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Step 1 of my fantasy is complete. Now we just need to dump Bogo and sign Shattenkirk.

Many heads will explode. I'm in favor.

I don't think this is entirely accurate. The Islanders tried to keep him, but he didn't want to stay there. The Red Wings were in sell mode, and Frank Saravelli has reported that Florida's ownership has mandated cost cutting this offseason. I think the only team you can be confident walked away because they didn't want him anymore was Minnesota.

The only thing that gives me pause is that Andrew Peters wants to do it. Do I really want to agree with him? :lol:

Vanek is yet another cheap(ish) UFA I'd like to see to help fill the wing depth. And like D4rk, I'd really like to see Eichel play with a smart scoring winger with silky hands. The skating is a reasonable concern, but I always thought Vanek's speed was underrated--he wasn't explosive, but his top end speed was good.

I had a dream last night that we made the playoffs and Kane scored the game winner in overtime of game 1. If this comes to pass, I need someone to help me make a fortune telling infomercial.

Jaromir Jagr‏Verified account @68Jagr 1h1 hour agoMore Everywhere I look,I read:all FA getting calls from10-12teams. Me0 calls.On the contrary,I'm trying to call them,and no ones picking up. Distinct possibility of trolling aside....Jagr, anyone?

I can fix that for ya.

Oh man, taking me back to my youth! Many a good times were had.

But Alzner doesn't have the right skills. He's neither a great skater nor passer, both skills valuable for Housley. Brendan Smith would've been a much better add because he brings those things while also being solid defensively. Alzner isn't going to help the breakout, he's not going to help flip the ice, and he's not going to help on the attack. His in-zone defensive value, while real, is not worth what he's going to make. Edit: You think he's better than Smith, who got $4.35x4. How much better is Alzner to you? $5x5?

Why do you think Alzner is a better fit for what Housley wants to do than Shattenkirk? To my eye, Alzner is the antithesis of what we want to pay for.

And he employs an agent to disabuse him of such a fantasy.

No, you're not--he was quite good. But, for reasons I continue to fail to understand, I think a lot of people got hung up on the cash at the front end of the contract and expected a franchise defenseman, which he was not. He also played a style that plenty of fans dislike, and I think that played into it.

Wait, are you concerned we're going to have too much talent in the froward ranks? It'll work for a couple years, then as Mittelstadt and Nylander are coming off their ELCs, Kane will be expiring and Okposo will be trade bait to a cap floor team. But while on their ELCs, there's plenty of roster space in the top-9, unless you think every wing prospect we have right now is going to set the world on fire. XXX-ROR-Okposo XXX-Eichel-XXX Kane-Reinhart-XXX Baptiste/Bailey/Fasching are really the only three who have real top-9 potential. Doubt they all make it, but one probably will, with an outside shot at two. Fill the ranks with them for now, in addition to Girgs and/or some cheap UFA scorers, while Mittelstadt and Nylander develop. When one or both of those are ready, we'll know for sure about Girgs, the cheap UFAs will be gone, as will Moulson and Ennis. Plenty of roster space to go around so long as we don't add a long term winger on top of what's already here. Heh, those are the last places in the world I want him. His defense is too poor to flank O'Reilly given the matchups he faces, and I continue to think there's not enough puck to go around for him and Eichel, and they both like going down that left wing spot, so not enough ice either.

Well, I think plenty of GMs are willing to trade for him OR to give him a fat contract, but the prospect of both is what's deflating his value. Anyway, for me, it's more about the term--if I can get him for $5.5x5 I'm pretty open to it. $5.5x7? No thanks.

Platinum Seat Ghosts‏ @3rdPeriodSuits 3h3 hours ago More Replying to @3rdPeriodSuits Seravelli says he thinks the Panthers are desperately trying to peddle Demers and get him off the books. Still think a cheap trade for Demers is a better option than throwing the vault at Shattenkirk.

I don't love Scandella, but he's proven to be a useful player in a really good unit. That's what we're looking to assemble here, unless Risto morphs into Subban. I still think we can get somebody to bite on Bogo--age, physical tools, draft pedigree. Somebody is going to think a change of scenery would work. I'm not saying we'd get anything useful in return, but I think a partner could be found.

Imagine if we got Shattenkirk and, say, Scandella, while being able to dump Bogo? McCabe-Risto Scandella-Shattenkirk Beaulieu-Antipin Or some permutation thereof. It's not Nashville's top-4, but it'd be a quantum leap over what we iced last season. *searches for new pants*

Incoming article: How Millennials Ruined Corporate Culture.

Agreed--defensemen usually age better than forwards. And he's such a smooth skater, I think he'll be fine. Still don't want to get near the $7M+ some thing he'll get. Can segue this into Eichel's contract....if he gets 8 years, he'll be up for a new deal at 29. That's a horrible age for a forward contract, from the team perspective. We'll almost certainly be paying for past performance that future performance will not match for the majority of the deal.

My sources say Botterill is in on this. And by sources, I mean common sense.

He. Can't. Complete. A. Pass.

I think, in a vacuum, I'd take Toews still. But taking contracts into account, it's ROR all day.

Same. If I can get him for 7 and low 5s, I do it. If it's 7 and low 6s, I do not. Of course, being a fan, I will find a way to rationalize it either way :D