2014 Free Agent Frenzy Thread: FA News, FA Rumors and FA Speculation

[Coach]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

If they are elite players you can. You just need to keep filling out the depth like Chicago did. They lose Ladd, Buff, Versteeg but had cheaper fill-ins ready to go like Saad, Kruger, etc.

Why should the top players be the one to take a haircut? Why don't we ask Bryan Bickell to take a $2 million contract instead of $4m or Oduya to take $1.5 instead of 3.4?

Because all it does is widen the gap in salary between the top players and the role players, and I personally just don't think that the gap in salary matches the gap in team contributions.

If Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter each made 12 mil, would they be able to keep/get Williams, Stoll, Gaborik, Brown, Richards, etc..? Can you possibly have enough young players to suppliment those roles and offense? Pretty tough to expect 20 year olds to do Williams or Stoll's job just because you have to pay your top 2-3 players the majority of your cap.

Is there a difference in lifestyle that occurs between the $7-8mil salary range and the $10-12 that I'm not seeing? Is it worth potentially giving up successful seasons and championships?

[lanny9]

Don't know if posted already but Matt Niskanen has decided to hit the open market on July 1. per TSN

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Rich Hammond @Rich_Hammond
Willie Mitchell wants to play 2 more years, and he's earned the right to more $ than Kings can afford in that span.

Seems like the perfect fit for the Flames while some of the D-man prospects develop in the AHL. I only expect 1-2 of the current crop to make it (most likely Wotherspoon and Sieloff), but it gives them time to develop properly, although Wotherspoon looked nearly ready last year.

I would be happy to have a veteran like Mitchell to solidify the back end and allow the young forward crop to play a little looser and allow them to make mistakes without it costing the team every time.

[CliffFletcher]

I'd be happy with Mitchell or Orpik.

[Ozy_Flame]

With Butler likely out, I would welcome Willie Mitchell in a heartbeat. He could definitely help point youngsters like Wotherspoon in the right direction.

[MissTeeks]

Renaud Lavoie‏@renlavoietva2 mins

Around 10 teams showed interest so far to Benoit Pouliot. He's looking for a long term contract and he will get it. #tvasports #rangers

[FlamesAddiction]

Sorry if posted already.... It sounds like Matt Gilroy has called it an NHL career. He didn't even wait for free agency before signing in Russia.

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2...-signs-in-khl/


He seemed pretty promising at the beginning of his career.

[Critter4223]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Maybe Cammy and Iggy take discounts to play with each other? Anaheim/Colorado would be great destinations. Even if the Isles managed to snag both to play with JT would be a pretty awesome sight.

I think the ANA scenario could work out. They replace koivu and the ageless wonder.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Because all it does is widen the gap in salary between the top players and the role players, and I personally just don't think that the gap in salary matches the gap in team contributions.

If Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter each made 12 mil, would they be able to keep/get Williams, Stoll, Gaborik, Brown, Richards, etc..? Can you possibly have enough young players to suppliment those roles and offense? Pretty tough to expect 20 year olds to do Williams or Stoll's job just because you have to pay your top 2-3 players the majority of your cap.

Is there a difference in lifestyle that occurs between the $7-8mil salary range and the $10-12 that I'm not seeing? Is it worth potentially giving up successful seasons and championships?

They've won two cups. They'll be a good team if they sign for big bucks as the cap goes up.

I just don't see why people expect the best players to take less while having no issue with the fact that most of the savings is wasted on signing middling depth guys who end up overpaid.

Glencross took less money to stay with the Flames. Now the team is barely spending over the minimum so all the savings he gave to the team is just lining the owners pockets.

If I'm worth $12 million dollars/year, I want to get paid $12 million/year. If management can't figure out how to build a winning team with that situation, then get a better management team who can.

EDIT: here's the top cap hits right now - http://capgeek.com/leaders/?type=CAP_HIT Anaheim has two of the top 10 and manage to be very good. Rangers have two of the top 11 and made the finals. I see no correlation between having no high cap hits and being a good team.

[sureLoss]

Blues, Jets, and Blackhawks all after Stastny

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/i...stastny-market

[nik-]

How would the Blackhawks even make that work? It's not like Stastny is a real upgrade on Sharp and they'd have to move Sharp.

[IgiTang]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Blues, Jets, and Blackhawks all after Stastny

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/i...stastny-market

Statsny changes things for teams lookin to trade their Centers, ie van, Ott, possibly SJ. Until he's gone I don't see any of the others moved.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Seems like the perfect fit for the Flames while some of the D-man prospects develop in the AHL. I only expect 1-2 of the current crop to make it (most likely Wotherspoon and Sieloff), but it gives them time to develop properly, although Wotherspoon looked nearly ready last year.

I would be happy to have a veteran like Mitchell to solidify the back end and allow the young forward crop to play a little looser and allow them to make mistakes without it costing the team every time.

This.

I don't care who it is: Mitchell, Orpik, whoever. Just bring in someone with size and let Wotherspoon and Sieloff and the others continue to develop in the A

[Coach]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

They've won two cups. They'll be a good team if they sign for big bucks as the cap goes up.

I just don't see why people expect the best players to take less while having no issue with the fact that most of the savings is wasted on signing middling depth guys who end up overpaid.

Glencross took less money to stay with the Flames. Now the team is barely spending over the minimum so all the savings he gave to the team is just lining the owners pockets.

If I'm worth $12 million dollars/year, I want to get paid $12 million/year. If management can't figure out how to build a winning team with that situation, then get a better management team who can.

EDIT: here's the top cap hits right now - http://capgeek.com/leaders/?type=CAP_HIT Anaheim has two of the top 10 and manage to be very good. Rangers have two of the top 11 and made the finals. I see no correlation between having no high cap hits and being a good team.

You're missing my point, and I think missing the players I'm talking about. These "middling" depth players are helping them win championships and they SHOULD be getting raises. A guy like Sharp is close to or just as important to Chicago's success as Kane is, yet there will be a $6+mil difference in salary? Doesn't add up.

So by paying your top players that much of your cap, you're going to price-out good, effective depth players like Sharp, Williams, Stoll etc.. as they deserve a more proportional cut of the cap. So the lagging affect of that is you can't hold onto those guys, so you trade or let them walk and end up having Kyle Clifford playing 1st/2nd line because you can't afford actual "middling" depth players. You're just not going to convince Toews and Kane are worth that much more compared to their teammates.

As for your Anaheim and NYR examples: Perry and Getzlaf essentially carried their team through the regular season to a great finish, but their lack of depth shows in the playoff results. NYR made it to the finals on the backs of their cheap depth guys (along with their goaltender, who is in the pay range that Kane and Toews SHOULD be in) and in-spite of the performances by their top players, one of whom they are buying out not even a month after losing in the finals so they can keep their other players that actually showed up.

If you think you're worth 12 mil and want to be paid as such, fine. But it's not comparable in a cap scenario. So lets look at it this way. You work in a department of 25 people. If you want to take up 15% (30% with you're equally awesome buddy) of the allocated resources to your department because you think you're worth it with the other 70% divided amongst the remaining 92% of people. Keep in mind that your boss, and the people who watch you work, deem your coworkers to be doing an exceptional job, but in a different yet equally important but less visible role. So your boss can pay you what you want and lose his other good employees, who are replaced by less experienced and/or less talented people, and thus your job becomes insuffurable because you with your ridiculous salary has to take on much more of the work and can't do the couple things you do very very well as well anymore because you're being hindered by helping out strugglers and dealing with top competitors that you didn't have to before because your old support group use to do that, but these new guys can't because they're on the cheap. Or how about the guy that decides to take a pay cut to stick around, realizes he is just as important to the group as you yet you're getting twice the dough. How's his morale?

When you overpay 2 guys so drastically, you have to undervalue/underpay people who may have been just as important to your TEAM. It's a team.

[sureLoss]

lisa dillman @reallisa
Heard from the Willie Mitchell camp. Five teams have reached out so far. More likely tomorrow.

[Igster]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

lisa dillman @reallisa
Heard from the Willie Mitchell camp. Five teams have reached out so far. More likely tomorrow.

Doubt it would be the Flames as one of those teams, but really hoping for sure it isn't. Yes, he just won the Cup with the Kings, but it seemed like every time they were in trouble, or someone blew down the wing around a d-man or someone was in the box for holding or hooking, or whatever, it was Mitchell.

Do not want.

[Wolfman]

@ArponBasu: Marc Bergevin confirms Vanek, Murray and Parros will not be back with #Habs

Can the Wild afford Vanek and possibly Niskanen?

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Wolfman

@ArponBasu: Marc Bergevin confirms Vanek, Murray and Parros will not be back with #Habs

Can the Wild afford Vanek and possibly Niskanen?

Read the OP.

[sureLoss]

James Mirtle @mirtle
The market for UFA defencemen sounds crazy. So many teams want an upgrade there and there are so few top four options.

[Wolfman]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Read the OP.

What do you mean by that?