What Do They Need Most?

[IsDurbanodoingtime]

Dobson. I think Armey is going to try and figure a way to pry him from darche. He has the assets. He should have the cap room. He would address much.

[STL fan in MN]

Schenn is serviceable at 2C but he's not really good at it. He's kind of slow for his linemates. I'd rather they got a 2C that can bump Schenn down to the 3rd line.

I'm in agrement with several in this thread that the acquisition of a center is likely via trade for someone with a couple of years left on a contract who can act as a placeholder until Dvorsky's ready. So who fits the criteria we're talking about here and at what cost?

1. Ryan O'Reilly for sure. Two years remaining at $4.5 per. I see shades of David Perron in Zac Bolduc with that lightning release and one-timer from the face-off circle. Would temporarily keeping Schenn on the 2nd line where Holloway and Kyrou had success while seeing if ROR and Bolduc can capture that ROR-DP57 chemistry on the 3rd line be a decent play? If so, what would be a realistic trade to acquire him?

Who else would fit the bill as a cost controlled middle six center with 1-2 years remaining on their contract?

There’s quite a few of them. That said, most seem unlikely to be traded as just about every team needs centers so most teams don’t really have a spare one to trade away. But here’s a few that come to mind:

William Karlsson - Vegas lost in the 1st round and seem bound to make a splash every summer and always go after the biggest fish. There’s already rumors of Marner to Vegas. Whether it’s Marner or someone else, I bet Vegas signs or trades for a big name to try to get back at the top. But they’ll need to cut salary to make that happen. Karlsson has 2 more years left on his deal at $5.9M AAV. He only scored 9 goals and 29 pts in 53 games this season as he missed a couple months on LTIR. He’s produced much better in the past but that’s a pretty high AAV for just a tad over 0.5 pts/game. So my questions would be - what was his injury? Is he fully recovered from it now? And what are the odds he’s able to rebound a bit. He’s played 70 or fewer games in 5 of the last 6 seasons so there’s that too. But considering his AAV, age, injury history and fact that Vegas would be trying to dump his salary to add someone else, I bet he’d be able to be had quite cheaply.

Ryan Strome - Ducks 3C. Owed $5M for 2 more years. Not a sexy option but he’d be ok if he came cheap. Poor on faceoffs though whereas that’s a strength for Karlsson.

Marco Rossi - pending RFA w/o arbitration rights. Said to be on the trade block. 2nd on the Wild in pts this season behind Kaprisov but was demoted to 4C in the playoffs after not doing well. But he’s only 23 and this was his 1st playoffs. BUT he’s 5’9”. And he’s asking for $7M x 7 years reportedly. Very skilled but when you look deeper you can see why the Wild are shopping him. I like the player but not at the cost it’d take to acquire him, not at the cost it’d take to sign him and not really a fan of having a player with that much of a size disadvantage as one of our top 2 Cs.

Pavel Zacha/Casey Mittelstadt - Boston’s middle-6 Cs. Maybe they want a shakeup. Maybe Monty worked well with one or both of them. Idk though. Just guessing/spitballing.

JG Pageau - 3C for the Isles. Only 1 year left at $5M on his deal though.

Dawson Mercer - Devils 3C that mostly played 2C this season with Jack Hughes injured. 2 years left at $4M and would still be a RFA when those 2 years are up. I don’t see a huge reason for NJ to trade him though but you never know. I’m sure they’re looking for a shakeup and maybe someone like Mercer could be had for the right price.

There’s others but also hard to guess what all players are actually available and at what price.

[TheJackBurton]

Stay the course. We are building from within. Id like to see homegrown talent get infused each year going forward. Phase out the expiring contracts and replace them with new blood. Resist the urge to sign anyone.
Let Suter go.
I would consider a hockey trade if it makes sense.

Our d-under contract--7 guys--including Kessel. (Leddy and Fowler one year left) Parayko--3 years after this one; Faulk was good down the stretch-- i like him; Tucker--1 year after this one; Broberg is under contract--RFA after this year;

Left side: Broberg, Fowler, Tucker
Rightside: Parayko; Faulk; Leddy-Kessel.
I guess you could bring in a Right Handed D-man; lose Leddy. or go bigger and move Faulk and a package for a nice defenseman.

Bring in a #3 Center?--dont sign Faksa? Bring in a #2 Center? Move Schenn to 3rd line?

Maybe sign Faksa to a 2 year deal. Sundqvist is gone after this season. Dvorsky can replace him.

We will see how it all shakes out.

I see Suter being re-signed at essentially league minimum with a bonus tacked on to serve as a #7 and spend time in the press box to help continue to mentor Tucker and a few of the younger guys.

I think Leddy goes this off season. He's only got a year left, is only owed 4 million, and can only say no to 15 teams. There will be plenty of teams who will give a late round pick to have him round out their bottom 2.

[TheJackBurton]

Schenn is serviceable at 2C but he's not really good at it. He's kind of slow for his linemates. I'd rather they got a 2C that can bump Schenn down to the 3rd line.

I'm in agrement with several in this thread that the acquisition of a center is likely via trade for someone with a couple of years left on a contract who can act as a placeholder until Dvorsky's ready. So who fits the criteria we're talking about here and at what cost?

1. Ryan O'Reilly for sure. Two years remaining at $4.5 per. I see shades of David Perron in Zac Bolduc with that lightning release and one-timer from the face-off circle. Would temporarily keeping Schenn on the 2nd line where Holloway and Kyrou had success while seeing if ROR and Bolduc can capture that ROR-DP57 chemistry on the 3rd line be a decent play? If so, what would be a realistic trade to acquire him?

Who else would fit the bill as a cost controlled middle six center with 1-2 years remaining on their contract?

There’s quite a few of them. That said, most seem unlikely to be traded as just about every team needs centers so most teams don’t really have a spare one to trade away. But here’s a few that come to mind:

William Karlsson - Vegas lost in the 1st round and seem bound to make a splash every summer and always go after the biggest fish. There’s already rumors of Marner to Vegas. Whether it’s Marner or someone else, I bet Vegas signs or trades for a big name to try to get back at the top. But they’ll need to cut salary to make that happen. Karlsson has 2 more years left on his deal at $5.9M AAV. He only scored 9 goals and 29 pts in 53 games this season as he missed a couple months on LTIR. He’s produced much better in the past but that’s a pretty high AAV for just a tad over 0.5 pts/game. So my questions would be - what was his injury? Is he fully recovered from it now? And what are the odds he’s able to rebound a bit. He’s played 70 or fewer games in 5 of the last 6 seasons so there’s that too. But considering his AAV, age, injury history and fact that Vegas would be trying to dump his salary to add someone else, I bet he’d be able to be had quite cheaply.

Ryan Strome - Ducks 3C. Owed $5M for 2 more years. Not a sexy option but he’d be ok if he came cheap. Poor on faceoffs though whereas that’s a strength for Karlsson.

Marco Rossi - pending RFA w/o arbitration rights. Said to be on the trade block. 2nd on the Wild in pts this season behind Kaprisov but was demoted to 4C in the playoffs after not doing well. But he’s only 23 and this was his 1st playoffs. BUT he’s 5’9”. And he’s asking for $7M x 7 years reportedly. Very skilled but when you look deeper you can see why the Wild are shopping him. I like the player but not at the cost it’d take to acquire him, not at the cost it’d take to sign him and not really a fan of having a player with that much of a size disadvantage as one of our top 2 Cs.

Pavel Zacha/Casey Mittelstadt - Boston’s middle-6 Cs. Maybe they want a shakeup. Maybe Monty worked well with one or both of them. Idk though. Just guessing/spitballing.

JG Pageau - 3C for the Isles. Only 1 year left at $5M on his deal though.

Dawson Mercer - Devils 3C that mostly played 2C this season with Jack Hughes injured. 2 years left at $4M and would still be a RFA when those 2 years are up. I don’t see a huge reason for NJ to trade him though but you never know. I’m sure they’re looking for a shakeup and maybe someone like Mercer could be had for the right price.

There’s others but also hard to guess what all players are actually available and at what price.

Dawson Mercer - Devils 3C that mostly played 2C this season with Jack Hughes injured. 2 years left at $4M and would still be a RFA when those 2 years are up. I don’t see a huge reason for NJ to trade him though but you never know. I’m sure they’re looking for a shakeup and maybe someone like Mercer could be had for the right price.

I've been kind of pumping him up and believe he is very attainable. NJ desperately needs wingers, something we have en masse, and they have a glut of centers. With Hughes back he's relegated to 3rd line duty again where he has seen his production fall. I think you get him back on the 2nd line regularly, especially with 2 dynamic players like Kyrou and Holloway and you'll see him touch 60 again.

William Karlsson - Vegas lost in the 1st round and seem bound to make a splash every summer and always go after the biggest fish. There’s already rumors of Marner to Vegas. Whether it’s Marner or someone else, I bet Vegas signs or trades for a big name to try to get back at the top. But they’ll need to cut salary to make that happen. Karlsson has 2 more years left on his deal at $5.9M AAV. He only scored 9 goals and 29 pts in 53 games this season as he missed a couple months on LTIR. He’s produced much better in the past but that’s a pretty high AAV for just a tad over 0.5 pts/game. So my questions would be - what was his injury? Is he fully recovered from it now? And what are the odds he’s able to rebound a bit. He’s played 70 or fewer games in 5 of the last 6 seasons so there’s that too. But considering his AAV, age, injury history and fact that Vegas would be trying to dump his salary to add someone else, I bet he’d be able to be had quite cheaply.

I agree will be able to be had for very little especially if Vegas is signing Marner just so they can have the splashy off season win, a mid round pick and a likely a mid prospect should be enough to acquire. Missing on average 17 games a season over the past 6 seasons though is absolutely a red flag.

Pavel Zacha/Casey Mittelstadt - Boston’s middle-6 Cs. Maybe they want a shakeup. Maybe Monty worked well with one or both of them. Idk though. Just guessing/spitballing.

Mittelstadt- I'm not sure about him. Seems kind of like the guy who consistently teases you with his talent. You think that next season is the one he's just going to go bonkers, and then low and behold he just has a repeat of the previous year. He's only 26 so he can still absolutely have a few seasons that he just breaks out, but as you've pointed out forwards reach their prime in their 24-26 seasons so he is there right now. If he doesn't cost a lot might be worth a flyer on.

Zacha- I definitely wouldn't be opposed to him. 28 only at 4.75, has the last 3 years of 57,59, 49, and 2 1/4 of those were with Monty. I don't know about his skating as one thing we need is someone who can keep up with Kyrou and Holloway. However he is very likely another one who can be had for not a lot of assets as he is on his last year of that contract.

Overall I think Army can absolutely get an upgrade to the position without breaking the bank, I just wouldn't do it through UFA.

[hornetfb52]

The Blues really need Snuggerud and DD to be dudes.

[Harry S Deals]

They only have Jiricek and McIssac over on the right side and Jiricek at this point is like a bonus if he turns into something. He is a world-class skater, his backward stride is above class. But he seems to think that as an RFD his job is to make a beeline for the side of the crease in the attacking zone so that he is in the farthest possible position from the defending RHD corner as is possible on the sheet of ice as a whole. I don't understand his thinking, it's like a cat's brain out there inside of a person. He's also riddled with injury and finds a way to get hit in awkward positions.

Besides the very weak prospect pool on RHD the Blues have aging players on the right side.

Meanwhile they are utterly loaded with forwards plus more forwards bursting through the system, including their highest drafted forward prospect in decades who happens to be a skilled 1C/2C on the cusp of arrival, plus RHD is the more difficult cornerstone position to fill if you have to go out to he market. Also the RHD filling Faulk's shoes needs to be better than a second pair RHD. Because Parayko and a player less effective than Parayko over there is a good defense but not in the hunt for a championship defense.

To me this is not a close question. It's obvious in about three ways.

Jiricek doesnt turn 19 till later this month there is no reason to worry or doubt his potential yet give him a few years lets see how he plays when he reaches the AHL

[seattleblue]

They only have Jiricek and McIssac over on the right side and Jiricek at this point is like a bonus if he turns into something. He is a world-class skater, his backward stride is above class. But he seems to think that as an RFD his job is to make a beeline for the side of the crease in the attacking zone so that he is in the farthest possible position from the defending RHD corner as is possible on the sheet of ice as a whole. I don't understand his thinking, it's like a cat's brain out there inside of a person. He's also riddled with injury and finds a way to get hit in awkward positions.

Besides the very weak prospect pool on RHD the Blues have aging players on the right side.

Meanwhile they are utterly loaded with forwards plus more forwards bursting through the system, including their highest drafted forward prospect in decades who happens to be a skilled 1C/2C on the cusp of arrival, plus RHD is the more difficult cornerstone position to fill if you have to go out to he market. Also the RHD filling Faulk's shoes needs to be better than a second pair RHD. Because Parayko and a player less effective than Parayko over there is a good defense but not in the hunt for a championship defense.

To me this is not a close question. It's obvious in about three ways.

Jiricek doesnt turn 19 till later this month there is no reason to worry or doubt his potential yet give him a few years lets see how he plays when he reaches the AHL

If you've been watching a bunch of Jiricek's games then there is reason to worry and doubt his potential. It is not a function of him being 19. It would be reckless to count on him given his development year this year, which was bad.

[ibleedblue1968]

I think the 2C or 3C is where Blues will address as top priority this offsseason, followed by an upgrade trade of Faulk or FA signing of a replacement that drops Faulk to 3 RD because we can't get his salary moved.
For Center, I want someone very strong on faceoff win rate, someone who can play on PK, and someone who is 2C now then drops to 3C as Schenn's contract ends and Dvorsky ascends over next 2 years - cost must be $6-7M now, and drop to $3-4M in 2 years - so 4-5 year at 5M AAV area.
Unsure on any FA options. May have to do a bridge option like Matt Duchesne (not optimal) or we need to look at trade with teams who need shakeup like Rangers, Devils, or others who need a salary dump to get a star, like VGK dumping Karlsson to sign Marner.

[Harry York 37]

The original, from Mary Poppins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNTzp9grp2Q-

If you want this choice position
Have a cheery disposition
Silky mitts, no warts
Play games, ice sports

You must be kind
You must be witty
Strong on pucks
And fairly gritty
Take us to the playoffs
Really deep
Sing songs, bring sweets

Never be cross or cruel
Unless its Kadri, or a similar Tool
Love us as your Wings and teammates
And never give us cause for bag skates

If you keep up with Holls and Kyrou
We will guarantee our line will bleed blue
We won't fog your visor so you can't see
Put ben-gay in your jock to hurt you when you pee.

Hurry, 2C
Please be keen, sincerely
Doug
(and Alex Steen)

[Aesa]

The original, from Mary Poppins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNTzp9grp2Q-

If you want this choice position
Have a cheery disposition
Silky mitts, no warts
Play games, ice sports

You must be kind
You must be witty
Strong on pucks
And fairly gritty
Take us to the playoffs
Really deep
Sing songs, bring sweets

Never be cross or cruel
Unless its Kadri, or a similar Tool
Love us as your Wings and teammates
And never give us cause for bag skates

If you keep up with Holls and Kyrou
We will guarantee our line will bleed blue
We won't fog your visor so you can't see
Put ben-gay in your jock to hurt you when you pee.

Hurry, 2C
Please be keen, sincerely
Doug
(and Alex Steen)

Clever, Harry.

[Harry York 37]

The original, from Mary Poppins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNTzp9grp2Q-

If you want this choice position
Have a cheery disposition
Silky mitts, no warts
Play games, ice sports

You must be kind
You must be witty
Strong on pucks
And fairly gritty
Take us to the playoffs
Really deep
Sing songs, bring sweets

Never be cross or cruel
Unless its Kadri, or a similar Tool
Love us as your Wings and teammates
And never give us cause for bag skates

If you keep up with Holls and Kyrou
We will guarantee our line will bleed blue
We won't fog your visor so you can't see
Put ben-gay in your jock to hurt you when you pee.

Hurry, 2C
Please be keen, sincerely
Doug
(and Alex Steen)

Clever, Harry.

Thanks- we ARE like wishful and powerless children at this point, eh?
Its a giddy, and helpless place, indeed.

[Aesa]

The original, from Mary Poppins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNTzp9grp2Q-

If you want this choice position
Have a cheery disposition
Silky mitts, no warts
Play games, ice sports

You must be kind
You must be witty
Strong on pucks
And fairly gritty
Take us to the playoffs
Really deep
Sing songs, bring sweets

Never be cross or cruel
Unless its Kadri, or a similar Tool
Love us as your Wings and teammates
And never give us cause for bag skates

If you keep up with Holls and Kyrou
We will guarantee our line will bleed blue
We won't fog your visor so you can't see
Put ben-gay in your jock to hurt you when you pee.

Hurry, 2C
Please be keen, sincerely
Doug
(and Alex Steen)

Clever, Harry.

Thanks- we ARE like wishful and powerless children at this point, eh?
Its a giddy, and helpless place, indeed.

If you mean us as forum posters as "we", I agree, but "we" have less than zero idea what management has, or may have, in the works.

I still think it was clever, either way.