[CP Story] What Treliving Should Do

[Fire of the Phoenix]

I would take Howard if the wings retained $1.3m or so. He's not a great goalie but he is worth around 4m a year until we get someone better. Besides, Detroit should retain to compensate for the extra year on the deal if it did come down to Wideman for Howard. Raymond would also be a good piece to dangle if the Red Wings are truly serious about divesting themselves of Howard's contract.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Raymond+Wideman for Howard (1.3m retained)+Kindl

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

What are you expecting to get back for Wideman? Another overpaid player.

5.25 Million in valuable cap space only a year from now?

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

If they dump Wideman, Hudler, Russell and Jones who are all regular players for prospects/draft picks they would obviously be tanking.

I disagree ... with three of the four UFAs teams are expected to deal them if they are out of a playoff spot and not liking their chances of getting back in.

It would be foolish not to.

Tanking is starting your back up every night. Scratching good players. Putting lugs on your powerplay. Not pulling the goalie in an attempt to tie the game.

That's why I said players should play to win, coaches should coach to win, but management has to shape the team and it's not tanking.

Now if Treliving traded Gaudreau for a 5th round pick you might be on to something.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Smart asset management does not equal tanking. Honestly, I think maybe 5 teams in NHL history have ever tanked.

[gvitaly]

Your points make a lot of sense, but Jimmy Howard is not the answer. Howard is not just having a bad season, he is continuing a streak that lasted for three seasons. At the moment Howard is not a better goalie than Ramo. He has been very inconsistent, and seemed easily rattled by bad goals he gave away over the past few years. The only reason in favor of acquiring Howard is that you don't have to spend any assets on it, just cap space(for three years); However, that is the same argument we were making when Treliving signed Raymond and Engelland for three years. In hindsight those no risk contracts create quite the cap problem for next season.

If you really want to get rid of Wideman's contract a buyout would be a better option than exchanging him for Howard. The cost of $2M for two years seems much better than Howard at $5.29M for three. Finally, Wideman has a NMC that we keep ignoring for some reason, and I don't see him waive it to go anywhere.

[Macho0978]

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

Moving Wideman out and bringing Howard in doesn't free up money for Russell in the slightest. If anything it makes our cap situation worse and with the term he has remaining that is a terrible idea. I would rather go after almost anyone else.

I disagree. It does help because it allows us to let Ramo and Hiller walk. Right now we spend 4.5 on Hiller and 3.8 on Ramo. 5.2 on Howard and 3.5 on Russell is cheaper than re-signing Ramo around 4 and keeping Wideman at 5.25. I would assume Ramo gets around 4 as this year is similar to last year.

I also assume worst case scenario we keep Russell at 3.5 as he isn't exactly lighting it up offensively this year. Can't see him getting to much more in open market. 8.7<9.25

I'm all for a Howard move if we can take advantage of the fact Detroit might be desperate to move him. Wideman for Howard is a decent move if Detroit gives us a good pick or decent prospect

[belsarius]

Originally Posted by belsarius

I am in total agreement with the centers and I think they should be both done in tandem. Monahan does need to move away from Johnny, he needs space to continue to grow and not just be the set-up guy. Which brings in Bennett, who should be centering Johnny because then Johnny becomes the set-up guy as well as a scoring threat. If watching him and Hall showed anything it's that as deadly as Gaudreau is, he would be even better paired with a sniper.. and I think Bennett can be that guy.

Ok fine Monahan.. make me look stupid.. stay with Gaudreau

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Macho0978

I disagree. It does help because it allows us to let Ramo and Hiller walk. Right now we spend 4.5 on Hiller and 3.8 on Ramo. 5.2 on Howard and 3.5 on Russell is cheaper than re-signing Ramo around 4 and keeping Wideman at 5.25. I would assume Ramo gets around 4 as this year is similar to last year.

I also assume worst case scenario we keep Russell at 3.5 as he isn't exactly lighting it up offensively this year. Can't see him getting to much more in open market. 8.7<9.25

I'm all for a Howard move if we can take advantage of the fact Detroit might be desperate to move him. Wideman for Howard is a decent move if Detroit gives us a good pick or decent prospect

How about signng Ramo at 3 x $4, saving a million from Howard, and then dealing Wideman at next years deadline for a pick or two. Unless you think Flames are contenders next season, carrying Wideman for an extra half season not a huge deal. Under that scenario we would be tight against the cap, so no big UFA signing this summer. Which is fine by me.

I guess it comes down to whether you see Howard as an upgrade on Ramo (not much IMO) and whether Detroit would sweeten the deal. That is intriguing but I am scared Howard may be nothing more than $5 million backup. You would really be banking on him.

I will say I like the idea better than when I first read it.