nfreeman

Me too. I'd be fine with signing Soupy for 2 years at a respectable salary, but that's a different kettle of fish.

Stamkos just signed up for exactly that.

The bonus structure might've been one of the concessions Stammer was trying to wring from TB.

I kinda doubt that Anaheim would match, say, a $7MM x 6 years offer sheet for Lindholm -- but I'm a bit skeptical that GMTM is going to tender any offer sheets. I also think if GMTM were to offer that to Lindholm, it would be pretty much impossible to get Risto to agree to a bridge deal, which might affect GMTM's thinking. Also, I wish RFA offer sheets were widespread, as they are in the NBA. Yet another operational item the NBA does better than the NHL.

Here's a question: since Stammer signed for the same deal that TB offered him months ago, what was the point of the whole soap opera? Was he trying to get TB to increase their offer?

Likely but not certain -- it's also quite possible he'll still love playing hockey for a living and love playing and living in Montreal (which is a great city and a great hockey city with a great arena). And maybe the next CBA will allow a more forgiving buyout.

Weber is certainly past his absolute peak, and likely will decline a bit each year. And PK is in his prime and will be for a few more years. But I think Weber's 30s will be a lot like Pronger's pre-concussion 30s -- he will be a major force and play a ton of minutes in all situations (which was the case with Pronger until he sustained a debilitating concussion at age 37).

This is what I was thinking of. That is insane. It doesn't really factor into evaluating the trade, but is a shocker all the same.

Well, the "not as good" isn't really an objective truth, and we don't know the Habs' motivation. The Habs will take a hit if Weber retires early? Or are you saying that the Habs will take a hit if PK retires early?

This is a heckuva deal. Weber is one of the best players of the last generation and one of the best defensemen of all time. He's a first-ballot HOFer. He's great on both ends, very tough and a great leader. He's been in the NHL for 10 non-lockout seasons and played 78 or more games in 8 of them -- and scored 15 goals or more in all 8 (including 20 goals last year). PK has scored 15 goals exactly once in his 6 non-lockout seasons. Weber is about to turn 31, while PK just turned 27. PK is unquestionably a better skater than Weber at this point, and probably better carrying the puck. But don't sleep on Weber's playmaking skills -- in the last 7 non-lockout seasons, Weber had 30 assists or more in 6 of them (and had 27 assists the other time). Weber is also a true horse, playing over 25 min per game each of the last 6 years. For one playoff run, I'd rather have Weber. For the next 2 seasons, I'd rather have Weber. PK's NMC is going live in 2 days, and he's going to make $9MM per year for the next 6 years. If the Habs organization was concerned about PK's behavior/commitment/leadership/health/other -- it was now or never. I'm not ready to call this a bad move for the Habs. One other point: I think Weber's contract was signed before the current CBA. It includes $1MM annual salaries for each of the last 3 seasons -- when he will be turning 38, 39 and 40. If he retires at 39 -- I think Nashville gets hit with a cap penalty of some kind. Can anyone confirm?

And then, depression set in.

Until... Holy mackerel.

Well, there's those worth dropping pants for, and those that ain't. There is zero chance of this happening IMHO. Vanek is about as far as it gets from a GMTM kinda guy.

Beat me to it. I'd also include Niedermayer (and maybe Pronger, who was traded in an auction, not a UFA, but there are still similarities in the situations)

But how much do we really think can be saved this way? If Seth Jones is a comparable, then a bridge deal now for Risto would have the Sabres paying $5.4MM per year for maybe the first 2-3 years of Risto's UFA period, right? (Maybe a bit less than $5.4MM, but not substantially less -- $5.2MM per year is probably the floor.) There are only 16 defensemen in the NHL making $6MM per year or more, of whom only 7 make $7MM per year or more and only 4 make $7.5MM per year or more. Given that league-wide salary structure, how much would Risto realistically get after, say, a 3-year bridge deal? At that point, he'd still have a year to go before UFA, allowing the Sabres to have 3 more years of observing his development and a full year to sign him to an extension. How likely is it that Risto would command a salary that would put him into the top 5 in the NHL among defensemen (with PK, Weber, Suter and Byfuglien)? Isn't it more likely that he turns out to be more in the top-12-to-top-25 grouping? That would put him into a $5.5MM to $6.5MM salary range -- which is pretty close to what he'd get under a Seth Jones deal now. And if he does turn into a top-5, $7.5MM+ player -- that's a good problem to have. I vote for keeping our pants on, keeping our powder dry for Stamkos or other worthy player, and signing Risto to the contract he's earned when we have enough info to make a sober decision.

...or look like a bozo if he turns out like Roy, Stafford, Hodgson, Myers or any of a number of other young players whose GMs pulled the trigger too early on a fat long-term deal.

Beat me to it. Goals are much more precious than assists.

Thanks -- I had no idea what the apostrophe reference meant either. As for the bolded -- it's an interesting theory, but I think if GMTM likes Kulikov (and I think he does), he'll sign him to an extension well before the expansion draft.

I love the smell of victory in the morning!

I think everyone should remember that Vesey is an unproven commodity. It's quite likely that he'll have only a modest impact for the next couple of seasons. Stamkos, OTOH, is a major star who will have a significant impact immediately.

Perhaps, but I think everyone will agree that getting Stamkos AND winning a lot for an extended period will put the Sabres into "unquestionably elite and desirable franchise" territory.

I like Mirtle but I think he suffers from Canadian hockey writer nationalism syndrome. Also, is one of your references to Detroit meant to be TB? Otherwise Mirtle may have lost some sharpness.

Well, I'd say Kurri had the speed, although that's not quite the same as "explosiveness." He also had great hands, but you're probably right about the puck handling.

I disagree with #1 and #3, but you are right about #2. It's just not realistic to say "I'd only sign Stamkos to a 5-year deal or shorter." That means you wouldn't sign him.

Also: the Miami Herald writer I mentioned upthread also said that he thought the primary reason Florida traded Kulikov was that they didn't think they'd be able to sign him to an extension.