A perfect off-season for Kevin Lowe probably includes a heartbreaking SCF G7 loss for the Anaheim Ducks. That would mean Lowe could save some face (although not enough) from the CFP deal and thus avoid the Hasselhoffian embarrassment of watching Pronger raise the Stanely as a Duck this spring.Lowe was almost perfect summer 2005 (not Grace Kelly perfect, but close) but summer 2006 was closer to Ernest Borgnine.
Is there a Chris Pronger out there this season? Is there an organization in the NHL willing to trade their Gary Carter for our Herm Winningham, Floyd Youmans, Hubie Brooks and Mike Fitzgerald?
I think Wade Redden is probably off the market now that the Senators are safely in the final 4.
If not Redden, who? More and more I think the Edmonton Oilers are going to be making a trade with Philadelphia for Joni Pitkanen. He's young enough and can play the heart of his career here, he's established enough to play with Smith or Staios, and he won't cost so much that the Oilers can't afford him.
Plus he may be expendable. I don't think Wade Redden will be this summer.
The Oilers' reach is a lot less Princess Grace and a lot more this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.askmen.com/gossip/elizabeth-taylor/taylor-too-fat-for-stardom.html
I wouldn't be surprised if the Oil went after Patrick Marleau.
ReplyDeletePersonally I hope they send Lupul packing, add a couple of veteran wingers with the money and sign or trade for an old veteran and keep Hejda for the defense. Oh and I still like Dennis' Toivonen idea too.
ReplyDeleteI don't know they love Pitkanen in Phily. Their season ticket campaigns for next season feature him as the most prominent player in all the highlights. That probably does not mean much but they seem to be pumping him to the fans, maybe if they land a big D man UFA and forward (Briere or whoever) the Philly fans will not care. Gagne hardly appears on the commercials at all.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why Philly would move Pitkanen but if they would how awesome would an off season look of trading young pieces for Pitkanen....singing a relative big free agent veteran D to round things out...and picking up a sniper or even Smyth.
ReplyDeleteThe nice thing about a Pitkanen trade is it leaves us financial room. Espcecially if Philly took that Lupul fella.
A man can dream.
I believe you are correct RE: Redden
ReplyDeleteHeatley has another year left, and Phillips was locked up - I think it would be wise for them to keep him another year especially with the rising cap.
Pitkanen has been the Joffery Lupul on the Philly boards on HF. He struggled last year, but I doubt Philly is just going to give him away without getting fair market value for him.
Toivonen is an interesting idea - and I'd imagine he could be acquired without giving up too much
How much can Lowe really do? How much can we expect of him? The Oilers before the Pronger steal? No great shakes. The Oilers with Pronger? All they needed was a couple of breaks and some great netminding. The Oilers after the Pronger rape? Garbage. How much that had to do with being cheap, well I don't know. What I do know though, is that maybe we really shouldn't expect a whole lot from Lowe because maybe he didn't show us anything all that confidence inspiring OUTSIDE of the Pronger acquistion from the Blues.
ReplyDeleteI'd be all over a Toivonen deal was well - his AHL numbers at a very young age were just outstanding - but I think he was pushed too hard in BOS and then got injured. Not at all like Raycroft who was IMHO a mediocre guy who simply had an unusually good year at the right time - but the clock struck midnight pretty quickly and NHL shooters clearly have his number. I doubt he rebounds unless he does a Roloson later in his career.
ReplyDeleteLupul - oh yeah - addition by subtraction in both ES play and cap room. I will be happy to never see him wear the oil drop again.
What does OTT do with Redden? If he stays I doubt he lasts past the deadline because they cant afford the cap space in the summer of 08 with the Spezza and Heatley contracts coming up - so if they cant extend him then I doubt OTT risks him walking for nothing like Chara. So they have to do something and a trade in the summer or trade at the deadline seem like the only options.
Pitkanen would be nice - how about shipping Lupul, Smid and the #6 for Pitkanen and the #2 pick and we take Voracek.....works for me :)
Sadly, they will probably run Lupul out there for another 20 or 35 games again next season. It will be painful to watch, but maybe MacT will be able to make him look as good as Corey Perry or Zach Parise before they flip him out.
ReplyDeleteWhile acquiring Pitkanen makes sense for the Oilers, dealing Pitkanen doesn't add up from a Philadelphia perspective.
ReplyDeleteI can't see the Flyers dealing Joni to anyone for anything outside a really, really nice package.
I really don't know how much more we could do for Lupul. Well, outside of maybe nabbing Gomez and giving him super soft min the whole season. Last year he had a chance to play the tough min with 10-94 but these were also the "talented" guys that some people say JOFF needs to play with. He did nothing in those situations. Then we gave him the super soft min at home and he did nothing with them.
ReplyDeleteIf Lupul's gonna be successful or he's gonna be an asset or, considering his salary, he's not going to be considered an anchor, he needs to be on a team that:
A: he doesn't play top six min and you don't expect anything out of him
B: this team's loaded enough that they have skilled and talented players to help him out while he's on the 3rd line
C: this team has enough valuable players who aren't yet getting paid that you can afford to waste so much money on a Lupul.
One last note here. I don't think the Sens can bring everyone back in two summers time and with Phillips and Volchenkov and Mez in house, they could make the decision that's a fine D core to keep around and thus they spend their money on the forwards. And if Ott wins the Cup this year I can see them dealing off Redden and taking the old pose of "well we won a cup so that's good for a few years and now let's deal one of the pieces and try and re-tool a little."
ReplyDeleteSee, I think Redden's gone if the say the Oilers offer a good deal for him.
ReplyDeleteMuckler was on Ottawa radio last week and he spefically said that Phillips and Volchenkov were Ottawa's #1 and #2 d-men.
Ottawa's gonna pay there #3 d-man $6.5M?
If Ottawa can unload him this summer, I think they will. Let's not forget that ater this summer, they could be paying alot of $$ for their goalies. If they can unload Gerber, they may need the cap space.
I'm with Dennis - if the Ottawas win, they may very well move Redden and the Oilers have some young D that they could use. Smid make a lot of sense in that he can step in and play on their bottom pair at the very least.
ReplyDeletePlus Ottawa uses the savings to lock up Heatley.
Now if they do not win they may keep him around for that one last shot. This team is no Cinderella - they have been a machine this spring. They will likely be back next year.
It's funny that I'm rooting against Ott because I've always cheered for them considering they used to face off against TO and the likes. This year, it's just that I don't like Bryan Murray and I can't stand Greg Millen's guts plus Comrie's now a Sen as well. I'm still looking at this team as being one line plus Fisher at ES and a great top four D but all that being said, the team is 9-2 in the playoffs and they've shown a lot of guts.
ReplyDeleteBuf, on the other hand, have disappointed me. There were some warning signs heading into the playofs given that Maxim was just coming back and so were a couple of other guys but I just expected them to be better. They struggled a little in taking out the Isles in 5, they should not have given up two games to the Rags and now they've already lost HIA to Ott. It just seems like it's a chore to me and I can't understand it. Are there a few guys banged up? Are guys taking awhile to get up to speed? Are they fighting the expectations? There's just so much bloody balance in their lines and D combos, plus I think Miller's certainly better than Emery. I just can't figure it out right now.
Anyway, what I'd like to see the Oilers do is sign 94 and bring in Redden for Smid and Lupul.
94-10-83-34-14-16 for the top six
Thor-MP-Moreau for the third line. Reasoner plus for the 4th line.
Redden and Smyth re-animate the PP, there are lots of guys to kill penalties. Pick up Toivinen and groom him as the next starting goalie. It seems like the B's might like Greene for him, no?
Grebs-Smith-Staios-Redden-Gilbert-Shaggy
for the D.
Anyone have any idea how much that might cost? I'd say Redden/94 make a combined 12 min. Lupul's off the books. Try and bring back Raffi longterm but on the cheap. Anything I'm missing?
With Smyth at $5.5, Redden at $6.5
ReplyDeleteThat's a $47 mm team
A little can be shaved here & there:
Petersen in for Reasoner,
Sign Eriksson instead of Tjarnqvist,
use Stortini rather than Nilsson
That'll take them under $46
I know it means nothing but this team should not be any more than 2 mill under the cap come the first of Oct.
ReplyDeleteI'm still looking at this team as being one line plus Fisher at ES and a great top four D but all that being said, the team is 9-2 in the playoffs and they've shown a lot of guts.
ReplyDeleteI dunno. I've liking the Sens all playoffs and I like them in this matchup too. I don't think any team in the league has an answer for Alfredsson's line, so that's advantage #1. Advantage #2 is that Phillips/Volchenkov vs. Lydman/Tallinder is a saw off at worst and the Sens still have Wade Redden at 75-80% or whatever he is at - the Sens top four is clearly superior IMO. Advantage #3 is that the Sens are a faster club. Fisher, Schaefer, Saprykin, McAmmond and Vermette are all burners and Eaves can skate too if he comes back. Buffalo's not slow by any stretch, but that's a very quick Sens team.
I'd say Buffalo has more skill depth, arguably more depth in their 3rd d-pairing and possibly a very slight edge in goal. I don't think that'll be enough for them. The top end talent in Ottawa is better and the team speed is a pretty big equalizer.