It’s not like your offering him 7 over 4 years (which I think is crazy). It’s overpayment but thtats what happens in the Free Agent Market

Do you even take into account that the next CBA should see the cap going DOWN? why would anyone commit to that sort of cash on a 35 year-old-still-capable-but-not-for-long player?

Don’t get me wrong, i think there’s a possibility he might hit the jackpot, in this league anything’s possible(If Wideman can hit the numbers he got, then anything’s possible). But IF he does get the cash he wants, it’ll be from a dumbass GM, i.e. probably Howson. But, even if he did land Richards and pulled off a steal for Nash, let’s not count out O’l Sucker Sather as the possible GM culprit….

To EDM: Sekera, Enroth

To BUF: Gagner, Lander

Personally I think Edmonton wins this deal but Buffalo is in need of a scoring center and doesn’t need Enroth or the extended depth at D.

“there is talk today the Oilers and Sabres are discussing a MAJOR deal. Sources vary quite a bit on what is being discussed, but piecing it together it sounds like a “significant” defenseman going to Edmonton along with a solid prospect (or possibly even Enroth) for “young star top 6 center and a third line young player who many feel has top six potential.”

Based on that this is what I’m thinking the pieces would be. From Buffalo I have to think the defenseman is Myers, although I would assume the package would be higher if that were the case, and Pysyk would be the prospect. As for Edmonton, I don’t think there is anyway they trade RNH, so Gagner would be the centre with Paajarvi likely being that young third liner with top 6 potential.

What do you guys think about a trade like that? Should Edmonton put in more? Myers would fit in perfectly with that young core.

You have to love this pure sand paper players who score gritty goals and do what it takes to win. It wears off on the rest of the bench too.

Ideally he’s that in-your-face kind of player, like a Ryan Carter for New Jersey. Who, even if he’s not scoring, he’s being very effective.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’s the real deal. This guy will get up around $4.5 million/year for about 5 or 6 years in my opinion.

Like someone said above, that’s a lot of money (although they said that for 7.5 million but semantics).

But I can live with that. The guy still has game left. Yes he’s only been a 20 goal, 50 point guy but he’s done that on Phoenix. Place him on a team with a good offensive system and it’s not out of the question he could hit 30 goals again. Even him putting up 60 point is a fairly decent bet.

But you’re not paying for that. You’re paying for his leadership. How often does a leader of this calibre become available? Not often and when they do, it happens to be on the trade market and you have to pay a pretty premium for the guy.

Yeah it’s overpayment but in the grand scheme of things, he could be the final piece to a team and that would be worth it. This would be similar to the Campbell signing in Chicago. Overpayment yes but a veteran presence that can be measured in just cash.

My issue is with term though. 4 years is a long time for a guy that is 35 now. I find it hard to believe a team wants to pay a guy 7 million when he’s 38/39. I’d be fine with that for a year, or hell even two. Frig, I’d pay him 10 million for one year. But clearly teams are trying to win him over with a big term, big cash contract. It just might work.

Good on him for setting up a market for himself.