.

I'd say good for the Pens for going after Hossa, they stepped in at the last minute and stole him away from Montreal.

I think it will be tough to sign him long term with all the other young players they will need to lock up. Time will tell. I do think the Pens will be fine if they don't re-sign him. Their key palyers are so young they are just going to naturally mature and get better and they may need some flexibility to add defensive pieces in the future.

Selfishly I hope they don't sign him so the Canucks can go after him.

 

This might get me flamed but I'm not sure that Hossa is anything more than a high-scoring secondary player. He's not the guy that will carry a team to the Cup. But he could be the guy that, in a supporting role, helps a team contend.

 

No flaming here. I agree with you. That's why I wouldn't be too terribly upset if they let him go, but lock up the young guys and keep some of the role players like Orpik.

 

I'd tend to agree with that. It's funny before this years playoffs he was known for his post season vanishing act.

 

Exactly. Hossa was supposed to be the lead horse for Ottawa and Atlanta, and those franchises never went anywhere. He's now in Pittsburgh, where he doesn't have to be the guy and look at the success he's having.

 

It's players in the right roles with the right teams. Hossa has found that in Pittsburgh. Same with Sergei Samsonov in Raleigh ... and I got torched for backing that train of thought. A guy who was counted on as an organizational cornerstone has changed scenery and found himself ...

I'm not saying the Penguins should open the bank vault for Hossa - not like they'll have that luxury given the other organizational cornerstones they must sigh. But Hossa has flourished in this setting and it has been good for both sides.