I would argue we're ALREADY depleted. Beyond Rattie and Jaskin as foreseeable NHL'ers who else do we have to fill in the gaps? Virtually nothing.cardsfan04 wrote:Agreed. A lot of guys we want aren't to be had via trade. And, if they were, they'd cost a boatload in return which would deplete our minor league system and future draft picks.WaukeeBlues wrote:I think you'd more likely see the Capitals trade literally every other player on their roster, at the same time, other than Ovechkin before they would trade Ovechkin himself.glen a richter wrote:Is there a form of castration that wouldn't be violent?WaukeeBlues wrote:You guys are on drugs. If Toronto dealt Kessel to us for anything less than Pietrangelo there would be riots and car fires in the streets of Toronto. He's about the only good thing going for that team. Garth Snow would be violently castrated if he traded Tavares. Why you guys think these players are just "available" for acquisition (at all, much less for "Berglund and a second round pick") is insane to me.
The only way you acquire a potentially high end scoring talent (because the proven high end talent will never be traded at virtually any price (most instances) by their respective teams or at such an exorbitant cost that it's not worth reasonably arguing about. e.g. Ovechkin, Staal, Kessel, Thornton, Stamkos, etc) is to fill a need for the other team or catch one in a rebuilding mode.
That's why I suggested looking to the Oil for RNH or Yakupov (since I think Hall and Eberle are off the table). They need veteran defense, we need someone to score goals. Sounds like a marriage to me.
There's no way in the universe that the Islanders trade Tavares. He is the Islanders. Without him, they take 100 steps backwards.
I have repeatedly suggested Ovechkin as a possibility simply because the Caps fans are sour on him and they have all these postseason flameouts (sound familar?) but if they sacked Oates it pretty much means they want a coach who can accommodate Ovechkin rather than trade him. Yakupov I don't want. RNH I'd be interested in, and maybe they can throw in Gagner while they're at it.
More than once I've also heard some people say "well Gretzky got traded" well yea but a large part of that reason was because of financial issues that don't permeate today's NHL. Kessel himself was only dealt by the Bruins because they couldn't get a deal done. Stamkos, Ovechkin, Staal, Tavares.... all have long-term deals in place, are the faces of their franchises, etc. IMO, none of them are going anywhere.
Schmaltz and Vannelli aren't close and beyond them... long term projects. So that means we got basically 4 guys in the system to turn into potential NHL'ers here in the next few years. I'm not counting goalies.
If we lose our 2014 first round pick because we re-sign or trade Miller before the deadline, I think that'd be disastrous. You have to have first round picks, even late in the first round, to keep the farm team afloat. If you can't, you have to draft high second round. We dealt Carrier already.., the farm needs some more livestock.
Yea and this year there isn't a ton out there that makes me giddy with excitement. I would bet Stastny stays in Colorado and he'd be my #1 looking at. Gaborik I think is largely past his prime and not much help... idonno. Nobody on the list who I think will ACTUALLY be available on July 1 excites me. And I think Vanek is overrated and depending on what he does against the Bruins here in round 2 the Canadiens may want to keep himThe way to get somebody is to sign him IMO. There are a few FAs that could be difference makers here. I don't currently have much of a preference of one over another, but there are a handful of them that I'd be happy with. Hopefully spending to the cap isn't a 1 time thing for this ownership group. If they are willing to at least not drop payroll I think we have room to get an impact player.