EHM The Blue Line

Offensive pool is definitely thinner..
I expect Laughton making the team. But they also acquired Gagner, Palushaj and Bardreau. Waiting for chance Cousins, Straka and few others. Add to that Konecny as well. Now they drafted three European goalies. Hextall is not Holmgren and finally it looks there is some vision for the future. Defense will consist of fast skating players who are also able to move puck well and generate some offense. They can focus on forwards in the future. During next season they have to re-sign Voracek, Couts, Raffl and B. Schenn. So there will be not too much space for expensive UFA with long therm contracts anyway.

If Provorov makes that team you will be destroying him. Kid has a very large upside, but he is not strong enough physically at this time to play in the show. Better to go with Ghost. He showed last year before injury he was at least partially ready.

B72-Yeah Haggerty. I knew he was a goofball guy, remember hearing him in 2011. But this time he sounded more...professional I guess is the word. I cannot understand how they get so bitter (management) that they would go and not give Benning and Chiarelli the chance to bid on Hamilton. God...can you imagine what the Oilers would have given up for him? Jeez, and if the Oilers had got him a long with McDavid, Reinhart...wow.

Parenteau, Mike Richards and Fistric have all been placed on waivers to get buy out later. Really not surprised to see MTL doing this. Parenteau did exactly what I expected him to do, nothing. I've said multiple times on RDS forums that he was overrated and that Tavares made him look good and I only got a ton of dislikes.

I actually hope Rangers sign Parenteau as a cheap reclamation project like we did with Pouliot and Stempniak, think he could be really good for us.

When teams need to sign guys as reclamation projects it means they are not a very good team and they need to take a gamble. So, based on the way the Rangers have performed the last few years...no way no how, I would think.

Mike Richards on the other hand will get a variety of offers once he is bought out. That guy can still play. Just needs the right opportunity.

Fistric was done three years ago, and has had plenty of 2nd chances.

Paranteau is very very below average. A tweener. Not good enough for 2nd line, not tough enough for defensive third lines.

No, it just means they are up against the cap. Parenteau has skills, think he could work in our system, it would be a gamble though.

Parenteau is not at the top of my "hopefully cheap UFAs that could help us"-list though, i think Comeau would be really good for us if he signs for cheap.

Edit: Chicago are masters of the reclamation projects, they are hardly a bad team They traded for some of their reclamation projects though but it still counts

Like who on Chicago is a reclamation project? Versteeg? Came in purposely to fill out third line role player and that is what he has done. Not like he was DONE in the league.
Who else? Richards? Hardly a reclamation, just bad years under that moron coach the Rangers had back then.

Oduya? Hardly--third pair dman, always has been. Roszival? same thing. Just guys to fill out the roster.

Cumiskey? Failure. And was not reclamation, still a guy they had hoped could fill out bottom pair D and give some time on PP.

Vermette? HArdly a reclamation.

Basically the rest of the roster is all draft picks or guys who have been with them for ever.

Reclamation projects to me are reserved for guys who can only play in top 6 and score for you, but have not scored lately. That would be Parenteau who was made by one C in his career.

There is noone on Chicago that could be even remotely considered in the same books as if the Rangers signed Parentau, save Richards and he is hardly a project to get going. he was a guy disillusioned by a moron coach, and virtually everyone knew it.

For me reclamation projects are guys that have the talent but hasn't been able to get it together lately, so i would definitely count Richards, Versteeg to that... Then you have Handzus and Rozsival aswell, Chicago has done very well in that aspect... Pouliot was a successful one for us, Stempniak didn't work out, i think we will take a stab at another one this year, someone like Parenteau or maybe Gagner if he gets bought out. We might not though, might just get someone solid like Comeau instead.

I really don't think searching for high risk high reward guys on the UFA market makes them a "not a very good team".

If you are a team that's up against the cap and potentially have a slot open in your top-9 then why not gamble?

Handzus did his job in LA, and SJ...then they brought him in to do the same job. Not someone who was struggling...did what was expected before and during tenure.
Roszival same thing--steady 3rd pair Dman before and during.

Your use of the word reclaimation is wrong, not sure you really understand it's meaning. Versteeg was Versteeg in his first stint in Chicago, he was Versteeg when he was not in Chicago, on worse teams, who could not cover up for his mistakes and he has been Versteeg since returning. same player, same results from play entire career, save for stat sheet because of the players he played with.

Richards at best, but even he is a complete obvious one. Not really reclaiming his prowess, but being put in the role he has needed to succeed by Chicago and not in that role in NY. Guy who has been top 2 C all his life, disillusioned in NY by being told to play a different way, and comes to chicago to play the role he plays well...and plays it well.

Also guys who have NEVER had success--Gagner (Save for one game) can hardly be called reclaimation. They have never done anything to reclaim.


Paranteau is the definition-had limited success somewhere at the ONLY thing he can do, then sucked in the same role somewhere else. If you are up against the cap and need this guy...you have some serious bad management and this is a guy that is a waste of any $ you spend on him.

again though, any team that needs to gamble to bring a guy like that in their locker room...is not a team going to challenge for the top. He is in a way different league as a project than guys that Chicago or LA or Boston or tampa bring in. More like a desperation move like Pouliot for Edmonton.

Maybe i am using the word wrong, i'll clarify what i mean. I mean picking up a guy that has shown talent before but had a rough time on a cheap contract in hope of finding his game again in a new environment... High risk high reward is a better way of saying it i guess... Rangers did it with Pouliot, he helped us to the SCF.

Hodgson(Buf) Stahlberg (Nas) unconditional waivers for buyouts.

Now....Cody Hodgson...there is a reclamation project if I ever saw one. But he is a reclamation project from junior hockey. LOL

Stålberg will be a good pickup i think, he's a good bottom-6 guy, he just got hyped in Hawks because you know, Hawks So he got paid way to much for way to long... Hodgson, yeah i dno about him, he's a big gamble but someone will take that gamble i'm sure, there is still some upside there.

Maybe someone would be able to do something with Hodgson. I doubt he will ever be a very good player but he still landed 44 pts with a weak Buffalo team 1 year ago.

batdad wrote:Hodgson(Buf) Stahlberg (Nas) unconditional waivers for buyouts.

Now....Cody Hodgson...there is a reclamation project if I ever saw one. But he is a reclamation project from junior hockey. LOL

I think this is the best analogy I read:

Many thought he'd be Steve Yzerman
Turned out to be Kyle Wellwood

Okay so I guess it's time for me to get off Don Sweeney's back. All of that stuff was leading up to the big move he made today. The Bruins acquired Zac Rinaldo!

3rd rounder for Rinaldo, that might actually be his worst move yet, says it all

Replaced Lucic by Rinaldo. It all makes sense now!!

Rinaldo is a star in the making. In the UFC flyweight division.

Mike Richards---contract terminated FOR CAUSE. This is going to be interesting. Rumour is off ice incident.

In completely unrelated news the LA Kings have applied to be:

1. The third LA based team in the NBA.
2. The only NFL Team in LA.

Yeah here too rumors about Richards are firing up in every possible directions. Some say he had some up his nose with Stoll, some say he broke the "code of the Kings" etc etc.....He had drinking problems in Philly so he might still have those in LA.

I think Kings are just trying to use a loophole to save some cap space for the future...

Of course that is why they are using it. But there has to be something that happened in order to use that clause. If there was not, at least allegedly...the Kings could be in breach not only of league rules, but contract and end up in court. May do so anyway.

Another thing the Kings are doing...applying to move the team to Oakland.

Well the Kings were also trying to trade Richards to the Oilers or Flames, but once Lombardi found out about the alleged incident, told both Chiarelli and Treliving and took proposal off the table.

Both Semin and Boyes on buy-out waivers today, Boyes is a weird one, he hasn't lost production and have only 1 year left on a reasonable cap hit, think he will get claimed. Semin is just Semin, a team will definitely take a gamble on him.

So the Bruins traded Jones to San Jose for their 1st in 2016 and a a prospect named Sean Kuraly.

Well, the Bruins are stocking up on picks to trade for more umm...pluggers

Looks like Dougie and the Flames close to an extension according to Dreger. No dollar amount yet, but 6 years is what I'm reading