Vanflyer

No more coke left?

Dude- WTF did you say? Stupid is as stupid does!

Why??

LOL, well, you obviously have watched him much more fervently than I. If we needed a center, I would trade you a Staal for a JVR. Would you do the deal?

http://www.tsn.ca/fantasy_news/feature/?ID=8978 Nice to see that, but I would think that there has to be a game played factor into the rankings.

I too have not read anything of that nature out of the jagr camp and that kind of seems like Jagr of old fodder. I think that groin stuff aside, that Jagr would be the first to tell you he hit the wall a bit in the last third / playoffs. I think he is smart enough that he would prefer to have gas in the tank for the "real" season that play and extra two and half minutes a night during the regular season.

Can hockey contract have "options"- i.e. agreed upon terms but option excercised by the team to commit that contract a second year?

I don't get the hate for him at all either. He is asked to play third string fiddle on the Penguins (meaning he is playing with far less capable players than Malkin or Crosby) and people bash on him. I think he is one of the better two way centers in the league for value (4m cap hit). Here is an interesting article /blog. For my money, I don't think that Pittsburgh will be able to afford Staal and as much as Pittsburgh may like to give him an elevated role (20 minutes a night, prime time line mates and PP time), the reality is that it is not going to happen as long as Malkin and Crosby are in the fold. This of course takes us full circle back to Crosby. Staal IS Pitts insurance plan if Crosby goes back down. Yet, while eve deal in insurance policies. Get rid of the high risk for high asset return, sign staal to prime time contract role and be happy with your new solidified d-fense and prospects / picks.

Health issue aside, do you really think that a 32-36 y/o will be worth a 26-31 y/o crosby at 9m per? He is not a big guy and despite teh noggin' issues, his style of play is not on the periphery. He is in the corners, in the slot. Unless he changes his game style to an ala Carter, then I don't see his health AND level of excellence prevailing beyond his early thirties. Sign him for 6 and if he is still excelling at that age, resign him.

I thought Flyers fans were harsh and cynical, but man you might take it to a completely different level. 19 pts in 19 games over the "horrific" last year and the "not so much better" this year. Perhaps what you were trying to express in your demolition of him over the last two years is that he has not been a factor or game changer. I can buy into that, but man, he is one guy. For the record, he is 1.19 ppg over his playoff career and Sidney is 1.32. I sort of get the "complimentary" part, but truth be told, I don't want of need that "complimentary" aspect if it is costing me 18M for the two players. They have been together 5 years. Two SCF and one cup. Pretty impressive, but I will say that that road has been worn. Better to get assets for crosby to shore up that d and even perhaps move Fleury (while good, I think we can all agree he is not the end all be all he was initially hailed to be).

Agree on the bidding war part. Which Greg Campbell are we talking about that got a 3m deal? I know the guy in Boston got 1.6m, but don't know of another one. At any rate, your or Noziz point on age similar to Recchi will play into it. Here is what I think will happen. 2.5m for two years. I know allot of folks will cry about it, but that is what it will be and then Jagr will retire.

Good research. I am to lazy to look, but I am willing to bet that the post trade deadline (playoff eligible trades) you mentioned and trades that occur DURING the playoffs are slim to none.

I have no problem with the contract amount. Yet the years seem to long to me. He will be 26 by the sime he suits up to play under the new contract. That puts him at 36 by the end of the contract- and regardless of how the contract is structured and being concussion free, there is no way that I think a 32 - 36 y/o Crosby is worth a 9m cap hit. Of course I am using a foggy crystal ball, but c'mon, the odds are highly stacked that he can perform at a 9M dollar level into his mid thirties. Early 30's, I will give him the not. but that ends at 32 for me. So, in that mindset, I put the contract at 3-4 years too long. My next point would be Malkin. While Richards / Carter are not of the same echelon as Crosby / Malkin, I saw a couple of times where Richards would get injured and Carter would step up his game significantly. I have seen the EXACT same thing with Crosby / Malkin. In that vein, here is where Crosby's concussion issues become signigant. Pre-concussion, you could have a pretty fair argument that Crosby was the better of the two. Post, I don't agree. Each of the players do different things better than the other. Yet, for my dollar, I take the bigger Malkin. Next is crosby's trade value. There are going to be SOME teams that will be willing to trade for him and take the risk on his noggin. The return will be significant (2-3 players + picks). If I am Shero, I do the trade. Particularly if it includes an elite defensemen. The last point is the destractions that Crosby injuries cause. Having been there and done that in the Lindros era, there comes a point where everybody just wears thin of it. It is not Crosby's fault, yet it is a by product of being Crosby, just like with lindros. So, in the end if I am shero, I depart with Crosby and get: a) elevated play from Malkin at the on ice leader; B) some mid-high quality assets / picks in return; c) fiscal responsibility; d) removal of injury / distraction risk and e) in the end hopefully a much more balanced team.

Noziz already busted me on this. I don't know why I had it stuck in my head that they could not occur until after teh SCF (and the Vokoun trade completely slipped my mind).

****. You are right. I thought there were no trades allowed until after the playoffs???

@mojo1917- It isn't meant to be mean spirited or derogatory, but I don't know what to call him anymore, so that became the logical paring for a two syllable name. :-P Glad you got a laugh!

I see two more years max Noziz and I had a dialogue about the buyout and the buyout actually makes the most sense (from a proration / cap hit perspective) after this upcoming season, but I don't think the Flyers will do that. If the Flyers shore up the d-side and gestation issues that Holmgren has with Lavy's giddy-up style, then ALL the heat will fall on the net. If Bryz does not deliver this year, the writing will be on the wall.

The thing with the RW minutes is that they were all pretty equal across three lines (16:20 a night). That bodes for allot of happy players. I really like being able to roll three very effective lines at a relative even amount. I also expect significantly bigger and brighter things from Schenn and Couturier this year which will bode well for whoever plays wings with them. If Jagr wants 2.5m for one more year. Sure, I do it.

Jagr plays between 1minute more (Read) to 20 second more (Simmonds) than the other RW on the team. On the PP Voracek plays a tad more than Jagr, Simmonds same as Jagr and Read 40 seconds less- per game. Moving Jagr to the second line is not going to change any of that. The biggest question mark is can Jagr elevate his training to be able to withstand the rigors of an 82 game schedule. The ice time to me is a non-issue and I have no problem with him playing with Giroux and Hartnell as that was the best line in hockey for 1/2 the season. The bigger question for me is how much longer does Briere get top 1 / 2 center minutes and when do you try and distribute more to Schenn or Couturier (either one of which who I think would be much more effective with Voracek).

I don't get this at all. JVR does not play RW. Is already on the books and the Flyers have 9M in cap space (not including Prongers LTIR relief). How does signing Jagr spell anything for JVR??

How can there be any trade talks at all? It is against NHL policy. More importantly, how can JVR's agent block ANY trade- speculative or not? JVR's no trade clause does not kick in until 4 years from now (2016-2017). JVR's agent has ZERO say in any trade the Flyers want to do with JVR. Just like Carters agent and Richards agent had zero say when they were being shipped out. Sounds like complete Rubbish to me!

Considering that no trades can be conducted until the conclustion of the SCF, I find the rumor perplexing as it would be against the NHL bylaws for ANY teams to discuss trades, potential trades etc.

Well said, and that is a good point.

Good points. While I think Jagr has turned a new leaf, I don't think it is a 2M dollar a year new leaf. At that price, he will go play with Datsyuk.

Truthfully, I would have no qualms with Bernier either. However, I don't think LA will let him go anywhere. Quick is going to be a UFA after next year. After he wins the Cup, Conne Smythe and Vezina this year, it is going to take a BOATLOAD of cash to sign him after next year. Bernier is 23 and a RFA after next year. As a side note, LA's total goalie cap hit is 3M.