Pardon My Bias Week 14 Picks
Dallas, Texas was the center of the baseball universe over the last 3 days. The Marlins stole the show, the Yankees were conspicuously absent, the Angels swooped in on Pujols and the flurry of activity instigated a twitter tsunami. Through it all, some teams came out of the storm renewed and revolutionized and some teams came out looking disoriented and foolish.
Angels
Arty Moreno deserves a lot of credit for being willing to shell out over a quarter of a billion dollars for one of the best players in baseball. In a 3 hour span Thursday morning, the Angels signed the best hitter on the market to a 10 year $254 million deal and the best pitcher on the market (C.J. Wilson) to a 5 year $77.5 million deal. By coupling the position player-pitcher duo of Pujols and Wilson with Jered Weaver and Mike Trout, both of whom are younger than their counterparts, the Angels have a quartet of current/future stars that will carry them for the next 5 years. As far as the contracts themselves go, Wilson’s deal carries less risk because he is younger than Pujols and his deal is shorter. The Pujols contract will almost certainly come back like a vicious boomerang to hamstring the Angels 5-7 years from now because Pujols will be in his decline years while still being paid like he’s 26. But that’s the price you pay when you dabble in the free agent market and I’m sure no one will complain about years 7-10 of the contract if the first few years bring along a few parades and ring ceremonies with them. By signing Pujols, they effectively stuck it to their cross-town rival Dodgers and by signing Wilson they took away the best pitcher that the Rangers, their division rival, had. In 3 hours, they went from “in contention” to “favorite” and that’s all that matters for now.
Marlins
Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria always said that he wanted to emulate the late George Steinbrenner. Well, he’s off to a good start. The Marlins struck early by giving SS Jose Reyes a 6 year $106 million deal that is heavily backloaded to pay Reyes more in the final years of his deal. They also signed closer Heath Bell to a 3 year $36 million deal before the meetings and the deal was also rumored to be heavily backloaded At the time, I thought that this allows the Marlins to accrue some revenue from their new stadium for a few years before they really open up their checkbook. Well, they did wait a while before they did that–about 12 hours. The next day, they re-united their new manager Ozzie Guillen with his old workhorse in Chicago, Mark Beuhrle (4 years, $58 million). They were even considered the front-runners to land Pujols and Wilson before they chose the Angels. The problem that the Marlins face now is that, while they have shed their label of “small-market team”, they now are thoroughly entrenched in baseball’s middle-ground along with teams like the Cubs and Dodgers. All of these teams have spent enough money in the free agent market to secure a few prize names, but the overall talent on their rosters falls short of championship caliber. Without a few breakout seasons from players like Logan Morrison, Anibal Sanchez and others, the Marlins are looking at a ceiling of a 2nd or 3rd place finish in their own division.
Mets
They basically cornered the above-average right-handed relief pitcher market in 24 hours by signing Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco and trading for Ramon Ramirez. The loss of Jose Reyes and the mid-season trade of Carlos Beltran leaves this team in full rebuilding mode and their situation will bear close watching throughout the season because David Wright, their star third baseman, could also be made available. The Mets doomed themselves into mediocrity when they signed Johan Santana and Beltran, but both were hobbled by injuries during most of their tenures with the team. Now, the Mets are hanging onto Santana and hoping that he will be healthy enough to have some midseason trade value and they already shipped Beltran out of town. The next step for this franchise should be to start putting the little pieces of their roster together in order to rebuild organizational depth. Trading Wright won’t be a popular move, but by the time the Mets reshape themselves into contention again, Wright will most likely be gone anyways. Until prospects like Zach Wheeler, Jenrry Mejia and Brandon Nimmo develop, Mets fans have a lot of cellar-dwelling to look forward to.
Cardinals
If you had to point out a team that was a “loser” during the meetings, the Cardinals are the clear choice. They lost a once-in-a-generation player. Their fans have to cut the emotional attachment they had to Pujols and watch him set batting records with the Angels. However, it could be argued that the Cardinals are actually better off in the long term without having Pujols’ contract on the books. The bad news in the short-term is that their roster, as constructed, is not good enough to overcome the loss of a middle-of-the-order bat. Adam Wainwright now becomes their best player, but after that the roster is sprinkled with names like John Jay, Yadier Molina, Matt Holliday, Chris Carpenter and Jason Motte–players in the middle/latter stages of their career who simply are not elite. Mike Matheny, newly hired and minty fresh, will have quite a job on his hands trying to move on without Fat Albert.
Prince Fielder
Fielder is younger than Albert Pujols and has comparable offensive statistics and capabilities. He’s also huge (no, really, do a Google Image search) and figures to have to move to DH later on in his career. That being said, being the Scott Boras client he is, Fielder will get a 5-7 year contract at $20 million per from somebody. Now, who could that somebody be? He could always land back in Milwaukee, but the Cubs and Marlins also have shown interest. The best bet right now is that the Cubs stepping up with a strong offer, but, with Boras, he always stirs up interest where there shouldn’t be any at all.
In the end, the winter meetings was every bit the Twitter-fueling fiasco that MLB wanted it to be and it garnered interest from even the casual fan because of the big names involved. People in Los Angeles of Anaheim Next to Disneyland (yes, jokes about the name are getting old, but there’s no statute of limitations) are elated. People in St. Louis are gutted. In March, when opening day rolls around, it won’t matter where you are from or what your team did during the winter meetings, because baseball is baseball and you’re going to watch. Even if your team is the Mets.
With the NBA season finally back, let the rumors and trade talk commence! In the past week, we’ve heard that Chris Paul would like to go to New York, to form a Big 3 up there with Amare and Melo. So I asked, what if he does go to New York…which Big 3 would you take? New York or Miami? The PMB staff weighed in:
Avi Shah: I would have to take the New York Big 3 because that would give them all the pieces needed to be an unstoppable team. They would have a primary ball-handler, a go to scorer, and a big man to wrap it up with a big bow. A big problem with Miami last season was their inability to have a primary ball handler. The fact that Amare’s stats fell a little after Melo came to New York is a bit alarming, but I think the season took the toll on Amare. Also, looking at the Miami Big 3, one player’s stats will always be compromised every night. I think the big difference is Amare. Chris Bosh just doesn’t have the strength and will to control the post. In the playoffs, you have to have a force in the post. I also think Mike D’Antoni could run wild having a point guard like Chris Paul, we all saw what he did with Steve Nash in Phoenix. I would also take Melo in the clutch any day over Lebron, but Wade surpasses both of them. The problem is, Lebron likes to try to take over the end of games and doesn’t give Wade the opportunity. If Paul is actually traded to New York, we could have our Eastern Conference Finals matchup for the next 5 years.Anand Patel: This is a very tough question but I think I have to go with the Miami Heat Big 3. First of all, they have had more time to gel, so that is definitely one huge plus. Miami obviously have two of the top 5 players in the league in LeBron James and Dwayne Wade but their biggest issue will be learning to blend together and figuring out who gets the ball late in the game. James was terrible in the NBA Finals but without him, the Heat probably wouldn’t have even reached the Finals. So yeah, LeBron’s clutch gene is a little suspect but I do think he will be able to overcome it. James and Wade are also able to get 30 points any given night and both play incredible defense. Chris Bosh is a much more valuable than most people think. Although he can sometimes be kind of streaky, he had a pretty solid playoffs and really began to show some growth as the year went on. If we look at the Knicks and their potential Big 3, it all comes down to Amar’e in my opinion. Chris Paul is a great quarterback, and although he’s not the perfect shooter, he can raise the game of his teammates. Carmelo Anthony defines clutch. He is a pure scorer and although his defense is not at the level of LeBron and Wade, he has definitely made a huge improvement on that side of the court. Now we get to Amar’e Stoudemire. I have never really been impressed with his game but somehow he is able to continually put up big numbers. I feel like he only has a few moves offensively and his defense is garbage. This mixed with the fact that I have more faith in Erik Spoelstra/Pat Riley than I do in Mike D’Antoni, makes me choose Miami in this Big 3 battle. It may end up coming down to the pieces that are placed around each team’s Big 3.
Amish Doshi: I don’t think this is going to happen during the season. I think Paul will walk (if the Hornets can’t trade him) at the end of the year and make up what he loses in endorsement money in NY. I think the Knicks have a better big 3 because LeBron James and Dwayne Wade still haven’t learned completely how to play together at one time. CP3 is a natural fit for the Knicks because he is one of the few of a dying breed of pure point guards left in the NBA meaning he is looking to distribute first and will score as a last resort. A lot of people have forgotten about how good Chris Paul is due to infatuations with score first point guards such as Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams as well as Rondo (another one of the few pure point guards). Paul will easily find Melo and Amare in their best spots on the floor and will adjust the Knicks pace of the game because he is a coach on the floor. He has made lower level players look like All Stars in the past such as Tyson Chandler and David West. He has no real glaring weaknesses whatsoever. The Heat meanwhile have major weaknesses such as determining who their crunch time scorer is and whether either Wade or James can really play off the ball which doesn’t just mean stand and spot up for shots. It means coming off screens, making cuts to the rim, adjusting to zone defenses…all of that. One of those two players has to learn how to play that way otherwise it will just be a carousel of constant undefined roles IMO. Granted they made the finals doing this last year without a real great half court offense but that is not sustainable for winning championship. Games slow down inevitably. Chris Paul is a more perfect match and thus makes the Knicks the team with the better “Big 3”.
Ryan Dunn: While the New York Knicks don’t have Chris Paul yet, obtaining Paul obviously gives them one of the top guards in the league. Is it enough to give them a three as good as the Heat’s three of Lebron, Bosh, and Wade? It’s tough to make a decision seeing as Paul hasn’t played a game with the Knicks at all. He is an assist machine, a top flight shooter in all regards, and is tough defensively with his speed and hands. So you have to figure that having Paul makes Carmelo Anthony’s and Amar’e Stoudemire’s production in every category jump pretty significantly. Still, you put even hypothesized numbers against the Heat, and I actually feel it’s not enough. The Heat are beasts on the glass, are phenomenal shooters, and are the most athletic trio defensively when it comes to NBA superstar trios (maybe the league should shift to just three-on-three play). Statistically speaking, I’d have to take Miami even if Paul made Stoudemire and Anthony even better. Personally however, I would want New York’s potential group just for likability barring of course an over the top and arrogance plagued press conference.
Zayd Sharif: First, looking at Bosh vs. Amare I would easily take Amare since he is a better player but both don’t fully satisfy that down low player need a team needs. James vs. Melo is a pretty close one and I’ve always liked Melo and little more. LeBron seems to have this tendency to fade late once in a while…Melo is great in the clutch. Finally between Wade and CP3, it’s a straight wash for me. Now putting them together I’ll take the Knicks. Wade and LeBron are almost too similar in what they offer to I’d rather CP handle the ball, Melo be that wing and I guess that leaves Amare down low. So ya, the Knicks, if this happens.
Gautam Shah: The value of a point guard cannot be undermined. Chris Paul is a special player who makes a star out of average players and gets his teammates the ball, putting them in opportunities to score. He has never played with a bonafide scorer like Carmelo Anthony and I think that in itself would be very exciting. Pair that with a freak athlete with quickness in the post who has developed the ability to hit a Bosh-range jumper? I’ll be riding that bandwagon all day long. We saw that last year both Wade and James needed the ball to be successful, and James’ timidness and willingness to overpass in the Finals caused confusion amongst the teammates as nobody knew what their role on the team was. Paul will get the ball in the 4th quarter and run a proper offense to get to two scorers who can beat their men one-on-one. Paul’s ability to drive, hit the three paired with incredible court-vision and leadership upgrades every position on the Knicks on offense. Let’s move over to the defensive side of the ball. Bosh and Amare are both average defenders, nothing special here. Wade is a terrific defender and James’ athleticism makes him the best off ball defender in the NBA (Ytube Lebron James Blocks).
Jaymin Patel: If you had asked me this question last year, I probably would have said I would take Wade, Lebron and Bosh in a landslide. However, we’ve seen that the Heat have problems executing on the offensive side of the ball because they can’t seem to figure out who should be the primary ball handler. If you take a look at the proposed Big 3 in New York, they will have no problems on offense. CP3 will handle the ball, Carmelo will take over in the fourth quarter and Stoudemire has a diverse enough offensive game to feed off of the activity of both of those players. The problems they will encounter, in contrast to the Heat, will be on the defensive side of the ball because Anthony and Stoudemire are not quite known for their defensive prowess. That being said, I believe that you can build a better roster around the hypothetical Big 3 in NY because, in the NBA, you can find good defensive talent on the cheap much easier than good offensive talent. It’s close, but I’d take the Knicks.
1 – Pittsburgh Penguins (16-7-4) Last week: 1
Crosby suffers the taste of defeat for the first time in nearly a year. And what? No goals? Only three points last week? Trade him. Should be a slugfest between Boston and the Pens, yet for some reason VS doesn’t have this one game televised. Odd, seeing how every other Penguins’ game is.
Not quite numero uno yet, but the Red Wings are on their way. Photo courtesy of nhl.com
2 – Detroit Red Wings (16-8-1) Last week: 3
They finally lost by, guess how, not starting Jimmy Howard. Games off are for the weak. 15-5-1 for Howard, and Conklin is now 1-3-0. Might need a new backup in Motown.
3 – Chicago Blackhawks (16-8-3) Last week: 2
Kind of a rough week for Chicago, especially for Corey Crawford. Barely got the win against Long Island, but when a rough week consists of going 2-1, you’re doing alright.
4 – New York Rangers (15-5-3) Last week: 7
Over a month since the Rangers lost at home and they are riding a five game winning streak on top of that. Just think if they had some left wings.
5 – Boston Bruins (16-7-1) Last week: 8
Keeping up the strong play by restating to Toronto that, “No. It is not your time quite yet.” Almost a perfect month, except for a shootout loss to Detroit. Being tops five-on-five can do that for you.
6 – Philadelphia Flyers (15-7-3) Last week: 4
I would typically say rallying from three down to win is impressive. But it was against the Ducks so it’s routine. Bryzgalov has to be happy with that win over Phoenix and his team chasing Mike Smith also.
7 – Minnesota Wild (17-7-3) Last week: 12
First place over a fourth of the way through the year. Who saw that coming? Funny what trap hockey and good goaltending can do for you.
8 – Vancouver Canucks (15-10-1) Last week: 10
The Canucks had quite second half of the month, going 5-0. Then Luongo AND Schneider blew it. And against Nashville’s offense of all things.
9 – San Jose Sharks (14-8-1) Last week: 5
With a week to turn things around following a tough loss to Vancouver, the Sharks should just be happy they snuck away with one win against the floundering Canadians.
10 – Toronto Maple Leafs (14-10-2) Last week: 6
After turning their slump around, the Leafs fall right back into one as Boston mops them twice, outscoring them with a total of 10-4.
11 – Dallas Stars (15-10-1) Last week: 11
Andrew Raycroft was actually playing well until he ran into the force known as Matt Moulson. The Stars are starting to look a bit vulnerable as the injury bug gets around.
12 – Buffalo Sabres (14-11-1) Last week: 9
Buffalo is becoming a haven for underachievers. Who do they think they are? Montreal?
13 – St. Louis Blues (14-9-3) Last week: 14
If the opposing team gets three or more goals the Blues are in big trouble. Seven out of their last eight they only scored two goals, but they still went 4-2-2.
14 – Washington Capitals (13-11-1) Last week: 13
There was a time when the Caps had one of the most exciting and dynamic offenses in the NHL. Now they score one goal per game, and only win after sneaking by Ottawa in overtime.
15 – Los Angeles Kings (13-9-4) Last week: 20
Tied for the second worst goal per game in the league, and they just lost their leading goal scorer Mike Richards. More pressure on Jonathan Quick.
16 – Florida Panthers (14-8-4) Last week: 16
Following a 2-1 loss to L.A., the Panthers’ coach Kevin Dineen said that the Kings played dirty, and his team didn’t get any calls to go their way. Except the eight penalties against L.A. compared to Florida’s four, while Sean Bergenheim concussed a guy and then turtled the rest of the game.
17 – Edmonton Oilers (13-11-3) Last week: 15
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins looks like superstar center already. Except that he can’t win a faceoff to save his life.
18 – Nashville Predators (12-10-4) Last week: 17
After a five game span of scoring no more than two goals a game, the Predators come back after blowing a 3-1 lead in Vancouver to win 6-5. Then they revert back to the way things were and lose 3-2.
19 – Phoenix Coyotes (13-9-3) Last week: 18
The return to Winnipeg resulted in a 1-0 loss to the new Jets. Dave Tippet tortures the crowd with a slow trap game per usual.
20 – Colorado Avalanche (13-13-1) Last week: 22
There was a discussion of who was the top center with Colorado between Matt Duchene and Paul Stastny. Try neither. Ryan O’Reilly leads his team in points and helped down Detroit for the first time in a long time.
21 – Tampa Bay Lightning (11-12-2) Last week: 19
If I was Tampa I’d be thinking of just sending Steve Downie to the AHL until he gets his miserable act together. Maybe do the same to Roloson also.
22 – Ottawa Senators (12-11-3) Last week: 23
Erik Karlsson leads the league amongst defensemen in scoring. It’s even more incredible given how he essentially only has one line of forwards to help.
23 – Winnipeg Jets (11-11-4) Last week: 25
Evander Kane is slowly becoming quite the overlooked star seeing how he is doing the majority of the goal scoring up in Winnipeg.
24 – New Jersey Devils (12-12-1) Last week: 21
Four game skid for New Jersey, and Martin Brodeur got roughed up plenty. Tough loss to the Jets also doesn’t inspire confidence.
25 – Calgary Flames (11-13-2) Last week: 26
Points in their last four games for the Flames until they got dismantled by Vancouver. No thanks to Jarome Iginla. Henrick Karlsson goes on IR, so someone else will have to keep the bench warm for Kiper.
26 – Montreal Canadians (11-11-5) Last week: 24
You know, if it wasn’t for Carey Price the Canadians would be truly awful. Too bad Price is rather inconsistent lately.
27 – New York Islanders (8-11-5) Last week: 29
3-0-1 for the Islanders their past few. Helps when Matt Moulson is scoring at a Gretzky like rate, including four goals in one game.
28 – Carolina Hurricanes (8-16-4) Last week: 27
Carolina is becoming the whipping boy for the other whipping boys with losses to Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Montreal. Staal’s +/- gets even worse (-17).
29 – Columbus Blue Jackets (7-16-3) Last week: 28
After the horrible eight game losing streak to start the season the Jackets have gone 7-11, which isn’t that good either.
30 – Anaheim Ducks (7-14-5) Last week: 30
Bruce Boudreau may have wanted to pass up that job offer. Ducks blow leads in two straight games under Boudreau. Not how you want to start a new job.
Around this time last week I was thinking of doing a feature on the Duck’s and their problems they have had a quarter of the way into the season. I decided against it because it was Thanksgiving and I didn’t want to have a blog post receive a negative view count. So of course this week the Ducks are rumored to be shopping Bobby Ryan around AND they just fired their head coach Randy Carlyle and replaced him with a recently fired Bruce Boudreau. In terms of appearance, it’s about a wash, as both are large pasty loudmouthed fiery (no pun intended) coaches.
The team itself has been a royal cluster cuss since about game six of the season. After starting 4-1, including a tough Eurotrip slog to start the season, the Ducks have been awful. In fact, up until last night’s win over Montreal, the Ducks have been 2-12-4. Maybe awful wasn’t the right word for it. And the Ducks aren’t likely to improve this season, nor next season the rate they are going.
Randy Carlyle, who a few weeks ago had management’s trust for being the performer of last year’s miracle of somehow getting the Ducks to the playoffs, apparently lost that faith from Judas Duck’s management resulting in the ax. Boudreau should be a breath of fresh and doughy air, though the Ducks’ issues go far deeper than having tuned out a coach.
Their offensive depth is terrifyingly thin. If it wasn’t for Teemu Selanne returning for yet another go around the Ducks bottom six would be more of a bottom nine where their combined goals could wind up being at most ten. The team has always been in search of more defense also and in the long run that has been partly responsible for their downfall. Scott Niedermayer retired, and the Ducks traded Chris Pronger for Joffrey Lupul, resulting in their first problems. Francois Beauchemin left via free agency. All of sudden the feared defense of the Ducks of 2007 notority was rather thin.
This led to the issues of the offense becoming thinner as well. In a search for defense the Ducks traded Chris Kunitz for Ryan Whitney, who was then dealt for Lubomir Visnovsky. Then of course Lupul was traded (again) to bring back Beauchemin and the Ducks still had no shutdown defensemen, and their offense had lost two big scorers. All the while the Ducks did nothing to fix their offensive depth as more and more players left via free agency or retired (like Sami Pahlsson, Todd Marchant, Andy McDonald).
I think I am due to catch some flak for even just suggesting to trade Getzlaf (right) and Ryan. Photo courtesy of thehockeynews.com
Now the Ducks offense solely relies upon Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf, and Corey Perry. Oh, and the ageless wonder Selanne. The rest of the forwards are kids who should probably still be playing juniors instead. Right now, the Ducks need quantity and not just quality. Having a few more decent scorers, some youth with actual upside and a shutdown defensemen are the most pressing need. This is even if Boudreau can right whatever is wrong with the anemic offense and spotty goaltending.
If I were the Ducks I wouldn’t just stop at looking to trade Ryan. Ryan Getzlaf, the Ducks’ captain, has been underperforming and has a lovely minus eleven. Goaltender Jonas Hiller is struggling, as mentioned, and at 29 he isn’t getting any younger. So here is what I am throwing out…
Trade Bobby Ryan to the Rangers
As much as I’m sure Florida would love to get their hands on an actual scorer they just don’t have the pieces to give up. The Rangers however do. It is the old motto of you have to give to get, and getting a perennial thirty goal scorer isn’t cheap. The Ducks could likely pull down a decent haul of a forward or two, and one of the Rangers young defensemen. The Ducks need a shutdown guy, and have enough puck movers so Michael Del Zotto is out. Michael Sauer however is intriguing. It is understandable the Rangers don’t want to give up Sauer, but how often does a player like Ryan become available and only at age 24? And while the Rangers would also love to dump Wojtek Wolski on the Ducks, he’s hurt and the Ducks probably would walk away right then and there. The likely guy would be Brandon Dubinsky, which is really too bad for the Rangers, as the guy loves New York and is a blue collar type of player. Artem Anisimov may be the only other feasible option of what the Ducks want and who the Rangers are willing to give up (aka, not Derek Steppan). The cap hit of Ryan though may be too problematic, though a possible work around would be including Carl Hagelin as well as Anisimov. Mainly, the focus part of the deal would be with Michael Sauer. With that I’d say the Ducks would do the deal if it was with Dubinsky and a first round pick or Anisimov, Hagelin, and a second rounder.
Trade Ryan Getzlaf to Toronto
Brian Burke would go absolutely bonkers if he could get a bonafide top flight center that he drafted. Ryan Getzlaf is everything that Burke wants besides all that that also: Big guy, strong leader, two-way player, and a setup machine with scoring prowess of his own. Now that I think about it, I think most teams would want that, and not just Burke. The thing being of course is that the Leafs have the depth to make a deal, and Burke could probably be swayed to throw in more chips if the Ducks leverage things right. Seeing how many teams would jump at the chance to get Getzlaf, that shouldn’t be difficult. The Ducks would certainly require a center from Toronto, and with the sudden glut of centers Burke would more than likely comply. Either Nazem Kadri or Joe Colborne would fit the bill, and the Ducks could also snag a stay at home defensemen, one that Burke would probably love to get off his books. That being Mike Komisarek (lot of defensemen named Mike) who also resolves any cap issues with the trade. The Ducks would likely require another forward, and there are three that come to mind. Ideally the Ducks would be able to trade for Nikolai Kulemin, but if Burke is so infatuated with him Anaheim may try and shoot for Tyler Bozak. Matt Frattin is the third possibility, but if the Ducks can only swing that, they must have gotten destroyed in whatever leverage they tried to pull. My money would be on Kulemin, as he is also set to be a RFA this summer. And hey, you can always trade Kurtis Foster or Sheldon Brookbank to sweeten the deal.
Hiller still has plenty of upside, and the Ducks should use this for their advantage before he slips further. Photo courtesy of mouthnews.com
Trade Jonas Hiller to Tampa Bay
Hiller just isn’t getting the job done anymore in Anaheim. A large part of that may be due to his defense being completely porous in front of him. But when you clean house, you clean house, and a 4.5 million cap hit for a 29 year old struggling goalie just is not good enough. However, it is good enough for Tampa Bay who direly needs a goalie, and unless Vancouver deals out Roberto Luongo, this may be the Lightning’s best shot at one. While Hiller couldn’t fetch the asking price of Ryan or Getzlaf likely, the Ducks could still likely squeeze not only Dwayne Roloson (simply so they have another goalie who also comes off the books at the end of the year, and Tampa gets him off their salary as well) but possibly either another forward or defensemen. Since Tampa isn’t really stockpiled with defensemen and seem unwilling to part with Victor Hedman, Anaheim could look for a forward. Brett Connolly comes to mind and maybe even Adam Hall to go along with him. The fact Dan Ellis was also playing better than Hiller means the Ducks also don’t lose too much in terms of their own goaltending. Again, Foster or Brookbank could be the last incentive to get a deal done.
A Real Stretch
Ok, this last one I will admit is a total stretch, but it doesn’t hurt to hypothesize. The Ducks depth up front would be improved, their defense has some actual defense, but now they need some goaltending help. Just something I am throwing out there would be reaching out to Minnesota. They have two very solid goaltenders, and likely won’t be able to keep both next season when Josh Harding is set for a raise as a free agent and Niklas Backstrom already earns six million to 2013. Minnesota could also use a tad more offense. While again I cannot express how much I think this is a stretch to go along with the fact this entire post is speculation, is it out of the realm of possibility that the Wild would want Saku Koivu to play with his brother Mikko? It’s also one of the few teams Saku would be willing to waive his no movement clause for. Clearly the Ducks could throw in one of their numerous puck moving defensemen (Beauchemin would be the ideal guy but with a no trade clause it could mean Luca Sbisa) as Minnesota could really use one, but if they also added Dan Ellis to act as backup could the Ducks possibly pry away either Backstrom or Harding? Harding is the far more likely candidate and I would say more ideal option for the Ducks, and all that for what is currently a backup goalie? Seems doable (at least to me) and add in a depth forward from Minnesota, perhaps Darrel Powe, and it seems like a win-win.
Carlyle had a good run, but the Ducks needed someone to go. He went first. Photo courtesy of sportsillustrated.cnn.com
The End Product
The Ducks have more depth up front, something they need drastically, and improve their defensive ability. The goaltending would be a hell of a switch, but right now doing anything you can to make your team better seems ideal rather than being 3-16. Most importantly, it gives the Ducks time to rebuild their farm and actually develop their kids instead of just throwing them into the fire. Which leaves us with:
Nikolai Kulemin/Tyler Bozak – Brandon Dubinsky – Corey Perry
Jason Blake – Joe Colborne/Nazem Kadri – Teemu Selanne
Niklas Hagman – Andrew Cogliano – Brett Connolly
Brandon McMillan – Darroll Powe – Adam Hall
Matt Beleskey & George Parros
DEFENSEMEN
Lubomir Visnovsky – Mike Komisarek
Cam Fowler – Mike Sauer
Toni Lydman – Luca Sbisa/Francois Beauchemin
Kyle Cumiskey
GOALTENDERS
Josh Harding & Dwayne Roloson
This should wind up leaving the Ducks with about nine million in cap space also for the time being. This also gives them plenty of room to extend new contracts and maybe even go after a player or two (or three) in free agency when more contracts wind up.
Or I’m just full of crap and have no idea what I’m talking about. Most likely it’s that.
