Can We Please Stop Talking About Nash, Weber, Suter, And Parise?

The Nash thing was getting to me as well. He was good 4 years ago, and he can’t play defense.

First of all, you made a whole Fanpost to voice your opinion against these players. I don’t know why you think your opinion is any more important than someone posting in support of getting one of these players. It’s not.

Secondly, Weber is worth trading pretty much any one of our defenders, except (I would say) McD. There are a lot of great shutdown defensemen out there. Our team has like 4 of them. There are only 2-3 defenders in the game that can do what Weber does. If Sather had the option to trade Girardi for Weber (if an extension was committed to) he’d be stupid not to. Conversely, no you do not trade for Nash, or Suter who will be an UFA.

Thirdly, Suter and Parise will make it to free agency, I would back real non-internet money on it. Suter went as far as to make a statement that he wasn’t signing before the trade deadline, that pretty much means he isn’t signing anything til July. With the Devils financial situation and the amount of money and control he will command, Parise would be stupid not to test the waters. And he is worth more like $7-7.5m and will see offers at $8 or more. If we could give him the Gabby deal of 5 for $37.5m, we do it in a minute. But that would mean him taking less to play with a contender.

Finally, this team is DEEP in skill and prospects. Just how many roster spots do you think will be available over the next 3 years? If you aren’t a top 3 lottery pick team, you build your framework and core with these great homegrown prospects and you trade for some elite FAs that fill in the holes and make you that much better. Sorry but there is not room for all of these young stud prospects, if a number of them pan out over the years. You want to keep them in Hartford, when you could deal some to improve the team? Or, some of those prospects could even outplay a current “core” roster player. There just isn’t room for all of them. And you don’t even need to move any major ones for some of the vets we are talking about like Smyth or Ruutu (I don’t think it will take a 1st round pick ultimately) or whoever.

Sure, we are first in the East right now. Can you say for sure that we’d beat Boston, or Detroit, or another top 5 team in a 7 game series? Sure, we could. It doesn’t mean there is not a lot of room for improvement.

We should definitely deal someone like MZA and a 3rd rounder for a rental player who can actually score, for this spring’s run. Then IF we have the opportunity to grab Parise at $7-7.5m this summer, I have no problem dealing Dubinsky to make cap space. That would make us a force for year.

Does Carter count into that mix ;)

TRAID RITCHARDZ!!!!!

can we agree to have a 3-day armistice on any and all trade rumor posts/threads???? Can the admins of this site do that?

I am willing to bet anything that Parise makes it to free agency. There is rumblings that he wants the Rangers. Whether the Rangers want another big ticket player remains to be seen. The only player I see the Rangers actually trading for now is Nash. There appears to be more and more scuttlebutt that he is available. And why wouldn’t he be? What has CBJ won in the 9 years he’s been there? They have to blow it up and start over and Nash would bring a nice haul. If the Rangers get him it may be now because you can bet there are other teams like Toronto, Detroit, and others that will want him before this trading deadline. What will it cost? Dubi, AA, MDZ?, and a #1? since they’re not getting Kreider.

But my plan has always been to get a true rental for this year (Smyth, Doan, whomever) and then clear the cap decks for Parise after July 1 and before Sept 15 when the current CBA expires so you can give Parise a BR-like contract to lower the annual cap hit. Trading Dubi is a must in this case. This is a very possible scenario for this year and for the offseason. It’s very relevant, in my humble opinion.

of course traiding for the top players is unrealistic but its fun.

I like the idea better of trading for a more complementary piece. I really like the idea of adding Shane Doan, who will bring JAM and improved secondary (maybe even tertiary) scoring to the team. I think he would be affordable, would allow us to trade a prospect that doesn’t really project to play onto the NYR roster and a draft pick. As much as I love having MZA (I’m a proud Norwegian) he has no fit in our roster. To trade him and a third, maybe a fourth for Doan would be great.

Hagelin – Stepan – Gabarik
Dubinsky- Richards- Callahan
Arty – Boyle – Doan
Feds – Rupp – Prust
With Mitchell as a healthy scratch,
It certainly doesn’t blow the doors off with scoring, but it does create 3 lines capable of scoring, being aggresive and keeping the other team on their heels. Which is exactly what Torts wants his teams to do.

I think above and beyond just skill the Rangers need to make sure that anybody they pick up to help out up front can play Torts style. Shane Doan I think is the perfect fit.

Doan is not on the block. Maloney already said he is not trading him. Smyth doesn’t want to go anywhere….he;s not an option either.

I can’t say this enough, Elliotte Freidman rocks it over at CBC and 30 Thoughts is required reading each week.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/opinion/2012/02/predators-not-in-a-bind-with-suter-30-thoughts.html

I thought what he says about Nashville and Suter and Weber is interesting and to some extent may be applicable to us:

The “Win now, or else” message may make the organization uncomfortable. But you know what?

It’s time.

Look, the stars are aligning very nicely in Nashville. They’ve got arguably the best goalie in the West. After some 46-time Norris Trophy winner in Detroit, they’ve got the two best defenceman. And, with Jimmy Howard out of the lineup, a shot at catching the Red Wings for first place in both the division and conference. (As of Feb. 7, they are four points back with a game in hand.) Avoiding that brutal four-vs-five first round series is critical.

There are times a franchise must take a stand. This is one. You think Jay Feaster didn’t know Nikolai Khabibulin was going to walk in 2004? You think the Blackhawks were unaware they were headed to Salary Cap Jail in 2010?

Bring it on. They won. You can deal with the “inconveniences.”

But going for it does something else, too. They’ve paid Rinne. They’re going to throw money at Suter and Weber. Adding an offensive piece or two — even if it costs you prime prospects — puts the onus on the players.

“Alright,” GM David Poile can say, “We’re loading up. We’re going to do what you’ve asked. Now you’ve got to deliver. No more excuses.”

Obviously, not totally the same situation for us – there is some urgency there to egt it done “now” because of Weber or Suter leaving. Interesting nonetheless.

Additionally, Elliotte has some bits and pieces on the Rangers:

2. Emailed Lou Lamoriello to ask if The New York Post report that Zach Parise will not be traded is correct. (Other teams think it is, that the Devils will go for the playoffs and take their chances with the UFA after the season.) No response from New Jersey’s uber-czar, which is no surprise. I had a better chance of finding out how many surgeries Madonna’s had.

3. One GM on the deadline: “If you’re trying to follow the Boston model of adding depth, there’s going to be something out there for you. But, if you’re looking for a real impact player, I don’t know who that’s going to be.”

4. Couple guys were surprised to hear the Rangers are considering Ryan Smyth. Nothing against the Oiler winger, it’s more about the Blueshirts themselves. “That team has great chemistry,” a GM said. “They’re greater than the sum of their parts, a true team where players accept their roles. He’ll force roles to change because of where you need to use him. It doesn’t always work.”

5. The Rangers wanted Cody Almond in the Erik Christensen deal, but Minnesota held firm. Doug Risebrough knows Almond and likes him.

Please go read the full column, it is interesting and this guy deserves the page hits.