2011 UFA not named Richards...
by sloppyseconds on Oct 20, 2010 10:22 PM EDT
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Four games into the season and I'm already looking into free agency of next year. Not to write off this season already, as I think this team will have ups and downs, but ultimately missing out on the playoffs. The primary reason will be getting goals when a certain Slovak is out of the lineup. Say what you will about the defense, but as bad as they were Monday against the Avalanche, 3 goals isn't absurd. And not to put any more on Hank's shoulders, but he can carry this defense a long ways. What he can't do is score goals.
Someone who can is Alexander Semin. A lot of them. He's put up 38, 26, 34, and 40 over the past four seasons, and don't think "oh they're Capital/Ovechkin inflated numbers." Playing with Ovi and Backstrom help, but let's not forget the guy has one of the best releases and shots in the game (that Gaborik guy is one of maybe 3 or 4 who can boast a better one). He also has tremendous hands and one-on-one moves. He looks primed to hit the market in Washington after consistent reports of their coach (won't name that fat ****) looking to move on without him. Plus, why would he have not signed a big extension like the other Cap stars by now? Things could always change, but there's a good chance he's a UFA next July.
Now i know he's been labeled soft and perhaps not a big time performer. Additionally his English is not very good, which doesn't bode well for fitting on a Tortorella team. However, his skill is undeniable and next year we could potentially afford to sign him to a deal he's worth. I'll throw out the seemingly obligatory 5 years/30 million at 6 mil per. I, for one, would look hard into signing him. He fills a HUMONGOUS/HUGE hole for us (you know I'm serious I used caps lock there) in both terms of RW depth and overall scoring. With Frolov and Prospal and coming off the books this deal could happen. Throw in a potential dump of Rozi at the deadline and we have more than enough room.
A lineup looking like this looks a helluva lot better than the ones we will see this year.
(I inserted Grachev as he should make the team next year. If not, there is more than enough reason to be concerned)
Grachev-AA-Gabby
Dubi-Stepan-Semin
Avery-Dreary-Cally
Boogeyman-Boyle-Prust
RW is a huge problem for us. Instead of crossing our fingers that MZA develops into a top-6 guy, we should (I can't believe I'm saying this after seeing some of the contracts we've handed out) splash the cash and get a guy who could score 30 with his eyes closed.
Signing Richards would be a cataclysmic mistake IMO. Signing someone over 30 to a multi-year deal for at least 6.5 who seemingly has on and off years would be terrible. Yes, he is a legitimate #1 center and I know this team hasn't had one since the glory days of the Messiah. However, this team is currently built around Gabby and young centers in terms of offense. Gabs has never needed a #1 center to thrive (if last year doesn't prove that I don't know what will). Yea, maybe Richards makes him score 50 instead of 40-44. Woo hoo let's punch that ticket to the Cup now! But seriously, it is not as necessary as most Blueshirts think. Signing Semin would be a tremendous move. In a few years, our top 6 could potentially consist of Gabs, Semin, AA, Step, Grachev, and Kreider. Yes. Not to mention when Dreary and Rozi come off the books (counting down the days) we got 12 mil in cap space right there. Now Semin's contract is no big deal and we could bolster the blueline (the UFA Defenseman class of 2012 is real deep as of now, which of course could change).
Thoughts on both Semin and Richards?
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I agree we need a RW that can score, point blank
honestly we still need that other superstar for our team to balance scoring out for us
I personally love Richards and Semin
next year we need to land a star player, if not we are wasting Gabs time here
which sucks to say
right now we got a great core and the righ culture is being implemented and we got some younger players like AA and Stepan who could be stars
heck Im even gonna include Boyle in the list of young players for our core
his game is exactly what we need
combine what we have already and our prospects with a big time signing next year then the Rangers are going to be a contender
right now we are getting there I like what we did this offseason besides Booger for that f’n contract
plus the post about our financial future is really great
knowing we actually can make a move next year is great
but the most exciting part for me is being able to make a move next year then 2012 Drury Rosival will come off the books
I believe its like 15 or 16 million coming off with just two players and if you add Avery (who i think is a keeper honestly) thats 17 million
future is looking good after a few dismal years
but man considering we missed the playofffs by 1 pt last year with the cut and paste team we had last year, one has to ask themselves, what can the Rangers do this year with a actually good team? thats great imo
the current roster is pretty good
we lack another scoring threat and a defenseman who actually plays defense
thats it
by Archie Barberio on Oct 20, 2010 11:08 PM EDT reply actions
Agree with you on Boyle
He’s doing this year what we were hoping to get from him last year. Either way, he brings a valuable skill set. I’d rather not go after Semin though. I’m sure he’ll ask for at least 5.5-6.5 as a UFA. Goalscorers don’t come cheap.
"Mes que un club"
"You're a pro or you're a noob. That's life"
by Scratch and Snif on Oct 20, 2010 11:16 PM EDT up reply actions
obviously...
they don’t come cheap. there’s not too many of them in this ilk. do you think gabby’s worth the 7.5 mil he get paid? then why would semin be too much at 6-6.5? rather spend 2 on a guy who can barely sniff 20?
LETS GO RANGERS
by sloppyseconds on Oct 20, 2010 11:27 PM EDT up reply actions
I hoping to use money to bolster our overall roster
Rather than just one deficiency. And I wouldn’t start doing that until can get a good measure of where our prospects will be. I think AA will be a 60 point two way guy, Dubs will have a bit fewer points but probably better defense, Cally will likely be a 25-15-40 guy who we can rely on to win battles and play D. Del Zotto will of course be our offensive option in the back; it remains to be seen whether he’ll become solid in our own zone. We can’t be too sure about Stepan; he could be anywhere from 40 point 3rd liner to 90 point all-star. Only time will tell.
As for Kreider, EG, McD, McWrath, Valtank, MZA, and Werek, they are all huge question marks. We shouldn’t go out and sign someone to a huge contract until we can be sure where, or even if, these guys will fit into our plans.
"Mes que un club"
"You're a pro or you're a noob. That's life"
by Scratch and Snif on Oct 21, 2010 1:34 AM EDT up reply actions
it’s a dream to say cally will be a consistent 25 goal guy. AA and stepan will most likely be very solid 60 point two way centers. doesn’t solve the problem of having goal scorers. outside of grachev and kreider, we have no talent coming up (especially not on the team) that are guys who are gonna complement our young centers.
goal scorers like semin, gaborik, etc. are a rare and coveted commodity. if they are available you go for it. unless it’s a complete rip off (a kovy situation for example). semin for 6.5 mil would be an excellent signing. having two 35-40 goal scorers is huge.
and not to stray off topic, but hank is only getting older. we have an elite goaltender. we can’t just sit and wait and hope these guys develop into a known commodity like a gaborik. if one is available you gotta go get one. wouldn’t it be great to see a 33-34 year old hank with guys who didn’t pan out? stick with the development and youth, but don’t ignore the present. we are another year or two with development of our centers/young d (Step and AA, MDZ and McD), a goalscorer, and another d-man from making a run.
also, in 2012, our prayers our answered and dreary and roszi are gone. 12 mil right there. a deal for a semin is suddenly not a big deal at all. use that money for a goalscorer and stud d-man (2012 class is deep in d-man) and we have a team that can make a run.
LETS GO RANGERS
by sloppyseconds on Oct 21, 2010 2:11 AM EDT up reply actions
we have no talent coming up? if you mean already in hartford ok, but dont say there is no talent coming on the wings.
my problem with semin is he is as if not more fragile than Gabby. career high is 77 games, then 73, 63, 62. 55. He produces despite not playing at about 75 pts per 82, but when you average 66 games a year i have a problem handing him anything more than the 6 he makes now.
by Michael Gleich on Oct 21, 2010 4:44 AM EDT up reply actions
i couldn’t see him getting more than 7. but at 7 would you pull the trigger? say 6 yrs at 7 per?
btw not trying to bomb you specifically with questions just feeling out what us fans think
LETS GO RANGERS
6 yes, 7 no.
we talked about this some in the cap thread yesterday. ehrhoff and smurf brought up backes would be excellent additions.
by Michael Gleich on Oct 21, 2010 12:23 AM EDT up reply actions
i'd disagree on backes...
a guy who has never scored 60 points and usually only around 20 goals (aside from the flukey 30). he’s gonna get 5+ on the market. no thanks. it would be like drury all over again (minus some $/cap hit). we would sign him, get excited, expect him to magically put up 80 cause he’s now a Ranger, then get mad and disappointed. seriously a disaster waiting to happen. i doubt he hits the market too, considering the blues love him and he’s probably their next captain in waiting.
ehrhoff would be a great signing at the right price though. but if comes down to semin v. ehrhoff i go semin.
LETS GO RANGERS
by sloppyseconds on Oct 21, 2010 12:58 AM EDT up reply actions
anyone who gives backes 5 mil should be fired before the ink dries.
by Michael Gleich on Oct 21, 2010 4:36 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
agreed…although i like backes, he’s going to get way more than his worth since the 2011 UFA list is slim….same thing with Semin. He’s a great player, but he’s not worth the 7-8 mill he’s going to get on the open market.
I’d wait and see how are kids look the next 2 seasons before we go back to the UFA pool.
http://thehockeysuit.com/
uhh....
he’s only topped 80 points twice in his entire career. hardly a monster. def not worthy of 7.5 million. he’s (on average) a 65-75 point player. still a great player, but not that top-tier center (backstrom, thornton, etc.)
LETS GO RANGERS
by sloppyseconds on Oct 21, 2010 2:47 AM EDT up reply actions
He’s on average a 75 point player, of which the Rangers only have one.
And those off years came when?
a few seasons in tampa bay, his season when he was traded, and his first year in dallas albeit he was hurt.
aside from just numbers, he has always played with a good scoring winger. in tampa it was st louis. in dallas its been loui erikson. on this team we have one. so team them up and we have a great first line. doesn’t solve out goal scoring depth. if you think he will make a callahan a 30 goal scorer i want whatever you’re smoking. additionally he’s been a minus more often than not. adding another scoring winger improves this team more than a #1 center.
LETS GO RANGERS
by sloppyseconds on Oct 21, 2010 3:05 AM EDT up reply actions
what few seasons in tampa. if you mean his rookie and 2nd year (at 20 and 21) where he put up 62 points in each. his other years in tampa he put up 74, 79, 91, 70, 51 (61 games before deal to Dallas)
649 points in 705 games
by Michael Gleich on Oct 21, 2010 4:40 AM EDT up reply actions
Exactly which one of these years was off?
I have no idea what sloppy’s talking about. … even if in incomplete seasons, Richards produced. And the year he was traded he was at .82 points per game for Tampa. His first year in Dallas he was at .86. I’m not seeing any logic to the “off season” argument. The stats don’t lie.
The Lightning would have been better off trading Lecavlier, who was hyped much more than Richards but hasn’t produced as he has. Loui Eriksson blossomed into a good finisher when he was lined up with Richards.
2000 Lightning 82 21 41 62
2001 Lightning 82 20 42 62
2002 Lightning 80 17 57 74
2003 Lightning 82 26 53 79
2005 Lightning 82 23 68 91
2006 Lightning 82 25 45 70
2007 Stars 12 2 9 11
2007 Lightning 62 18 33 51
2008 Stars 56 16 32 48
2009 Stars 80 24 67 91
we have a player that averages 75 points a year? cause if you mean gabby not close. gabby nearly point per game but those pesky games played come into play
by Michael Gleich on Oct 21, 2010 4:37 AM EDT up reply actions
Richards is an excellent playmaker and he’d be a real asset to this team, but at what cost? He’s going to get a boatload of dough next summer and we still don’t know what we have with Stepan and Arty in terms of potential. I’d like to see how they perform over the next couple of seasons before we throw money at UFAs again….a strategy that still has not worked under Sather’s tenure, not once.
http://thehockeysuit.com/
The only one that really worked (so far) was Gaborik, and that was only because he got Montreal to take Gomez’s albatross contract off our hands (and took 2 pretty nice prospects from them as well), then from Higgins we got Prust.
So… McDonagh + Valentenko + Prust + Gaborik for Gomez… damn, the guy’s a genius (at about the same success rate as a certain guy we love to hate whose site rhymes with rocky-fuzz).
sorry i cant do that because as impressive as the pro-rated stats are they dont count
by Michael Gleich on Oct 21, 2010 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions
i wouldnt go after any big names this offseason..
let the young kids play this season and next, and than after we see what we have than we can make a move.
hopefully aa and step can turn into 60 point guys, and hopefully kreider grachev and mza can all be legitimate scoring threats in years to come. but honestly we dont know.
if possible the only thing id do this season is sign a solid dman for 3-4 mil.. we need a better dcore, and hopefully mcd, and valentenko will come up and play some solid d but idk.
LET'S GO RANGERS!!!
Semin’s too injury prone to warrant a long-term deal, IMO. Not as much as Gaborik, but Semin gets lots of minor “booboo” type injuries.
By the way, he usually plays 2RW. If the Caps are trailing he’ll play 1RW sometimes (normally late in the game). His English is also excellent, but he just seems to hate the spotlight and does all his interviews in Russian.
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