The Official 2011/2012 Armchair GM thread

[Tigger]

So Vigneault has confirmed Luongo has asked for a trade...

... and reports today read Tampa isn't really interested.

Didn't see that but I've heard that Florida won't be interested either.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2012/05/24/tampa_bay_lightning_yzerman_not_interested_in_luongo/

Some interesting words from Yzerman there.

"My philosophy is I'm trying to find that Hall of Fame goaltender," Yzerman told 620 WDAE. "But good luck trying to do that, it takes time. We'll find that guy through the draft or unrestricted free agency -- guy isn't there at this time."

I guess Steve realizes that not too many teams are willing to trade their Hall of Fame goalie.

Patience is a virtue. I have my doubts this market has much of that virtue left after what they've been through since the lockout. But I still do.

Tampa has some money problems, setting the tone for expectations is a smart move on his part too.

 

[Tigger]

Welcome to TO Lou.

Good bye Komisarek....right??

I've read rumblings about an 'NBA style' amnesty being a possibility in the NHL negotiations. I doubt Vancouver takes Komisarek back, even if Luongo wants to come to T.O., but maybe the Leafs get a little lucky with the CBA.

 

[Britishbulldog]

Welcome to TO Lou.

Good bye Komisarek....right??

I've read rumblings about an 'NBA style' amnesty being a possibility in the NHL negotiations. I doubt Vancouver takes Komisarek back, even if Luongo wants to come to T.O., but maybe the Leafs get a little lucky with the CBA.

Talking about CBA things that could benefit TO...I am hoping that when guaranteed contracts are challenged that the compromise is that contracts can be bought out without any penalty towards the cap.

That way the Leafs could trade for a bad contract from a small market team, get a good player thrown in and payoff the bad contract.

In regards to today though....Salo is probably done in Vancouver as a UFA and is also a RH dman.  At $3.5 MIL cost, Komisarek is not as bad of a contract as the $6.0 MIL cost the Leafs paid him last year. 

Those savings added to the $6.714 MIL Loungo is paid every year for a while and I could see those being 2 of the main contracts (not main 'pieces' necessarily) in a deal.  I can't see the trade happening cap-wise without 1 or 2 of Komisarek, Connolly and Armstrong going to Vancouver.

What I would like to know is what Burke is doing next year for the roster.  Is he going to let the older players finish the last year of their contracts and leave the youngsters in the AHL to develop even better chemistry together and dominate .....or is he going to clear out the expensive contracts and let the young players join the Leafs?

 

[Tigger]

Guaranteed contracts are going to be a pretty big issue for the NHLPA, not sure what to make of that at all aside from a really, really hard stance.

I'm also not sure what to make of a trade for Luongo, what Vancouver will want etc., I just can't see them taking Komisarek... maybe Lombardi? Doubt it would include Armstrong and they probably don't have much use for Connolly with their roster either. Still, if that were to happen ( Luongo for whatever and Lombardi ) and the Leafs get lucky with Komisarek in a free buyout that's a positive cap result with Luongo in net. I'm not super amped about that result but it would be an improvement in the short term.

To your last point I think Burke will probably end up with an a la carte result, clearing a couple contracts and bringing up at least Frattin.

 

[maplesyrup]

McKenzie saying the writing may beon the wall for the Ducks and Shultz... they may need to think about trading his rights. He believes next to Parise and Suter, Shultz might be the most sought after FA. So, with that said, just what exactly are his rights worth? 

 

[Tigger]

Not a whole lot to me, you'd have to have a sense of whether he'd sign to judge and that's hard to know outside of the loop.

 

[maplesyrup]

Assuming all permissions granted and knowledge that he'd sign, of course.

 

[Kin]

I think I've changed my mind about Luongo. Apologies if the point has been made, but his value has to be just about nothing, right? I mean, if he were available for free this summer as a UFA but his price was 9 years/48 million I'd pass. So if he's someone I wouldn't sign and give up no assets for...well, it means I wouldn't trade anything for him. The trade would have to add assets to be worthwhile.

 

[Kin]

Assuming all permissions granted and knowledge that he's sign, of course.

That'd depend on who else might be granted the same permission and receive similar assurances. If there's lots of competition his value will be high. If not, he's not worth much.

 

[maplesyrup]

I'd think if were known his rights for sale, there would be quite a bit of interest. 

 

[maplesyrup]

Wow, some high praise from Button;

Craig Button ‏@CraigJButton
@TSNBobMcKenzie. To add a little On Justin Schultz. NHL ready & a player I feel could be like Drew Doughty. Dynamic & controls game.
Retweeted by Bob McKenzie

 

[Tigger]

Assuming all permissions granted and knowledge that he's sign, of course.

Yeah, still not a lot to me, Ehrhoff went for a 4th for example.

 

[Tigger]

Wow, some high praise from Button;

Craig Button ‏@CraigJButton
@TSNBobMcKenzie. To add a little On Justin Schultz. NHL ready & a player I feel could be like Drew Doughty. Dynamic & controls game.
Retweeted by Bob McKenzie

Fwiw I take anything Button says with a salt lick.

 

[Kin]

I'd think if were known his rights for sale, there would be quite a bit of interest.

Sure but it's still a question of Schultz' willingness to sign with other teams. If he's got a long list you'd want to jump the line. If he's set on Toronto, might as well wait it out..

 

[maplesyrup]

Wow, some high praise from Button;

Craig Button ‏@CraigJButton
@TSNBobMcKenzie. To add a little On Justin Schultz. NHL ready & a player I feel could be like Drew Doughty. Dynamic & controls game.
Retweeted by Bob McKenzie

Fwiw I take anything Button says with a salt lick.

Carlton was good enough to introduce me to the works of Corey Pronman yesterday and I read some stuff he did on Button's draft history. While Button missed on a bunch of his first round picks, if you take a deeper look, he was really quite good in later rounds.   

 

[Tigger]

Wow, some high praise from Button;

Craig Button ‏@CraigJButton
@TSNBobMcKenzie. To add a little On Justin Schultz. NHL ready & a player I feel could be like Drew Doughty. Dynamic & controls game.
Retweeted by Bob McKenzie

Fwiw I take anything Button says with a salt lick.

Carlton was good enough to introduce me to the works of Corey Pronman yesterday and I read some stuff he did on Button's draft history. While button missed on a bunch of his first round picks, if you take a deeper look, he was really quite good in later rounds. 

That's fine and probably fair but my hackles go up every time I read his name. He could very well be right about Schultz, everything I've read about him says as much too so maybe it's just me.

 

[bustaheims]

Carlton was good enough to introduce me to the works of Corey Pronman yesterday and I read some stuff he did on Button's draft history. While Button missed on a bunch of his first round picks, if you take a deeper look, he was really quite good in later rounds. 

As a GM or as a scout? Because, if it's as GM, he had little to nothing to do with those later round choices, and the success there is more of a result of him hiring competent scouts. Missing on the first round picks, however, as a GM, says a lot more, since that's where GMs are really involved in the scouting process.

 

[maplesyrup]

Carlton was good enough to introduce me to the works of Corey Pronman yesterday and I read some stuff he did on Button's draft history. While Button missed on a bunch of his first round picks, if you take a deeper look, he was really quite good in later rounds. 

As a GM or as a scout? Because, if it's as GM, he had little to nothing to do with those later round choices, and the success there is more of a result of him hiring competent scouts. Missing on the first round picks, however, as a GM, says a lot more, since that's where GMs are really involved in the scouting process.

I'd have to go back and look Director of Scouting ... I tried earlier to to find the link and don't feel much like looking again but Pronman sure open my eyes to the fact that Button isn't the incompetent boob folks like to make him out to be.

Edit: A couple of names mentioned;  Lehtinen, Morrow, Langenbrunner... There were many others mentioned.

 

[bustaheims]

Edit: A couple of names mentioned;  Lehtinen, Morrow, Langenbrunner... There were many others mentioned.

Okay, so, like 20 years ago, he wasn't an incompetent boob - or, at least, worked with a group of scouts that weren't incompetent boobs. Today, there's likely a good reason he's a part-time analyst for TSN instead of being employed by an NHL team.

 

[maplesyrup]

Edit: A couple of names mentioned;  Lehtinen, Morrow, Langenbrunner... There were many others mentioned.

Okay, so, like 20 years ago, he wasn't an incompetent boob - or, at least, worked with a group of scouts that weren't incompetent boobs. Today, there's likely a good reason he's a part-time analyst for TSN instead of being employed by an NHL team.

Well sure... but I doubt not being able to recognize talent at the amateur level is the key one. There's also likely a good reason the brain trust at TSN employ him almost entirely for his commentary on amateur scouting too.