Fun with RFA's: The Stars search for a Stanley Cup.
Posted 5:53 AM ET | Comments 4
Last year the Edmonton Oilers made a huge splash by signing Dustin Penner to a five-year, $21.25 million contract.This year with the cap going up a little more and The Stars and Marty Turco finally making it up the ladder in the playoffs,I thought it would be fun to mull over some RFA's that could be hitting the market.
The Stars need a few things: A top line scorer, a gritty forward for the 3rd line with some offensive ability,re-signing Nic Hagman and maybe another d-man just for good luck.All that Thomas J. Hicks & Co. need to do is give up some draft picks and pay some cash for the future now.As far as the draft picks are concerned, the Stars haven't shyed away from giving up high picks for defensemen and rentals.Matty Norstrom was the reason for this years lack of a number 1 pick and Ladislav Nagy was the reason for the same situation in 2007.Norstrom was solid and scored a game winner versus San Jose in OT,Whereas Nagy was a total bust with only 14 points in 25 games and very little of that was in the playoffs.Along with this the owners have a hard time giving players a chance to grow,signing and trading Hobey Baker winners like it's going out of style(but that's for another blog.)
I'll just go ahead and say that with the news that Sean Avery is going to be a free agent come July 1st, make him a priority.Steve Ott,Avery and Crombeen on a checking line is a FORCE to be reckoned with and that's a 30 point boost to the back end,And he would be a good teacher for the two as well.
Here a list of the guys that the Stars should look at sending a GOOD offer sheet to:
Corey Perry,Marek Svatos,Wojtec Wolski,Brandon Bochenski,Valtteri Filppula,Jay Bouwmeester,Mike Green
Corey Perry,Marek Svatos, and Filppula would be great aquisitions for any team.As much as a I like Perry, I think the player is Svatos.With an average of 63 games and 24-15-39 in his 3 NHL seasons he has most room to grow into a superstar and can be had for the cheepest offer sheet.Put him on a line 2 with Nic Hagman and Loui Eriksson and you have a complete line with a veteran at the helm who had a break out season.Now the only problem left is to possibly get a D-man to fill out the roster.Keeping with blog will go with Mike Green, who also had a breakout season.He played every game last year for the Capitals scoring 21-50-71, making him 7th in defenseman scoring.He's got a heavy shot and can play his position well and with Zubov he can be a truly dominant force offensively and defensively on the blue line for the Stars.
All this is contingent on aggressive pursuit and offer sheets.Svatos,Green,and Hagman can be had for the 3 years $14-15 Million mark.Sean Avery 2 years $8.75 million.The Stars have 47.6 million payroll,so with these contracts it would put them between 8 and 10 million over, but the gain once again outweighs the cost.It puts Stars in the front seat of the division,and with the recent Phoenix aquisition on Jokinen it is paramount to keep up with the other teams.
Here would be the lines:
Morrow-Ribeiro-Richards
Svatos-Hagman-Eriksson
Lehtinen-Modano-Conner
Ott-Avery-Crombeen/Barch
Zubov-Green
Boucher-Niskanen
Robidas-Daley
This is obviously an opinion but it's worth a look,of course the lines aren't exact but it's an idea.Let's hope that Brett and Les are this serious about winning the cup.(Cole isn't a bad idea, its makes the room for Grossman if this scenario were chased so, we'll see.)
The Stars need a few things: A top line scorer, a gritty forward for the 3rd line with some offensive ability,re-signing Nic Hagman and maybe another d-man just for good luck.All that Thomas J. Hicks & Co. need to do is give up some draft picks and pay some cash for the future now.As far as the draft picks are concerned, the Stars haven't shyed away from giving up high picks for defensemen and rentals.Matty Norstrom was the reason for this years lack of a number 1 pick and Ladislav Nagy was the reason for the same situation in 2007.Norstrom was solid and scored a game winner versus San Jose in OT,Whereas Nagy was a total bust with only 14 points in 25 games and very little of that was in the playoffs.Along with this the owners have a hard time giving players a chance to grow,signing and trading Hobey Baker winners like it's going out of style(but that's for another blog.)
I'll just go ahead and say that with the news that Sean Avery is going to be a free agent come July 1st, make him a priority.Steve Ott,Avery and Crombeen on a checking line is a FORCE to be reckoned with and that's a 30 point boost to the back end,And he would be a good teacher for the two as well.
Here a list of the guys that the Stars should look at sending a GOOD offer sheet to:
Corey Perry,Marek Svatos,Wojtec Wolski,Brandon Bochenski,Valtteri Filppula,Jay Bouwmeester,Mike Green
Corey Perry,Marek Svatos, and Filppula would be great aquisitions for any team.As much as a I like Perry, I think the player is Svatos.With an average of 63 games and 24-15-39 in his 3 NHL seasons he has most room to grow into a superstar and can be had for the cheepest offer sheet.Put him on a line 2 with Nic Hagman and Loui Eriksson and you have a complete line with a veteran at the helm who had a break out season.Now the only problem left is to possibly get a D-man to fill out the roster.Keeping with blog will go with Mike Green, who also had a breakout season.He played every game last year for the Capitals scoring 21-50-71, making him 7th in defenseman scoring.He's got a heavy shot and can play his position well and with Zubov he can be a truly dominant force offensively and defensively on the blue line for the Stars.
All this is contingent on aggressive pursuit and offer sheets.Svatos,Green,and Hagman can be had for the 3 years $14-15 Million mark.Sean Avery 2 years $8.75 million.The Stars have 47.6 million payroll,so with these contracts it would put them between 8 and 10 million over, but the gain once again outweighs the cost.It puts Stars in the front seat of the division,and with the recent Phoenix aquisition on Jokinen it is paramount to keep up with the other teams.
Here would be the lines:
Morrow-Ribeiro-Richards
Svatos-Hagman-Eriksson
Lehtinen-Modano-Conner
Ott-Avery-Crombeen/Barch
Zubov-Green
Boucher-Niskanen
Robidas-Daley
This is obviously an opinion but it's worth a look,of course the lines aren't exact but it's an idea.Let's hope that Brett and Les are this serious about winning the cup.(Cole isn't a bad idea, its makes the room for Grossman if this scenario were chased so, we'll see.)
good article dude! i really think that there are going to be a lot of offer sheets this offseason. but as an avs fan, i really hope nobody takes our players! i am fairly sure the avs will match any offers for wolski or svatos unless the compensation is a first round pick. svatos is very injury prone, which may prevent some teams from taking him. however, he is one of the most clutch goal scorers i have ever seen. when he is on, almost every shot he takes is a goal. wolski is a baller too! so maybe the stars should look elsewhere for their offer sheets please! good read.
Fun blog, as I also love to dream! A few things to keep in mind ... (1) they will NOT go over the salary cap. (2) Hagman may have had too good of a year and priced himself out of being with Dallas -- that being said, I think it is imperative that we resign him! (3) Perry, Svatos, Filppula, and Green are going nowhere. Though I literally hate Sean Avery, you are the first to even bring up the possibility and I'm beginning to like it. Phoenix did absolutely nothing by obtaining Jokinen -- if the STARS have done anything right over the years it is keeping the d-men stacked with solid depth -- giving up Boynton AND Ballard was a huge mistake. Aside from the decision on Hagman, I think 2 players are possibilities -- Brian Campbell and Erik Cole. I also think Boucher is very likely to be involved in any deals this summer. GO STARS!
The Stars are very hot for Avery, I think it's the team most likely to sign him if he doesn't go back to NY
that many offer sheets would cost you quite a large number of draft picks !