Unofficial 2013-2014 Armchair GM Thread

[princedpw]

As a note to those wanting to trade for Brad Richards -- unless you get the Rangers to retain some of his salary (or you trade Grabbo for him), you pretty much can't sign anyone else new (and have to buy out Komi + Liles).  Given the way he is playing, it would be insane to take on his contract.  Perhaps even more insane than taking on Luongo's contract.

I tried my hand at sticking Weiss in to lineup.  Of course, you'll say that 5.2 million is a lot for him ... but I'll bet it's at least market price.  Actually, typically, market price is beyond ludicrous.  5.2 million may only be ludicrous.

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CAPGEEK.COM USER GENERATED ROSTER
My Custom Lineup
FORWARDS
James Van Riemsdyk ($4.250m) / Stephen Weiss ($5.200m) / Phil Kessel ($5.400m)
Joffrey Lupul ($5.250m) / Nazem Kadri ($3.000m) / Nikolai Kulemin ($2.800m)
Clarke MacArthur ($3.250m) / Mikhail Grabovski ($5.500m) / Joe Colborne ($1.000m)
Leo Komarov ($1.000m) / Jay McClement ($1.500m) / Matt Frattin ($0.925m)
Colton Orr ($0.700m) / Carter Ashton ($1.040m)
DEFENSEMEN
Dion Phaneuf ($6.500m) / Carl Gunnarsson ($2.500m)
Jake Gardiner ($1.117m) / Cody Franson ($3.000m)
John-Michael Liles ($3.875m) / Mark Fraser ($0.660m)
Korbinian Holzer ($0.788m) /
GOALTENDERS
James Reimer ($1.800m)
Ben Scrivens ($0.613m)
OTHER
Buyout: Darcy Tucker ($1.000m)
Buyout: Colby Armstrong ($1.000m)
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CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,666,667; BONUSES: $500,000
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $1,133,333

 

[L K]

It's the vacant #3 slot that I think most likely to be filled with something useful. I'd like to see Boyd Gordon there.

I might be wrong on this, but I thought Boyd Gordon was an RW?

He takes an awful lot of faceoffs to be a RW.  He's a bottom 6 forward, so much like Jay Mc, would play on the wing at times, he's a center that just moves around because bottom 6 defensive forwards tend to be able to play multiple positions.  He's very strong on the draw AND is a good defensive player who can kill penalties.  To me that would be a pretty big boost, especially if you considered a Clarkson for MacArthur kind of swap because overall Clarke is a better defensive player.

 

[L K]

Don't forget Lupul was trending downwards too before the change of environment.

That's not really true. He wasn't really progressing, but he wasn't really trending downwards either. The big issue with Lupul was his health and the fact that the Ducks didn't think he could play LW effectively, making him an expensive 3rd line winger in their eyes. Also, when the Leafs acquire Lupul, he was 6 years younger than Richards is now.

Fair enough. Either way he was falling out of favour with the Ducks, much like Richards is now with the Rangers. He rediscovered his game with a change of scenery.

Can Richards do the same, at an even older age? I think he can, but the contract is certainly an issue as it stands now.

I guess it depends on your definition of "do the same".  Can Richards play better than he currently is, sure.  I don't see why that isn't possible.  He was never a bruising forward or even a guy who relied entirely on speed to make plays.  I always viewed him as a guy who can make good passes and had a reasonable shot.  He was essentially a 60+ point player again this year too, so it isn't like his game has completely fallen off a cliff.  He's invisible relative to PPG Brad Richards though.

If he gets bought out, absolutely I would make a phone call for him. To me there is no question that the team is better with a top 6 of Richards-Kadri then they are of Bozak-Kadri, but that all depends on cost.

5 million for Richards vs. 4 million for Bozak, sure thing.  7 million for Richards vs. 4 million for Bozak, I start to wonder about in terms of price-performance.

 

[Chev-boyar-sky]

Don't forget Lupul was trending downwards too before the change of environment.

That's not really true. He wasn't really progressing, but he wasn't really trending downwards either. The big issue with Lupul was his health and the fact that the Ducks didn't think he could play LW effectively, making him an expensive 3rd line winger in their eyes. Also, when the Leafs acquire Lupul, he was 6 years younger than Richards is now.

Fair enough. Either way he was falling out of favour with the Ducks, much like Richards is now with the Rangers. He rediscovered his game with a change of scenery.

Can Richards do the same, at an even older age? I think he can, but the contract is certainly an issue as it stands now.

I guess it depends on your definition of "do the same".  Can Richards play better than he currently is, sure.  I don't see why that isn't possible.  He was never a bruising forward or even a guy who relied entirely on speed to make plays.  I always viewed him as a guy who can make good passes and had a reasonable shot.  He was essentially a 60+ point player again this year too, so it isn't like his game has completely fallen off a cliff.  He's invisible relative to PPG Brad Richards though.

If he gets bought out, absolutely I would make a phone call for him. To me there is no question that the team is better with a top 6 of Richards-Kadri then they are of Bozak-Kadri, but that all depends on cost.

5 million for Richards vs. 4 million for Bozak, sure thing.  7 million for Richards vs. 4 million for Bozak, I start to wonder about in terms of price-performance.

I'd consider him at 6M for 4 years....

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

It'd be hilarious if the Rags buy Richards out and then Bozak gets a bigger contract as UFA this summer than Richards does on his new team.

 

[hap_leaf]

Took a stab as well.  The idea is to flank our developing homegrown centers while they mature.  Traded Liles for low picks.

My Custom Lineup
FORWARDS
James Van Riemsdyk ($4.250m) / Joe Colborne ($1.000m) / Phil Kessel ($5.400m)
Joffrey Lupul ($5.250m) / Nazem Kadri ($3.000m) / Nathan Horton ($6.000m)
Clarke MacArthur ($3.250m) / Mikhail Grabovski ($5.500m) / Nikolai Kulemin ($2.800m)
Leo Komarov ($1.000m) / Jay McClement ($1.500m) / Matt Frattin ($0.925m)
Frazer McLaren ($0.700m) / Colton Orr ($0.700m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Dion Phaneuf ($6.500m) / Mark Fraser ($0.660m)
Jake Gardiner ($1.117m) / Carl Gunnarsson ($2.500m)
Cody Franson ($3.000m) / Mike Kostka ($0.600m)
Korbinian Holzer ($0.788m) /
GOALTENDERS
James Reimer ($1.800m)
Ben Scrivens ($0.613m)
OTHER
Buyout: Darcy Tucker ($1.000m)
Buyout: Colby Armstrong ($1.000m)
Buried: Mike Komisarek ($3.575m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $64,426,667; BONUSES: $300,000
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $173,333

 

[mr grieves]

My stab. For the 6/7 Dmen, rotate Fraser and one of the Marlies (Kosta's a place holder).

FORWARDS
JVR ($4.250m) / Grabovski ($5.500m) / Kessel ($5.400m)
Lupul ($5.250m) / Kadri ($2.875m) / MacArthur ($3.250m)
Kulemin ($2.800m) / Colborne ($1.000m) / Frattin ($0.925m)
McClement ($1.500m) / Boyd Gordon ($1.500m) / Komarov ($0.900m)
Frazer McLaren ($0.696m) / Viktor Stalberg ($0.875m)
 
DEFENSEMEN
Dion Phaneuf ($6.500m) / Carl Gunnarsson ($2.250m)
Andrew Ference ($3.250m) / Cody Franson ($2.750m)
Jake Gardiner ($1.117m) / Mark Fraser ($0.660m)
Mike Kostka ($0.600m)

GOALTENDERS
James Reimer ($1.800m)
Ben Scrivens ($0.613m)

OTHER
Buyout: Darcy Tucker ($1.000m)
Buyout: Colby Armstrong ($1.000m)
Buried: Mike Komisarek ($3.575m)
Buyout: John-Michael Liles ($0.000m)
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CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $61,834,917; BONUSES: $300,000
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $2,765,083

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Regardless of how, our healthy defence corps next season shouldn't consist of more than one of the following players: Fraser, Kostka, Holzer, Blacker. Any one of them would make for a fine number 6 defenceman, and another one or two can sit in the press box for when injuries strike. The only exception would be if Holzer improves quite a bit over the summer.

 

[princedpw]

@mr grieves, hap_leaf:

You are paying Komisarek an unnecessary 3+ million.  It took me a while to figure out how to get rid of him for 0 cost off the lineup:  Notice the "other" collection of players on cap geek calculator, which includes buyouts to Tucker and Armstrong.  Scroll down in the other column so that you can see Komisarek there (I used the mac scrolling gesture when hovering over "other" items to scroll).  A square for Komi should appear.  You can click on one of his buttons to bring him back up instead of burying him.  After doing that, trade him and we will be zeroed out in your final cost ....

yes, it did take me a while to figure out how to do that .... might as well share ...

 

[princedpw]

Regardless of how, our healthy defence corps next season shouldn't consist of more than one of the following players: Fraser, Kostka, Holzer, Blacker. Any one of them would make for a fine number 6 defenceman, and another one or two can sit in the press box for when injuries strike. The only exception would be if Holzer improves quite a bit over the summer.

It's a shame that the UFA defenseman market is so weak....

 

[L K]

Regardless of how, our healthy defence corps next season shouldn't consist of more than one of the following players: Fraser, Kostka, Holzer, Blacker. Any one of them would make for a fine number 6 defenceman, and another one or two can sit in the press box for when injuries strike. The only exception would be if Holzer improves quite a bit over the summer.

It's a shame that the UFA defenseman market is so weak....

Little to no chance that he makes it to July 5th, but Scuderi is who I would love to have if LA doesn't resign him.

 

[caver]

Well, they do need another top 6 winger if MacArthur leaves. I wouldn't trust Frattin to reliably pot 20 per year quite yet.

They wouldn't need one. That might be ideal but if you have a reliable 30+ scorer in Kessel, another guy who seems near that in Lupul and a guy in JvR who's fully capable of scoring 25 or so then you can have your top 4 wingers be those guys and someone like, say, Kulemin and have it be a very effective top 6. Especially considering they're likely to have their offense spread out the way they did this year you don't need everyone in your top 6 to be a reliable 20 goal scorer

Didn't see this until today Nik. Definitely agree. I understand Nonis saying they will upgrade if the opportunity arises but the "need" is not at the wing. Kulemin is a nice compliment to a skilled forward line, and I see real potential in Frattin. I think he could play a similar game to what Lupul is showing lately (if the stars align for him). 

 

[moon111]

I wouldn't complain to see Bozak resigned, MacArthur and Komarov out, Weiss and Colborne in.

 

[mr grieves]

@mr grieves, hap_leaf:

You are paying Komisarek an unnecessary 3+ million.  It took me a while to figure out how to get rid of him for 0 cost off the lineup:  Notice the "other" collection of players on cap geek calculator, which includes buyouts to Tucker and Armstrong.  Scroll down in the other column so that you can see Komisarek there (I used the mac scrolling gesture when hovering over "other" items to scroll).  A square for Komi should appear.  You can click on one of his buttons to bring him back up instead of burying him.  After doing that, trade him and we will be zeroed out in your final cost ....

yes, it did take me a while to figure out how to do that .... might as well share ...

Thanks. I guess that means buyout Komisarek instead and try to unload Liles for low picks. Or keep him around for depth. Buyout Liles in the next off-season if he can't be moved. Or save it for Grabovski if he looks like a persistent problem. 

Either way, as long as the cap goes back up, the cap situation looks pretty good. A $2m raise for Kessel would be doable, and it wouldn't hamstring the rest of the roster.

 

[princedpw]

I wouldn't complain to see Bozak resigned, MacArthur and Komarov out, Weiss and Colborne in.

One wouldn't sign both Weiss and Bozak -- one or the other.  I'd probably pay a little more for Weiss than Bozak.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Little to no chance that he makes it to July 5th, but Scuderi is who I would love to have if LA doesn't resign him.

Not sure why, but he reminds me of a more defensive Beauchemin, I'd be fine with picking him up if it's a relatively short deal, I think he'll have plenty of suitors though.

 

[mr grieves]

Little to no chance that he makes it to July 5th, but Scuderi is who I would love to have if LA doesn't resign him.

Not sure why, but he reminds me of a more defensive Beauchemin, I'd be fine with picking him up if it's a relatively short deal, I think he'll have plenty of suitors though.

I don't know much about his game. The stats suggest he's steady, but I don't really have any memory of noticing him out there with the Penguins.

A not-flashy, Cup-winning veteran is something I think the team will benefit from if it's to spend the next few years trying to advance in the playoffs. Scuderi or Ference would fit that bill. 

 

[Britishbulldog]

@mr grieves, hap_leaf:

You are paying Komisarek an unnecessary 3+ million.  It took me a while to figure out how to get rid of him for 0 cost off the lineup:  Notice the "other" collection of players on cap geek calculator, which includes buyouts to Tucker and Armstrong.  Scroll down in the other column so that you can see Komisarek there (I used the mac scrolling gesture when hovering over "other" items to scroll).  A square for Komi should appear.  You can click on one of his buttons to bring him back up instead of burying him.  After doing that, trade him and we will be zeroed out in your final cost ....

yes, it did take me a while to figure out how to do that .... might as well share ...

Actually what Matt did was he added a check box with the words 'Buried Contracts' in green at the top beside where you select the team and Cap amount right beside the button 'Apply'.  Uncheck the box and voila, the buried contracts don't count.

 

[nutman]

Looks like we done much better then NYR did playing Boston. maybe we dont need any more then some very fine tweaking.

 

[caver]

The Leafs did look better than the Rangers but they are a disaster without Lundquist. Lots more work for Leafs management.