What would you want Wild to do trade wise this year?

Ok so with at least what seems to be a glimpse of hope that Chuck Fletcher is willing to trade guys rather then hold onto them till they just leave because he's rubbing up on their leg and its too uncomfortable. What would you like to see happen, now i know the unpopular guys like PMB and Shepp, this isn't meant for just saying trade PMB or Shepp but to get some discussion of what we could get back.

What ever happens this year even if we are looking at a playoffs spot i feel there will be a major moves made with guys like Nolan, Belanger, Boogard (he's a goon always room for a goon) Johnnson, Harding and any others that have value to this team.

Johnnson is high priority, Fletcher either has to ink him to a ~4mil deal, if he wants to stay that badly here he'll give us a discount, main reason for that is because we need to reserve room for Koivu next year, we cannot lose him. If we can't get him because either he's asking for too much or he wants to wait till after the season, he needs to be traded, most likely to a team that is looking for some beefing up on D for the playoffs. To me we should be able to get a prospect that might be NHL ready next year or a high draft pick or a combo of prospects/picks. My dream scenario would be trading him to NJ for Paul Martin (i know won't happen) but if neither is willing to sign it might be a good swap.

Nolan: he's the 2nd most value on our team i think, he is going to be a great rental player for a team looking to get a bit experience for the playoffs, he's got some good goals, again higher draft pick or a prospect is probably best.

Belanger: solid 3rd liner has some points this year and is playing for a contract, great rental/3rd/4th line center. 3rd rounder is probably the best we can get for him unless he's part of the package.

Zidlicky: the guy takes penalties but he has produced this year, should be a decent rental for the playoffs, probably get a 3rd for him at best unless he's part of the package, unless we can fleece a team out of a 2nd rounder.

Boogard: the dude is a goon plain and simple he's an ape, he should be dealt to a team, Scott can be inked cheaper and proved he can fight. Not sure what we get for him, 4th maybe?

Harding: Needs to play more, if he can put together a good streak of performance there is a ton of teams looking for goalies, he had a rough start but played his ass off in Washington, he needs to play solid even if he isn't winning (mostly because our team can't score, say he gives up 1 or 2 goals but we don't score, not like he serves up 7 and we can only get 5) he could fetch a good price, if a team is convinced he can play they will pay more for a young goalie.

the rest of the guys like Lats, Ebbett and Earl it all depends on their play, if Lats can step up and perfom he'll get inked, maybe even traded again which would be wierd. Same goes for the other 2 guys.

Any thoughts.

man, that is a lot to read this late at night, lol.

trades that i would like to see. hmmmmmmmmmm. I really want Shep out of here. Bad. I mean, now. I know the intent of this thread wasn't to just say that, but anything we could get for him would be an upgrade. He shows small flashes of talent, but damn, how long has he had to get things into gear? Maybe he needs a Pouls scenery type of trade.

I agree with Harding, he needs to be showcased more so other teams would want to pick him up. Trouble is, I can't think of a team in need of another goalie. I think he could bring us in some value though.

There is always a team in need of a goalie, if Harding can put in 10 games of solid performance he could fetch a prospect/2nd or 3rd or even a roster player.

On shepp he could be part of a package he is young and can still be molded, lets hope the move to wing works out.

i guess i always kinda overlook the fact you can package some players together to make a deal. I always get in the mindset of wanting/having to do straight up trades.

So ya wanna get rid of 4 or 5 roster players for a couple of 2nds,3rd and a 5th/6th?

cehnehdeh wrote:

So ya wanna get rid of 4 or 5 roster players for a couple of 2nds,3rd and a 5th/6th?

Hey, we want to tank for Taylor Hall, or at least a lottery pick, so we could bring up the AHL clowns to fill out the roster.

Zidlicky is the most valuable rental, unless Johnsson is available. He is an elite powerplay quarterback in this league. We should be able to get more than a 2nd rounder for him, especially if there are several teams in need of PP help at the deadline.

Belanger is probably the hardest to gauge. We've seen lesser talents in Smolinksi(few years ago) and even Dommy Moore last year fetch a 2nd as rentals, so a 2nd could be a possibility with him as well.

Nolan, it comes down to production. Teams will want him for experience/grit, but if he is also scoring then that could drive up his value more. Not all these guys will get dealt for picks either, prospects are hard to gauge though.

Ebbett, Earl, and Boogaard have zero value. Fletcher must value Lats high to give up Pouliot for him. Harding will be easier to deal in the off-season.

The one problem with trading roster players for prospects and draft picks is that we have NONE to fill in those places. I think if we do trade for a prospect, it'll be for guys that have been in/out of line ups for other teams.

I think Fletch will be careful with some of these trades. On the one hand he'll probably try to get more draft picks, while on the other he'll probably try to get some young talent that's already been drafted (that are ready to challenge for roster spots next year.)

With all that said...
-Johnnson; even if we let him walk... I'll be fine with it because it gets a HUGE overpaid contract off our hands. Sure it would be nice to get anything for him, but getting his contract off the books is more important (IMO)

-PMB; yeah I know you all get on him to be dumped. BUT, he has a few years on his contract right now and he's not even playing. Unless he suddenly lights it up when he returns, his stock is at an all time low. Hold onto him for now (unless you get a great offer) and maybe try dealing him when his production is improved.

-Nolan; I'd love to keep him, but he's at the tail end of his career and we could really use the draft picks we'd get for him from a cup challenger.

-Harding; don't be so quick to think that he'll be the one moved. Sure Backs has a NTC right now, but he can waive it. Imagine if the Wings come calling with a first a 2nd and a prospect... not exactly a bad deal if he's willing to waive the NTC. Now with Harding, I'm guessing a younger team will want to try to land him for "the future." So we may not get nearly as good of a deal as we hope for (also because he's unproven at a full time starter.)

-Bruno; who says he won't get moved to a team? Sure he wanted to come back, and DR admitted to making a mistake in letting him go (the only time he admitted to messing up) but DR isn't here anymore... so Bruno being moved isn't out of the question. He's a fighter along the boards (especially behind the net) who wouldn't want that while trying to make "a run" come playoffs? As much as I like Bruno... if the price is right, can't argue moving him.

-various prospects; IF some of the young guys don't fit the style, why not move them for draft picks that you can use on guys that WILL fit the new system. Yeah I know we don't have much, but again if the price is right... nothing is "off the table" at this point.

I know the idea was who/what would I want, but I took more of a "what could" happen.

Right, Johnsson is a huge overpayment when he is twice as valuable as any of the 3 3+ million dollar d-men we have on our team. Schultz is the albatross of our d-men contracts, Zanon is a better player in the same role for almost half the price, and half the years! Fucking DR fucked up whenever decent players were on expiring deals. He let the good ones(Demitra, Rolston) walk for nothing, and then gave out these fucking albatross long-term contracts to the ones he should have let walk(Bouchard, Schultz, to some extent Backstrom) or traded away.
Why should the Wild move Brunette? He is improving Koivu's stats. He can continue to play a quality role on this team next year, perhaps even a year or 2 longer if he so chooses. For 2.3 million, we get near 4M production. I'll take that on any team, rebuild or not.
The Wild are stuck with PMB until he does something, unless they want to take on someone elses 4M problem. Like I said before, I'd give him to Toronto for Blake or hell, even Jeff Finger just because them contracts expire one year earlier. Hell, I think Jason Blake would be a good fit with Koivu and Brunette. Also, Blake's deal salary-wise(not cap) has 2 years for 6M after this one, opposed to Bouchard's 3 years for 12.8M, which makes for a much easier buy-out if he flops year one.

If Johnnson walks for nothing i will be pissed THE DAYS OF VALUABLE PLAYERS WALKING FOR NOTHING ARE FUCKING OVER THEY BETTER BE. That's the reason we're in this mess, letting 3 guys who make 4+mil now walk for nothing, bad draft choices, awful contracts and lack of talent all DR's mistakes.

Johnnson is solid i'm sure he can be inked to a good deal or traded for value, he walks for nothing is unacceptable.

Backs is overpaid, but he is solid, no way could wings take him 6mil deal on with out sending someone back, and the guys that would make that work are not being moved. We just have to eat Back's contract.

Bruno is producing, no reason we can't keep him and trade him next year.

Harding, he's a tough cookie, he needs to get more action but also needs to bring the game he had in Washington to get his value up.

Butch needs to come back, if he can play well at center he can get some value up, then moved, i have this strong feeling that Fletcher and Richards are going to be upset with him, he is a softie, he doesn't do dirty work and doesn't go to high risk areas, not exactly what you want for a aggressive fore checking system.

See lol's other thread for a better breakdown of what should happen next off-season, this trade deadline. He has a damned fine break down of the numbers.

He and I really only disagree on one thing and that's the value of Pouliot. Pouliot was traded for exactly what he has shown he is worth, an early second round prospect. I consider him a first round bust, while lol considers him an untapped super star. If I'm wrong and he turns out to be a 40 goal scorer with Montreal, I will be the first to admit it, but I state that he is destined for Europe.

This trade deadline is the time to clear the cupboards and attempt to restock.
Johnsson has the most value.
Nolan is getting his value back up there.
Zidlicky has the second most value.
Harding is still vastly unproven.
Belanger is a third/fourth line center on any other team.

The team still needs a finisher for next season and there aren't that many that are going to be on the market. Fletcher needs to decide and soon, whether or not we are tanking for a high pick or still trying to succeed.

Fletcher isn't going to be pulling any moves to get a super star. He is going to be pulling moves to get draft picks and prospects and he will be targeting those bubble teams that have holes going into March.

An example trade I would propose (if their PP was suffering):
Zidlicky to Chicago for a 2nd and Jack Skille. At this point, Skille is never going to crack the Chicago roster at where he is supposed to perform. Zidlicky will be important to Chicago if and only if their PP is suffering. The Blackhawks won't have a problem letting Zidlicky go to market over the summer, if he can help them in the play-offs. Skille doesn't really help this team in the short term, but would be a decent prospect to develop.

Another example, if their D is depleted by injuries and they are 6th/7th in the east:
Johnsson to Boston for *their* (not Toronto's) first round pick, a third rounder, and a D prospect (J. Penner). This helps Boston's D going into the crunch and they are going to be more focused on re-signing Chara in the off-season than they will be about Johnsson. This would be another pure rental, but they do have the space to swing signing him for about 4million now that they don't have to worry about Kessel. Johnsson to Nashville for about the same scenario would also work, again, if Nashville was 6th/7th going into March.

Three trades have been made so far this season and Fletcher is the driver for 2 of them. I am betting that he will be exceptionally active at this trade deadline.

Hell, he may even be able to pull off a Johnsson to the Devils for a Tedenby package. We all know that Lemaire loves Johnsson.

I think with Bergfors emergence that the Devils would consider Tedenby for Johnsson IF they felt Johnsson would push them over the edge. Belanger seemed to see eye-to-eye with Lemaire as well, and they could use some help at center/bottom-6. Josefson is the prospect they won't move. The biggest problem though is if Niedermayer asks to go back to NJ then they aren't going to grab Johnsson too. And still, extending Johnsson should be Fletcher's priority up to the deadline.

Don't see the Hawks biting for Zidlicky though unless they deal Campbell/Barker. They are fine. Right now, I see Ottawa and Buffalo as good fits for him. I like Picard in Ottawa, but it looks like hes starting to emerge with Volchenkov out. They could also move Brian Lee, as Karlsson appears to be supplanting him at this point, and RH d-men are a premium. Buffalo, they wouldn't give Kassian for him, so your looking at a pick, maybe Sekera as a PP/6th d-man, or Gragnani, a decent D prospect who is near NHL ready. I was going to say Butler at first but then I checked the logs and he's among their TOI leaders.

lolwat wrote:

Right, Johnsson is a huge overpayment when he is twice as valuable as any of the 3 3+ million dollar d-men we have on our team. Schultz is the albatross of our d-men contracts, Zanon is a better player in the same role for almost half the price, and half the years! Fucking DR fucked up whenever decent players were on expiring deals. He let the good ones(Demitra, Rolston) walk for nothing, and then gave out these fucking albatross long-term contracts to the ones he should have let walk(Bouchard, Schultz, to some extent Backstrom) or traded away.
Why should the Wild move Brunette? He is improving Koivu's stats. He can continue to play a quality role on this team next year, perhaps even a year or 2 longer if he so chooses. For 2.3 million, we get near 4M production. I'll take that on any team, rebuild or not.
The Wild are stuck with PMB until he does something, unless they want to take on someone elses 4M problem. Like I said before, I'd give him to Toronto for Blake or hell, even Jeff Finger just because them contracts expire one year earlier. Hell, I think Jason Blake would be a good fit with Koivu and Brunette. Also, Blake's deal salary-wise(not cap) has 2 years for 6M after this one, opposed to Bouchard's 3 years for 12.8M, which makes for a much easier buy-out if he flops year one.

Quick quiz... who's the 2nd highest paid player on our team this year? Johnnson @ 5.3 million a year (estimated.) That means that only Backstrom is paid more. And he's being paid like a top 20 D-man... do you think he's one of the top 20 d-men in the entire league? If you do, put the crack pipe down. I'm not saying that Schultz is the "best" either (or his contract) but DR overpaid for Johnnson because of what he was doing in Philly at the time (those were the ONLY years he's been a 'plus' player.) Now you shave off a million and it's more realistic (yeah I know... what's 1 million, right?)

ok so why SHOULD the Wild move Bruno? I didn't say that. I said "who says he won't get moved?" Yes I get that he's helping Koivu, but if a team offers a sweet deal with picks and/or prospects... I'm not going to bitch about it. I'm not talking about a "6th and 7th pick in 2020 for Bruno" either. If a team offers me a 1st AND a 2nd round pick this year.. I'd be listening and wouldn't just hang up the phone on them (especially since we have very little prospects and had no picks last year.)

And I agree that PMB won't be moved right now, but mostly because his stock is at rock bottom (since he's not playing right now.) Even after he gets back, I still don't see him being moved this year.

In the Salary cap era, who gives a crap what a player is paid THIS SEASON? It's the cap number that ultimately matters, and Johnsson's cap number is under $5mil.

I'll give you that... but what he's paid this year does go into what the cap is at. And even at 4.8 million, he's over paid.

I bet the Wild could re-sign him for around $4mil, maybe slightly over...

He's clearly our best D-man.

Yes, his current salary goes to making his cap hit, but had we not had the deal high on the backend, he likely never would have signed, thus the $4.8 cap hit over the life of the deal IMO has been earned. He's been the best D-man here since the day he got here... and that has not changed.

zamboni14 wrote:

lolwat wrote:

Right, Johnsson is a huge overpayment when he is twice as valuable as any of the 3 3+ million dollar d-men we have on our team. Schultz is the albatross of our d-men contracts, Zanon is a better player in the same role for almost half the price, and half the years! Fucking DR fucked up whenever decent players were on expiring deals. He let the good ones(Demitra, Rolston) walk for nothing, and then gave out these fucking albatross long-term contracts to the ones he should have let walk(Bouchard, Schultz, to some extent Backstrom) or traded away.
Why should the Wild move Brunette? He is improving Koivu's stats. He can continue to play a quality role on this team next year, perhaps even a year or 2 longer if he so chooses. For 2.3 million, we get near 4M production. I'll take that on any team, rebuild or not.
The Wild are stuck with PMB until he does something, unless they want to take on someone elses 4M problem. Like I said before, I'd give him to Toronto for Blake or hell, even Jeff Finger just because them contracts expire one year earlier. Hell, I think Jason Blake would be a good fit with Koivu and Brunette. Also, Blake's deal salary-wise(not cap) has 2 years for 6M after this one, opposed to Bouchard's 3 years for 12.8M, which makes for a much easier buy-out if he flops year one.

Quick quiz... who's the 2nd highest paid player on our team this year? Johnnson @ 5.3 million a year (estimated.) That means that only Backstrom is paid more. And he's being paid like a top 20 D-man... do you think he's one of the top 20 d-men in the entire league? If you do, put the crack pipe down. I'm not saying that Schultz is the "best" either (or his contract) but DR overpaid for Johnnson because of what he was doing in Philly at the time (those were the ONLY years he's been a 'plus' player.) Now you shave off a million and it's more realistic (yeah I know... what's 1 million, right?)

ok so why SHOULD the Wild move Bruno? I didn't say that. I said "who says he won't get moved?" Yes I get that he's helping Koivu, but if a team offers a sweet deal with picks and/or prospects... I'm not going to bitch about it. I'm not talking about a "6th and 7th pick in 2020 for Bruno" either. If a team offers me a 1st AND a 2nd round pick this year.. I'd be listening and wouldn't just hang up the phone on them (especially since we have very little prospects and had no picks last year.)

And I agree that PMB won't be moved right now, but mostly because his stock is at rock bottom (since he's not playing right now.) Even after he gets back, I still don't see him being moved this year.

Name me 10 d-men who make less than Johnsson not on entry/qualifying deals that are better than him. His cap-hit is 4.8M, so if you go by that then Havlat is making more as well. Johnsson was surrounded by offensive talent in Philly, players who could finish his beautiful break-out plays. Minnesota lacks that kind of talent. +/- is a very misleading stat, especially Kim Johnsson's as a member of the Wild, as he plays the most minutes, while playing against opposing top-lines, on a team that has been terrible 5 on 5. Look at Preissing, the guy was a +37 just a few years ago, and now he clears waivers. Does his +37 year make him a superstar? No, he was on a good Ottawa team who scored alot 5 on 5. 4.8, 4.0, the difference is basically carrying a 23rd player, which the Wild haven't really done all year.

Brunette won't fetch a 1st and a 2nd. Maybe a late first, but lots of teams would almost prefer him to be a rental so they didn't have to worry about his # for next year.
Theres also no guarantee that PMB plays this year. No one will want a guy who missed almost 1.25 years straight with concussions.

And considering we haven't had many GOOD D-men to begin with... that isn't saying much.

TaLoN wrote:

I bet the Wild could re-sign him for around $4mil, maybe slightly over...

He's clearly our best D-man.

I don't disagree that he is our best D-man. I would put him into the elite category and I don't smoke crack. Johnsson is not over-paid, but I do wish he would produce more offensively. He is clearly our best D.

However, that also makes him the most valuable asset that *should* be moved at the deadline. Even if we put a massive string of wins together, he will still reap the most in return.

Good thing they have butch on LTI, takes him off the cap! Keep him there for the rest of his life!

sqare wrote:

I don't disagree that he is our best D-man. I would put him into the elite category and I don't smoke crack. Johnsson is not over-paid, but I do wish he would produce more offensively. He is clearly our best D.

However, that also makes him the most valuable asset that *should* be moved at the deadline. Even if we put a massive string of wins together, he will still reap the most in return.

He's still good enough, and has enough left in the tank to be here long term. We don't NEED to use him as an asset to move unless he doesn't want to be here anyway.

Trade him only if you can't get him signed by the deadline.

TaLoN wrote:

Good thing they have butch on LTI, takes him off the cap! Keep him there for the rest of his life!

That's mean!!!

zamboni14 wrote:

And considering we haven't had many GOOD D-men to begin with... that isn't saying much.

Oh you mean you aren't someone who believes Brent Burns is a superstar? Sorry, unless stated otherwise I tend to think every Wild fan thinks he is.
Bobby Clarke was so mad when the Wild signed him that he offered Kesler a lucrative(at that time) RFA offer-sheet just to prove a point. He only had 2 40 point seasons in his career, so the 50 point expectations to begin with were a mistake by most Wild fans.

OldTimeHockey wrote:

TaLoN wrote:

Good thing they have butch on LTI, takes him off the cap! Keep him there for the rest of his life!

That's mean!!!

Too bad, so sad!

TaLoN wrote:

OldTimeHockey wrote:

TaLoN wrote:

Good thing they have butch on LTI, takes him off the cap! Keep him there for the rest of his life!

That's mean!!!

Too bad, so sad!

Its kind of like what I said over on the WMB in a "Quarter Season Grades", gave Bouchard an A for being on LTIR

I had some moron sitting next to me at the Boston game who actually thought Butch's concussion was hurting the team! He called Butch "The best playmaker on the Wild roster"!!! I was like... "Umm... since when is passing it back to the pointman considered great playmaking?"

TaLoN wrote:

I had some moron sitting next to me at the Boston game who actually thought Butch's concussion was hurting the team! He called Butch "The best playmaker on the Wild roster"!!! I was like... "Umm... since when is passing it back to the pointman considered great playmaking?"

Its like the Wild announcers tonight when asked which player on IR was being missed the most, and made a case for Bouchard WE GOT JOHN SCOTT, SHANE HNIDY, AND JAMIE SIFERS ON D FFS!