Andrew Shaw: So Shawzy goes back to the Blackhawks, as it was rumoured they wanted him back for a couple of seasons. They're getting the band back together, Brandon Saad, standby for a Marian Hossa unretirement.
What a sideways move that turned out to be. We got Andrew Shaw for $10000, used him for three years, and sold him back to the dealer for $7500 in today dollars. We left the new rubber on the car, but they didn't make us fill up the tank. They said if they find our Wilco CD in the trunk or between the cushions they'll mail it to us.
I've been fantasizing since he joined our team about how great it would look with Samuel Girard and Alex DeBrincat on the roster, and sans Andrew Shaw. Last season, I came around to the fact that he could be a useful player, and now he's gone.
Good damage control by Bergie though. After sloughing away assets for a while there, losing players on waivers, much to my strident, repetitive chagrin, he's been a step ahead mostly. Like, trading away Hayden Hawkey for a 5th to Edmonton, I greedily groused that it could have been more, but now look at us. He's going to go to August and go UFA on the Oilers. Yay us.
And with Andrew Shaw, it's a 'sauver les meubles' trade. We didn't save the house, but had the time to save/retrieve the contents from the fire. The timeliness is admirable too. That's another stack of poker chips for tomorrow.
Nicolas Deslauriers: I would have preferred to keep him, I thought we could probably sneak him through waivers down to Laval in October, but this may be better. A fourth-rounder for him? We traded for him two seasons ago and only gave up Zach Redmond to Buffalo, an AHLer, and we end up with a mid-round pick? Nice work again, Bergie.
The Ducks probably wanted to add a little size and orneriness, with the Blues showing that toughness is still needed. Him and Maxime Comtois should be a Franco One-Two punch down there.
Matt Duchene: I was trying to be open-minded in case we landed him, didn't want to begrudge a(nother) player on our roster, it makes it hard to cheer on the team with Max Domi and Andrew Shaw already in the lineup, but now that it's quasi-official, I'm glad we're not getting Matt Duchene. I thought it would be an overpay, and he wouldn't hit the spot necessarily.
Sure, he's a centre, but he's not big, not known as a hustler or forechecker or any of the things that Claude Julien likes, he's not a rightie. I didn't like that Uber incident, that reflects really poorly on him. I didn't like how the Avalanche didn't skip a beat when he left town, the team actually took off, played better without him. I didn't like how he was called out by Patrick Roy for celebrating his 30th goal too enthusiastically. I didn't like how RDS' Eric Bélanger, a former teammate, is very cool at the notion of adding him to any team, how he's an odd fellow, not a bad guy, but a little off.
If we're going to pay 8 or 9 million to anyone, let it be one of our young guys who's worth it, not Matt Duchene.
Jake Gardiner: We've said all we need to say, I'd be okay paying him $7M X 7 if that's what it takes. I prefer my two-year deal idea, but I thought that was necessary back when I proposed it, before the creation of more capspace with the Andrew Shaw trade/salary dump. I think a 28-year-old getting a seven-year deal is palatable, might turn out to be Jeff Petry-cheap in Year 3 or 4.
I don't know which other teams are in the running, but like I said, playing on the first pair with Shea Weber must be attractive for anybody? And having been in Toronto, I assume he's not afraid of the Montréal market, although it could play the other way, he's seen Anaheim, the palm trees and anonymity. He might be itching to leave Toronto/Canada, slamming the door behind him, vowing "Never again!"
T.J. Brodie (and James Neal): This is Plan B. I'm calling it. He'll be our very affordable (for one more season) leftie first-pairing guy, but in exchange we also have to take on James Neal's anchor of a contract, 4 more seasons at $5.75M. Maybe the Flames can hold on to a mill of that.
So that's it that's all, the defence is fixed, we've added a big guy who can skate and produce on the wing for $10M total? We hope that James Neal can return to form, that last year was a blip on the screen, and he's back to the 20-goal season we expect from him?
Ben Hutton: Plan C. He's really not that good, but better than Joe Morrow or Jakub Jerabek, he's Nathan Beaulieu all over again, a guy who moves the puck well but somehow doesn't pile up the points. Can't break a pane of glass with his shot. Doesn't spend enough time in the gym, he's described as doughy. Travis Green tore a strip off him a few times in the media two seasons ago, he showed up in respectable shape this year. His usage numbers are not reflective of his play: the reason he gets so much icetime is that Alex Edler and Chris Tanev are injured all the time.
Andrej Sekera: Plan D. Really cheap deal, for one year. The Oilers are already paying him with his buyout, we won't need to blow the budget on this guy, but let's see if he has anything left.
Jesse Puljujarvi: Offer-sheet? Somewhere above $2M the compensation goes from a third-round to a second-round pick. The Oilers don't have any room, they're looking to add pieces, maybe they don't fight it, they take the pick and cut their losses? Although, wouldn't Marc Bergevin have already called Ken Holland and asked for an outright trade if that's the piddling return needed?
Anders Lee: No. Too much money.
Mike Smith, Cam Talbot, Keith Kincaid: I don't really care who. Any decent veteran who comes here, we'll cross our fingers that the Stéphane Waite approach works its magic and he turns in a banner year. Heck, he squeezed one more season out of Anti Niemi, when everyone thought he was through, after being waived twice in a season.
Just make sure it's cheap. Nothing over $2M, preferably much less. Carey's still going to, um, carry the ball.
I'd prefer not to lose Charlie Lindgren on waivers, but it looks like we might have to chance it in October.
Alex Galchenyuk: Third team for the kid. I hope he didn't grow too attached to the flip-flops. Pittsburgh could be great for him, he'll be lethal on the powerplay I would guess. Although he'd be another left shot, not ideal.
Anyway, talent was never the problem with our boy, it's between the ears, evidently.
Corey Perry: Non merci. Suivant, next!
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