Free Agency 2012

[pidg88]

This is the last im going to talk about Parise, because I think we should try to focus our off season thread on more then him and Suter. Ive heard NJ ownership doesnt know if they can pay because of their bankruptcy problems. This could make it a little more interesting.

Ill address each position at who I would like to see us potentially bring in or go.

Center-
With bringing in Granlund (which all signs point to he will be signed after worlds) we finally have a second line center. Im stealing this from an ESPN column but I would expect at least 40 A's and 15-20 G's.
Christenson- I wouldnt mind signing him to a budget 1 year deal just because of potential and I think given an entire off season to learn and be with the guys he could be a nice 3rd liner who can play top 6 due to injury.
Cullen- I would like to see us trade him for value. It would create more cap room and a roster spot in case someone like Phillips or Larsson comes over and really impresses.

Left Wing
PMB- I would like to trade him, but he has no market value. The best thing to do would be get him healthy and get him showing good signs again and then take what we can get or trade him for a different under performing player.
Obviously Parise.
Semin- Im not sure, but we need offense so desperately if we flunk the Parise venture we should maybe see if a 1 yr loaded contract to give him a chance see what happens and to keep him from bolting to the KHL
Hudler- Also plan B to not getting Parise. He has shown a lot more this year on Detroit and is getting better and better a little at a time. Although I think he stays in Detroit.
Andrei Kostitsyn- I dont know if the Preds can afford him since they will have to pay a lot of players like his brother next year and have a lot of players to pay this year. Probably a better all around player then Hudler
Travis Moen- Good third line player would bring great size and PK ability.
Bulmer+Zucker- Also could be 3rd and 4th line guys.
Brandon Prust- We need a tough guy that can actually play some hockey, and Prust can do both well.

Right Wing
Charlie Coyle- Could also be in the C area, im not sure if he will make the team right out of the gate but there is that chance. He is a monster of a kid, destroying with the Sea Dogs right now and is a future top 6, I just dont know if we rush him into that unless he really impresses.
Brad Boyes/Milan Hejduk- I put them together because im not sure about either, but maybe they could come in and play on the second line and produce.
Gui- I would like to sign him to a low budget 1yr deal play him on the second or third line and see what he can do. His final curtain call.
I also would mind Lee Stepniak

D-fence
Dennis Wideman- I dont think he gets re-signed with the caps, and considering they are already against the cap ceiling need to pay Carlson, Green and Alzner next year or the year after. Would provide some offense from the back end, would be a nice veteran presence.
Matt Carle- See above except Philly
Bryan Allen- Yes please, big shut down D man
Obviously Scandella,Falk,Prosser and Spurgeon will be back. All good things, but we need more offense from our defense and I think adding one of the first two would help.
Jonas Brodin- I think he comes over and competes, but he needs time in the AHL to bulk up if nothing else. Extremely high hockey IQ, can shut people down with angles and foresight, just needs to work on passing and using his body. Want him to round into a 2 way Lidstrom type D just of course I never expect him to be that good, he just has the tools to mold like him.

Goalie
Re-Sign Harding.
Later in the season depending on where we are trade Backstrom or Harding make room for Hackett.

Draft
I would love Murray or Reilly and I think there is a chance one falls to us with the teams in front of us needing to appease there fans and take the big names of the draft. But if Forsberg/Galy/Grigor fall to us you almost have to take them. With none of that happening more then likely I would like us to take Dumba, maybe Teuvo Teravainen kid has high end speed and a elite skillset, he is small so he needs to get bigger but isnt afraid of the physical side of the game. But I would love to see us trade up for Reilly or Murray or if they slide to us that works too.

So add, critique or say some players you would like us to go after.

[pidg88]

I think the key to the offseason would be a move like Carle. While all other teams are scrambling for Suter we should just go straight to Carle. Consistent 40-50pt D man, he isnt huge but isnt small. Entering his prime, can play the PP and isnt afraid to block shots. Also a career and pretty consistent + player showing he does more then just offense. Put him and Gilbert (Lefty and Righty) on the top PP and top pairing and thats a good start.

[PineAppleFlavor]

Hey, pidg88...how are ya?

I haven't paid much attention to the Wild lately, as I was pretty crushed with how things went down in the last month or so.
But I suppose like most broken hearts, I am getting over it now (unrealistically or not, I had the Wild making the post season THIS past season)....and have been peering in a bit at what could be for this team next season.

Anyways, I don't have a ton to add, but I will comment on some things I liked in your original breakdown of possible acquisitions/moves.

Center - I'd LOVE to see Granlund come in. But I've only seen him play in the World Juniors. He looks like he could possibly play a role right away with Minnesota, but not entirely sure. He is kinda smallish (yet very skilled), and I suspect opposing teams will try to 'intimidate' the young guy to get him off what he does best: play hockey.

If Minny does want Granlund to play right away with the big club, I would think they should have a nasty winger, or a tough D-man be out there whenever he is to allow him to do his thing without worrying about Neanderthals....perhaps make sure a guy like Prosser or Falk on the D is out there when Granlund is? Or perhaps have him play with Cal Clutterbuck? Maybe someone else?

I would think Granlund starting in the AHL would be better....let him get his legs for the rigors of North American hockey, and what he can expect from some of the apes in the opposing unis...

Right Wing-- I like the idea of bringing in a skilled guy like Semin...however I have to question his work ethic. He literally seems to "disappear" at the worst possible times with the Caps...and has ridden the bench at times because of it.
Perhaps like you said...some incentives laden contract....if he would agree to that...

I like the Kostitsyn option better because I think he will be a harder worker ON the ice than Semin....off the ice....?? Err.....who knows....

Brandon Prust. If he isn't going to be on the Rangers, then I'd LOVE this guy on the Wild. Can play, fights, hits, has quickness, and can score dirty goals. Yep....I'd like him.

Right Wing--Charlie Coyle. All the same reasoning with him as with Granlund. Difference is, I believe Coyle would have a better feel for NA hockey than Granlund would right from go...probably should spend time with Houston first as well.
I'd take a flyer on Hedjduk if possible.

Latandresse? If the Wild can get this guy healthy and reasonably productive (enough to draw interest, I say trade him...same as with PMB)....frankly, the Wild need to shed these "good players but injury prone" types...I am tired of it personally...done.....
Nothing personal against those players...I actually like them as players, but they serve no purpose on IR, and let's face it, these guys spend way too much time there.

Defense--I'd LOVE Bryan Allen from Carolina. Though, to get him, won't the Wild have to trade for him? I thought the Canes signed him to some sort of extension during the season...I could be wrong, but am pretty sure I read that. Anyways, if it is via trade, if the Canes don't ask for too much, I wouldn't mind having him.

Not so sure about Wideman, and don't know enough about Carle to make an educated comment.

Goalie--I am all for the combination of Backstrom and Hackett.
I like the stability Backstrom gives the team in net, and Hackett seems like a good up n coming goalie...could probably be a good understudy for Backstrom.

Harding, I do like, however I just have to wonder if he can really hold up under long stretches as "the guy"....and he clearly would like to start, and has shown that ability...but I just don't get the vibe from him that he would make a good number one in Minnesota (young defense that will give up MANY scoring chances)...Backstrom fits that bill better, and along with Hackett learning the NHL ropes from him, may be better suited as well.
Harding is just ready to fly on his own, but I wouldn't choose him over Backstrom...Josh may or may not do well as "the guy" elsewhere, but I am in no mood to experiment with him in Minny, especially if we have a Backstrom / Hackett combo.

Anyways...just my lil (kinda long I guess...lol) chime in...

Maybe after all the dust settles from the playoffs, more info will be available, and I can look through, and comment a bit more with you and other fans.

Nice to see you keep the Minny threads going though....

[Killerjug]

A guy like Semin I feel we can get for a decent price and may still bring in that scoring touch that is much needed

[pidg88]

Granlund is the hands down best player in the world outside of the NHL besides Taresenko (sp?). Physical play or not he can translate to the NHL next season that im not worried about his speed and vision will keep him safe. Coyle on the other hand is the opposite, can play the physical side but needs to get the speed of his play up and vision to make a transition to the NHL, AHL will work for him for a season if he really excels we bring him up.

Semin is making 5.6m this year? Yeah he didnt produce, but give him 5m maybe change of scenery will be good. Doesnt produce it was a good gamble have fun in Russia

[pidg88]

Well now Granlund is signed..everyone can take a deep breath and focus on the draft and FA....With how well the Devils are doing I put our chances of getting Parise extremely low

[Killerjug]

this is why we cheer for the Kings lol

[pidg88]

Even so Detroit has made it clear Parise is an whatever it takes option. We won't outbid them for the fact that our cap space is too valuable in the years to come with these young players

[Tg1]

I would like to see NJ win the Cup// Parise has clearly stated he wants to win a cup.. If he does that now, I think there is a better chance that he would opt to come here so he can be at home. As for signing the younger guys. They are all signed for 3 years, it is possible if not likely that not all 6 will pan out to be "keepers" or at least won't be worth big increases. And we already have 7.5 mil in heater coming of the books in two years, 4.0 mil in Gilbert, unless we re-sign him.. Seto, Powe, stoner, Prosser are all expireing contracts in two years also. Thats not to mention any 1-2-3 year deals that they sign with Free agents this year.. I think we can afford a big name or two on fairly long term deals 5-7 years Though I'd like to keep it closer to 5 and still

I do however agree that I dont' think we want to be in a bidding war over Parise... I will continue to cheer for the Devils so he gets his cup then he can make a choice that isn't based entierly on the competative aspect.

I could be wrong.. Won't be the first time... Won't be the last, but I guy can hope can't he??

[pidg88]

The bidding war for Parise will be about 30 teams. For us to win out we are looking at a 7.5-8+mil cap hit...We have something like 11 young players turning pro next year. This is not including money to already young players like Scandella, Spurgeon, Falk who just those three are looking at raises and will command about 5-6m all together in cap room and thats barring one of them breaking out and calling for more. So if we were to sign Parise and then these 3 D your looking at 14+m not including any other FA we sign. Now lets say Bulmer and Zucker make it as 3-4th liners thats 3-4m in 2 years. Were up to 20m before Heater's contract expires and he will command 5 or so mil saving us a couple mil. Now lets be conservative and say just Coyle and Granlund make it as top wingers out of the 11 and your looking at 5-7m to resign. You see where im going here cap space disappears VERY quickly for young and upcoming teams and the last thing I want to have to do is trade away our young players after a season because we dont have enough cap room (See Blackhawks after they won the cup having to trade Versteeg, Ladd, Big Buff and others!) because that was fricken awful just to watch what they had to do. And as you can see I was very conservative with all my player predictions.

[Tg1]

The bidding war for Parise will be about 30 teams. For us to win out we are looking at a 7.5-8+mil cap hit...We have something like 11 young players turning pro next year. This is not including money to already young players like Scandella, Spurgeon, Falk who just those three are looking at raises and will command about 5-6m all together in cap room and thats barring one of them breaking out and calling for more. So if we were to sign Parise and then these 3 D your looking at 14+m not including any other FA we sign. Now lets say Bulmer and Zucker make it as 3-4th liners thats 3-4m in 2 years. Were up to 20m before Heater's contract expires and he will command 5 or so mil saving us a couple mil. Now lets be conservative and say just Coyle and Granlund make it as top wingers out of the 11 and your looking at 5-7m to resign. You see where im going here cap space disappears VERY quickly for young and upcoming teams and the last thing I want to have to do is trade away our young players after a season because we dont have enough cap room (See Blackhawks after they won the cup having to trade Versteeg, Ladd, Big Buff and others!) because that was fricken awful just to watch what they had to do. And as you can see I was very conservative with all my player predictions.

I agree on Parise.. A lot depends on the length of the contract (IMO). With the 11ish young guys turning pro.. That $ only counts against the cap IF they make the big club.. Also, aside from Granlund they are all 1mill or less per year. Scandela makes 850K about and won't get more than 1.5mill on and extension. Spurgeon makes just over 500K and would be in the same boat as Scandy. Falk is a RFA this year, and made 600K.. Likely won't get more than 1 mill like Stoner... That is 4 mill tops AND two of those guys are signed through this year. Bulmer is 800K and signed for 3 years. Zucker is 833K and signed through two years. That puts both of these guys contracts up after Heater and Backstrom.. I think the wild let heater go at the end of his contract with all the young guys.. why would they extend a guy on the wrong side of 30 with all the youth.. (Assuming everyone turns out) Coyle and Grandlund will be RFA with the club so even if they are studs, they won't cost that much for their first contract extensions.

I think the wild are in a VERY favorable spot.. We may not be able to sign both Parise and Sutter, but we are in a spot where we can add some Vet tallent and be able to extend our young guys.. I'm afraid I whole heartedly disagree with most of your post.

[pidg88]

I agree on Parise.. A lot depends on the length of the contract (IMO). With the 11ish young guys turning pro.. That $ only counts against the cap IF they make the big club.. Also, aside from Granlund they are all 1mill or less per year. Scandela makes 850K about and won't get more than 1.5mill on and extension. Spurgeon makes just over 500K and would be in the same boat as Scandy. Falk is a RFA this year, and made 600K.. Likely won't get more than 1 mill like Stoner... That is 4 mill tops AND two of those guys are signed through this year. Bulmer is 800K and signed for 3 years. Zucker is 833K and signed through two years. That puts both of these guys contracts up after Heater and Backstrom.. I think the wild let heater go at the end of his contract with all the young guys.. why would they extend a guy on the wrong side of 30 with all the youth.. (Assuming everyone turns out) Coyle and Grandlund will be RFA with the club so even if they are studs, they won't cost that much for their first contract extensions.

I think the wild are in a VERY favorable spot.. We may not be able to sign both Parise and Sutter, but we are in a spot where we can add some Vet tallent and be able to extend our young guys.. I'm afraid I whole heartedly disagree with most of your post.

You completely missed the point of my post. Of course I know they only count if they are on the team. Im talking looking a head long term not what they will cost this year. I think Spurg is looking from 1.5-2 a year, he played the MOST minutes of any D man last year on avg besides Gilbert and even most nights out playing him. Scandella is a future top 4 possible top pairing D man so if he breaks out expect 1.5-3 (hence why I said one might break out) and Falk was a absolute stud at times last year if he keeps the play up he is at that 1.5 mark. Falk has a MUCH better game than Stoner. And I am not arguing that we shouldnt or cant go after Parise, but the price to bring him here will be astronomically Sidney Crosby high. NOT worth it.

My point is right now our strength as an organization is our youth and having 30m in cap room. If we go blow it all on any and every star player that hits the market A) Our youth will have no value cause they wont get time to play/grow and B) we will be crippled like Chicago was and have to give away important pieces and players. Chicago is the ultimate store of what im talking about, they gave that D man Campbell a HUGE contract, he helped them win a cup year after cup their crippled have to trade a **** load of players and then Campbell is traded himself because of his contract (Obviously there are more reasons since many players were demanding raises and they gave a couple bad contracts like Hjal's). I DO NOT want that to happen to the wild.

I want Parise but only to a cap friendly number that makes sense and where we wont be crippled in 3-4 years with having to essentially give away our young players. Plus Parise has never been the same since his knee injury

[foofighter97]

Ok, I know its early and with some extremly good bounces the wild can mathamatically still make the playoffs. But I'm interested in getting the ball rolling on thoughts for FA, Maybe the draft this spring/summer.. I would like to maybe keep this mostly to FA /trades and comments about the youth coming in.

From Hockey Buzz (Not as reputable as Cap geek, but still pretty good) the players currently at the big club and under contract are with cap hit.

Forwards
Heater 7.5 m
Koivu 6.75m
PMB 4.08 m
Cullen 3.5 m
Seto 3.0 m
Clutter 1.4m
Brodzy 2.83m
Powe 1.06m
RFA Forwards
Lats, Palmieri, McMillan, Johnson

Deffense
Gilbert 4m
Scandela 0.845m (Hockey Buzz doesn't have him at the NHL now, but they are a little slow)
Prosser 0.825m
Spurgeon 0.526m
RFA Deffense Falk

Goalies Bakstron 6mil, Harding is UFA

We have a projected Cap Salary of 43million (About) which if the CBA stays similar and the Cap stays the same (just for conversation sake) gives us just about 20 million in Cap space!!!

Who should we bring back, RFA and UFA, who should we target in Free agency and how much do we pay them? Probably can add in about 3-5 million in Salary for maybe Coyle, Grandlund Larson and 1 other prospect?

That still gives us 15-17 Mill needing 3-4 Dmen comfortably and 4-8 forwards (not including prospects)

Parise is going to command 6-7 mil for sure IMHO
Sutter would probably be in that range.. Me thinks
Are they worth LONG term contracts for that money?
Those two alone give us Not very much room if signed for that price.

Lets start the debate!! Please keep in mind i'm not looking to be torn to shreds if the info i have up isn't quite right.. Its close and it works for starting the conversation..

Out of the Wild's RFA's I would definitely sign Latendresse and Palmieri. Lats hopefully we can non-tender and get him a 1yr 2 mill. Low risk high reward move for a team with a ton of cap space. We honestly 4 for sure top 6 forwards going into next season with zero gaurentee on Parise and Gui is one of the few true goal scorers we have.

Palmieri I would sign to a two-way deal. He is a big body that can skate and shoot. He looks like a guy who could be a really effective 3rd/4th liner with a peak potential of a fringe top 6er.

With Nick Johnson I would offer a 1 yr deal at 1 mil. He had a solid offensive season statistically, but he was incredibly inconsistent and very unreliable defensively. On top of that he doesn't have much of a physical game at all which is usually a must have for a 4th line player. Also he was a 25 year old rookie last year so the whole rookie term is a bit skewed.

I'm torn on signing Falk. While I love what he did last year, showing a physical edge finally and slight puck moving competence, with Stoner already re-signed he becomes redundant.

I let Macmillan walk and I would wait to sign Harding to see if there is a better cheaper option while we groom Hackett.

In FA I go after Suter as my primary target. This team more than anything needs a top 2 defensemen and Suter obviously would fill that void. My second target would be obviously Parise if we can get him.

If we strike out on Suter I go after Matt Carle. Then guys like Colaicovo, Wideman, and Jackman are tier 2 options.

If we miss out on Parise, Semin would great if he makes it to FA.Kostitsyn, Hudler, David Jones, and Parenteau are nice tier 2 options.

Another possibility if we miss on Parise is packaging a couple prospects for a big time player i.e Rick Nash. Fletcher has made it clear he wants to add another star player either through FA or trade by the start of 2014.

[pidg88]

Big huge no to Nash, do you see what they are asking for? We would need to give up Granlund+Hacket+Coyle and picks it is not worth it. Coyle could be the next Nash. Dont doubt that. He went from a high prospect to a blue chip. Not often can a college player leave play in juniors and just dominate physically with a longer schedule.

[Tg1]

You completely missed the point of my post. Of course I know they only count if they are on the team. Im talking looking a head long term not what they will cost this year. I think Spurg is looking from 1.5-2 a year, he played the MOST minutes of any D man last year on avg besides Gilbert and even most nights out playing him. Scandella is a future top 4 possible top pairing D man so if he breaks out expect 1.5-3 (hence why I said one might break out) and Falk was a absolute stud at times last year if he keeps the play up he is at that 1.5 mark. Falk has a MUCH better game than Stoner. And I am not arguing that we shouldnt or cant go after Parise, but the price to bring him here will be astronomically Sidney Crosby high. NOT worth it.

My point is right now our strength as an organization is our youth and having 30m in cap room. If we go blow it all on any and every star player that hits the market A) Our youth will have no value cause they wont get time to play/grow and B) we will be crippled like Chicago was and have to give away important pieces and players. Chicago is the ultimate store of what im talking about, they gave that D man Campbell a HUGE contract, he helped them win a cup year after cup their crippled have to trade a **** load of players and then Campbell is traded himself because of his contract (Obviously there are more reasons since many players were demanding raises and they gave a couple bad contracts like Hjal's). I DO NOT want that to happen to the wild.

I want Parise but only to a cap friendly number that makes sense and where we wont be crippled in 3-4 years with having to essentially give away our young players. Plus Parise has never been the same since his knee injury

I agree on several fronts. The organizational strenght in its youth is great. It gives us flexability in bringing them up or trading some parts. I also don't want us to make a dumb/huge contract and have it be a bust.. EVEN IF ITS PARISE OR SUTTER (SP?). I just think (IMHO) that we can't assume that all of the guys on the squad are going to have break out years. If they do.. GREAT!! We'll have to deal with the $ when that time comes. My assumptions are that maybe 1-2 guys from last years roster will be worth large increases and the rest will get standard increases if they are even re-signed. With this much youth coming up.. if half of them pan out and or are above average we'll be letting some guys on the current roster go. either via UFA or trading them away. Any way you shake it, i'm excited for the draft, and Free Agency, and for next year. A low playoff seed next year would be great.. The future is bright and we have lots of options. As long as we don't make any choices that limit our optinos significantly in the future, i'm happy and we can stay the course.