The following are things I'm beginning to wonder about, or that I think may be smart for teams to do. As far as I can tell, none of these things are rumored to happen, they're just things that I've thought of based on other rumors. And... here... we... go:
Could Nashville Be the Big Winner July 1st?
Today, Andy Strickland reported that he's heard that Ryan Suter may be seeing if Nashville adds more pieces July 1st. Considering that Poile seems to hope/think that he'll be having discussions with Suter on July 1st, this could be possible. In the past, both Weber and Suter had made it clear that they wanted to see the management bring in players to show their commitment to winning, as Pierre LeBrun writes here.
So, let's assume Ryan Suter is indeed waiting to see what Nashville does in terms of adding talent. Shea Weber, though an RFA, could be in the same boat. Heck, even Hal Gill might be doing the same. The problem is, that's a serious chunk of money waiting to see who's added. Let's go ahead and overestimate that those three players could together bring about $20 million in cap hit.
Per CapGeek, that would only put the team at about $52 million with a $70 million cap. Re-signing restricted free agents Sergei Kostitsyn and Colin Wilson could put the team at about $58 million with 17 players signed. The likes of Jack Hillen, Bradon Yip, Brian McGrattan, and whoever ends up being the backup goalie will come cheaply and will likely put them at somewhere like $62 million for 21 players. That should be just enough money to afford the cap hit for Zach Parise.
Think about it, Parise wants to win. If New Jersey can't afford him, he'll likely look for a winning team and stability. As long as Suter and Weber are in the fold, Nashville makes plenty of sense. And for Nashville, Parise is the goal scorer they were hoping they were getting when Radulov came back. Plus, there's been rumors, albeit baseless that they seem, that Suter and Parise would enjoy playing together.
It's a total long shot and I haven't heard a single rumor about it, but it would be interesting and shocking if it happened.
Pavelec and Columbus a Match?
Here's a move that I think could make sense. Columbus plans on trading Rick Nash for a bounty, and needs a starting goaltender. TSN's Darren Dreger touches on this here. Now, apparently Winnipeg goaltender Ondrej Pavelec is seeking north of $4 million per year or will leave for the KHL. Commentary on that can be seen here. I don't see Winnipeg paying Pavelec, who has been inconsistent at best, that much. But, I wonder if Columbus would.
I think any trade would see Columbus sending much-maligned goalie Steve Mason to Winnipeg. Mason has been awful the past few years, but only has a year left on his contract and may need a second chance playing behind a decent defense. Does Winnipeg have a decent defense? With the likes of Bogosian, Enstrom, Stuart, Byfuglien, Hainsey, Clitsome and Postma they should be decent. And Columbus looks like they'll have enough prospects to send one or two the way of Winnipeg. This is important because in my mind Winnipeg doesn't have too many high end prospects: Cormier, Scheifele, Postma, Machachek, and Klingberg are the only ones I see playing in the NHL. I really think there could be a deal to be made between these two teams.
No comments:
Post a Comment