Blockbuster of the week
Sup!
I have nothing to do this afternoon, so I’ve came up with a blockbuster trade, with no other source than my head and nhlnumbers. this trade involves the Ottawa Senators and the Florida Panthers.
Right now, the Sens got 4.35 millions left in cap space, while the Panthers got 2 millions.
The Sens are believed shopping center Mike Fisher, winger Antoine Vermette, winger Chris Neil and goaltender Martin Gerber.
The Panthers, on the other hand, are shopping center Stephen Weiss, wingers Richard Zednik, Radek Dvorak and Ville Peltonen and d-man Jay Bouwmeester.
The needs of the Sens are secondary scoring, a #1 d-man and a #1 goaltender.
The Panthers are looking for a center, secondary scoring and grit.
Here’s what I propose. And I know it’s fantasy, it’s just to make people chat. There’s not enough interesting trade rumours these days (Gaborik, Sundin, Shanahan and company are boring), so I think this could be interesting.
To Florida : Mike Fisher, Antoine Vermette, Chris Neil, Martin Gerber, Brian Lee, Brian Elliot, Jim O’Brien, 1rst round pick 2009 (San Jose), 2nd round pick 2010 (11.76 millions)
To Ottawa : Tomas Vokoun, Stephen Weiss, Jay Bouwmeester, Richard Zednik (15.3 millions)
Anderson is playing better than Vokoun in Florida since the last months of the 07-08 season, and the word is growing that Martin is quietly shopping Vokoun. With Tomas, Sens’ problems in front of the net would be resolved.
Weiss and Fisher is basically a swap, as the 2 players are struggling with their respective teams and a change of scenery could be good for both players. Weiss would fit nicely on the Sens’ 2nd line and Fisher would be a good addition in the tight and defensive system the Panthers are playing.
The Panthers are lacking grit on the bottom lines, (McLean, Campbell, Dvorak, Kreps and Peltonen aren’t exactly what we call gritty players), so Chris Neil could be the solution.
Jacques Martin is eying since a long time Antoine Vermette, that’s public knowledge, so that’s the good time to get him. He would be the key piece in the part of the trade that involved Vokoun.
Martin Gerber and Richard Zednik are nothing more than salary sheds, with Zednik having a little (very little) more value than Gerber.
Finally, Jim O’Brien, Brian Lee and the picks would be traded for Jay Bouwmeester to give the Sens the real #1 they need.
So, let’s resume it by this :
Mike Fisher vs Stephen Weiss (Straight up)
Antoine Vermette and Brian Elliot for Tomas Vokoun
Brian Lee, Jim O’Brien, 1rst round pick, 2nd round pick for Jay BO
Martin Gerber for Richard Zednik (salary sheds)
This would leave Ottawa with the following lineup (and the lines are from my head too) :
Foligno – Weiss – Heatley (natural RW)
Zednik – Spezza – Alfredsson
Ruutu – Kelly – Winchester
Schubert – McCammond – Donovan
Bouwmeester – Kuba
Phillips – Volchenkov
Picard – Smith
Richardson
Vokoun
Auld
cap hit : 55.887 millions, a little less than 1 million in cap space.
cap hit for 09-010 : 45.637 millions for 16 players, with Bouwmeester and Kuba to resign as key pieces (10 millions to resign them…6 to Bouwmeester and 4 to Kuba. Dump Smith if they ask for more). Maybe Zednik if he’s playing well. So they could keep almost the same lineup in 09-010, even with raises to Bouwmeester and Kuba. And that’s considering the ceiling stays the same for next year (56.7 millions).
Florida’s lineup (considering they dump Peltonen and Dvorak to another team):
Stillman – Vermette – Horton
Booth – Fisher – Frolik
Olesz – McLean – Neil
Campbell – Kreps – Stewart
Belak
Ballard – Allen
Boynton – McCabe
Lee – Skrastins
Welch
Anderson
Gerber
Elliot
cap hit : 52.778 millions
cap hit for 09-010 : 37.141 millions for 13 players. So 20 millions to sign 7 players. I assume they’ll let go Skrastins, Muphy, Cullimore and Gerber. If they bring Ellerby and Matthias (finally) up, they’ll have plenty of money to sign Booth, Neil, Stewart, Elliot and Anderson to new contracts, and even add a top talent via the UFA market. Let Boynton go, he’ll ask more than he’s worth. I think Booth will get 4 millions, 2.5 for Neil, 1.5 for Stewart, 1 for Elliot and 2.5 for Anderson. That’s 14.5 millions for theses players, leaving 8.5 to sign a UFA, or keep it for next years.
This would leave Florida with the following lineup in 09-010 (considering they dump McLean in the offseason) :
Stillman – Vermette – Horton
Booth – Fisher – Frolik
Olesz – Matthias – Neil
Campbell – Kreps – Stewart
Belak
Ballard – Allen
Ellerby – McCabe
Lee – Boynton
Welch
Anderson
Elliot
This is a team built to win in 2 years (approx), when the youngsters will be mature, and when the 8.5 millions will be spent on a TOP talent (Kovalchuk, Nash, Savard, Jokinen?). Elliot will then be ready to take the reigns, and Jakob Markstrom will be there to support him.
This would leave Ottawa with the following lineup in 09-010 :
Foligno – Weiss – Heatley
? – Spezza – Alfredsson
Ruutu – Kelly – Winchester
Schubert – Bass – Donovan
Bouwmeester – Kuba
Phillips – Volchenkov
Picard – Smith
Vokoun
Auld
That would leave them with little space to sign a top 6 player, and this team is obviously built to win NOW. anyway. enough for today.
I hope you enjoyed this pipe-dream, don’t forget it’s only for fun and to chat with my fellow HTR buddies.