EHM The Blue Line

batdad wrote:Bruins send Toivonen to St Louis for Carl Soderberg

To me, it makes little sense for either team, but eh...what do I know? Boston does have Rask, and Fernandez and Thomas..so I guess Toivonen became expendable. Just never realized Carl Soderberg was worth enough to get a strong goalie prospect. Or do people think Hannu is gonna be a bust now?

Good and Bad trade in my eyes, i think you needed to get rid of toivonen (or not get fernandez), because with Rask soon to be in the team, its gonna be tough competition, but i just think you could have got a lot more for him, Soderberg??? Who's that?

batdad wrote:Emery and Ottawa agree, avoid arbitration

It was inevitable if you ask me, i'm sure they do it just to keep us in suspense

Patrick Kane has been signed a 3 year entry level contract with the Blackhawks, i'm not sure if he has the size or build to play in the NHL this season, but he certainly has the skill, i wonder what the hawks will do?

Pat Kane Signs

Not an earth shattering move for sure. But I tell you, the Hawks as an organization are starting to look half decent. Especially with youngsters like Toews, Kane, Seabrook, Barker....

Bah...we all know that they will blow it up and move these guys for "proven veterans" like say....I dunno....Brad May.

HEY! that was below the belt mr Batdad, dont mock Brad May, he was a vital piece to our playoff jigsaw, , although i would take pat kane for him anyday.

but i agree that they are gettin strong, the also have jack skille to play, don't know if he's anygood, but he was the 7th overall pick in 06, can't all be that bad, can he?

I can mock Brad May if I want. The Canucks had him twice. For some unkown reason...oh yeah, that Buddy of his you just signed in anaheim.

The Blackhawks are stacked with talented prospects. If they don't deal them away, they could pull a Pittsburgh and all of a sudden be a great team.

It won't happen though. They'll ruin these kids.

Lowe is at it again.
Edmonton radio says Penner signed an offer sheet, that's at least what a lot of people on HFB confirmed.

WOW! Think Burke will let him get away with that? I wonder what kind of money he's offering. It could cost him a lot if the Ducks let him take Penner.

Apparently 4.5m per year.

edit
on tsn now as well, 21.5m over 5 years
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=214708&hubname=

compensation a first, second and third

that wud make dustin hugely overpayed for a 24 year old, but i wud want him back. and i believe it will be matched, burke loves this guy

"the kid line" is awesome and we can't break that up, few years and that will be our first line,

1st, 2nd and 3rd rounders wudnt be too bad, we dont have a first rounder this year, edmonton have that, but i wud want him to stay in anaheim for the future.

i thought it was etiquette to not bid for these restriced players, go away edmonton,

Lowe isn't much concerned with etiquette. He put in a big offer on Vanek not long ago and Buffalo matched. He's having a heck of a time luring UFAs to the Oil so now he's going after RFAs.

Penner is good but I don't know about paying him $4.5M per year. That's a lot of money. Do the Ducks have the cap room?

I'm not sure it's a problem cap-wise, but I just can't imagine the Ducks wanting to spend 50m anyway. And it's quite an overpayment IMO if you add the picks to the contract.

Yeah, it might just be a good idea for Burke to take the picks. It's tough to lose a young talent like that but they could be hurting themselves committing to that large of a salary for him. It's just a very tough call!

I don't understand what kind of movements the Flames are doing until now. Aucoin? Where is my number 1 center?

well, we've lost the selanne contract, and maybe the niedermayer one too, so it shudnt be much of a cap problem,

but the guy was huge for us, and 3 picks, if someone had offered us that this year, i don't think it wudda been accepted because he was playin that good, but 4 mill a year is alot of money, more than getz and perry put together, and they were awesome

corinthian wrote:I don't understand what kind of movements the Flames are doing until now. Aucoin? Where is my number 1 center?

Yeah, I didn't quite understand that one either. Weren't the Chicago fans complaining that they were stuck with Aucoin making so much money and not being worth it? I was really surprised to see the Flames pick him up.

Ok I know you have all been waiting for this. Yeah right.


1. Weighing in on Penner...I think Burke comes out with a massive rant against Kevin Lowe and the Oilers. Angry as all get out. Then....I think he becomes GM #1 to let a player walk. No way, no how...is Penner worth 4.5 ...ever. He is the least of the 3 kids on that line the Ducks need. A 1st, 2nd and 3rd from a naff hockey team is a darn good thing. Burke will rant though. Fo' sho. Cannot wait. I love me my rants.


2. Flames .... well corinthian...Adrian Aucoin to Mike Keenan is the next coming of Al Macinnis. So there you go. Once again Keenan is wrong...just as he was wrong when he kept signing Stepanie Matteau, thinking he was the next Doug Jarvis/Bob Gainey. Keenan...not too bright at times, and has too many favorites.

That being said Aucoin is a small step up from Hamrlik if he stays healthy...

Aucoin is slightly better than Hamrlik and will be far cheaper this season (even if still overpaid), so all in all it's not that bad. Plus, he came in exchange of Zuyzin, who never shown in Calgary.

I think that all in all, the defense has been strengthened a bit this off-season in Calgary. Nothing major, but still improved, after a terrific season in our own end.

As for the n°1 center position, it's Langkow. Yeah, for sure, he's not truly a n°1, but is considered such in the organisation. And then, who would you want? No one on the FA market has the talent of a n°1 center! Maybe Forsberg, when he's healthy, but he may retire and i doubt he would agree to sign in Calgary. And well, with Langkow, Lombardi, Conroy, Yelle, or Primeau, the Flames aren't week at the position center. There are no outstanding strength there, but a lot of depth made of players responsible defensively and working hard, which is in the Flames philosophy.

I am more worried about the signing of Owen Nolan... For me, he's done.

Oh, and the Flames couldn't make too big signings as they had/still have many big contracts to renew before the end of the season! Iginla, Kipper, Regher, Phaneuf just as examples...

of course no hopes with Keenan and Aucoin, but what bothers me is almost 2 years talking albout getting a great center to help Iginla and they do nothing about it, so another season playing defense and less scoring. Well, if noted the reason why Jim was fired is just because he changed the way Calgary played under Sutter directions, when playoffs came he had already lost control (ridiculous 1st round no grind, no passion, no scoring and no defense).
Is Keenan the solution? hell, no! Maybe Gomez (too late)javascript:emoticon(':thdn:')

I'd prefer Langkow for 2.5 than Gomez for 7.

Danny wrote:I'd prefer Langkow for 2.5 than Gomez for 7.

I totally agree with you on this one And even if Langkow is clearly not a top first line center, he does a decent job, loves the team, and work hard night after night. He lacks the talent to be a superstar, for sure, but i'll always prefer a hardly commited player to a lazy star like...let's say...Yashin?

Ok don't get too confused here. The last thing Scott Gomez is, is lazy. He does work hard. He is just little. And not worth $7 mill, but is miles and miles ahead of Yashin in work ethic and determination. You have to be determined and work hard when you are under 6 ft. I know he is suppsoedly 5'11" but that is what he is listed at. In reality, I know he is well under 5'9". He is not even 5'11" with his aktes on.


Gionta makes him look like a giant though.

I remember when Gionta played at B.C. a lot of people figured he'd never make it in the NHL because of his size. He sure proved them wrong.

I was wondering, why isn't there a salary limit for RFAs ?
There is a limit for rookies, start from there and increase it by a certain amount every year.
1m for the first 3
2m for year 4 and 5
3m for year 6
4m for year 7
5m for year 8

unrestricted free agency after 8 years contracted to an NHL team