Quote:
Originally Posted by Hack&Lube
I don't know where McKenzie is finding $4M in cap space. It's only about $1M, unless he counts on us not resigning two of these guys next year.
Another note - if you watch Burke's presser, Sutter ASKED for Mayers and was one of the lynchpins of the deal somehow.
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Not precisely. Sounded like the deal wasn't quite balanced. At that point Burke was demanding Sjostrom and it sounds like the deal got done when Sutter demanded Mayers in order to replace Sjostrom on our team. This shouldn't be confused into thinking that Mayers was the "lynchpin" of the deal, the dealbreaker, the most valuable asset in the deal, or any such nonsense that clearly isn't true.
Here's how I'm imagining it might have gone down.
1) Sutter looks to trade Phaneuf for a top 4 defenseman, a top 2 line winger and a top 2 centre.
2) Leafs have all the assets he wants but demand Aulie and Sjostrom in addition.
3) Flames don't make the deal until they replace Sjostrom with a similar player, PKer, 4th liner type. As a bonus, Mayers can take some faceoffs which has been problematic this year so Sjostrom->Mayers might be a slight upgrade in faceoff versatility and for PK.
Something like that. At any rate it seems clear that Mayers is in fact the least valuable part of the deal from either team. That his inclusion into the deal made it happen does not negate the previous sentence.
One thing I think some aren't factoring in how young Stajan and White actually are.
http://flames.nhl.com/club/roster.ht...ob&type=roster
White is about as young as Pardy and therefore one of the youngest d-men on the Flames. He sounds and looks very similar to former fan favourite Andy Ference IMO. He could be a somewhat core player on the defense for a while.
Stajan is only 26 and one of these new crop of UFA's. People are probably thinking he's older than he is because he is UFA. It will be interesting to see how he performs and if he re-signs.
My thinking is probably similar to a lot of people's at this point. I think it could upgrade the club short term adding a couple top two line forwards while not losing much if anything on the backend. I worry that perhaps Sutter did not get the longterm value you could or should out of asset like Dion. But that could certainly be negated by White, Stajan and Hagman becoming and performing like core players for us.
For those who wanted better value, you have to make a choice. Get better longterm value in terms of picks or prospects but those assets might not help you win for 5-7 years. Or get what looks to be lesser longterm value by getting help now.
It will be interesting to see how it pans out. My first reaction was negative. I've certainly warmed up to it and am hoping that White, Stajan and Hagman really impress. Also will be interesting to see if anything happens with Jokinen now.