Well they wouldn't. That wouldn't make sense. But maybe San Jose doesn't even want him back. The blame always used to go to Marleau, then Thornton, now Heatley, but what has Nabakov ever done for them in the playoffs?

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Are you saying you don't think they should keep him, or that you don't think they will?

To Ottawa: 2nd round pick

To Edmonton: Zubov, Lee, Daugavins

id personally keep daugavins.
trade someone else?

Neither. I'm just saying they have some serious soul searching to do.

Sounds like a pretty big overpayment to me. I know everybody here hates Lee, but I'm almost certain he still has more value around the league than most people think. Murray wouldn't trade any more than just Lee.

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Why does he have value? He has lost his ability to move the puck, and is barely average on defense. I don't see why he's valuable. It seems to me his only value is his draft spot (9th overall) and his youth.

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Lee is really underrated on these boards. He's not some 28 year old defenseman that's looking lost out on the ice. He's 23 years old and actually had a fairly strong season when he was up with us. He's still got a pretty good first pass, good skating, and isn't bad defensively. He still has top 4 potential, but he was a victim of a two-way contract this year. Another reason he has value? He's signed to a very cheap contract. If he proves himself this year, he could have a great contract.

I'm sorry but I've gotta go with Bigfoot...

He is at the level right now that it can't get worse...he just simply "sucks"


What can he do? Its not like he has offensive touch like Picard had. Its not like he is defensive. He isn't a fighter like Carkner too...what can he do? NOTHING.

Thats why I don't like mediocre players who doesn't have something good that will help the team win. I could stand Picard because he managed to score quite a lot of goals...even though he was so bad at defense.

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Thanks to SD, AK-84, Vesal Audi, Jakim, and BSF. People who made my sigs!

Holy crap people
leave Lee alone.
just because he's not as good as what we could have got with that 9th overall pick, it doesnt frigging mean that people have to go around bashing him.
mark my words. he will be on the team next season.

He plays defense. He's a defenseman. Get off his back, you're not the one in the NHL, now are you? Do you realize how much pressure you have on you when you're a top 10 pick for a Canadian franchise? Get the hell off his back already. Jesus. Let the kid grow in to his potential. Prospects take time.

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Hahaha thank you man. And like I've been saying all along, defensemen take longer than forwards, and on top of that, college players take longer than junior players. Add it all up and you've got a player that should be just about ready for full-time NHL duty next year playing 14 minutes a game.

Anyhow, I have a few proposals:

Toronto - St Louis

To Toronto: David Backes, Andy McDonald

To St Louis: Tomas Kaberle, Nikolai Kulemin, Jimmy Hayes

Toronto's standpoint: Do I even need to say? David Backes is about as much a Burke player as you can get. Burke doesn't usually like players under 6' but Andy McDonald helped him win a cup in Anaheim and I'm sure Burke would like to have him back. Jimmy Hayes is a good prospect but he is in college so he won't be ready for few more years, so that doesn't fit into Burke's plans of winning the cup within the next couple years.

St Louis' standpoint: Their powerplay was just awful last year, even with Kariya playing defense on the powerplay. If he should move on or retire, they desperately need a puck-moving defenseman to run the powerplay, set up Johnson's cannon one-timer and mentor Pietrangelo in this regard. Kaberle has a very reasonable cap hit this year and they have the cap space to re-sign him next summer. They're stacked with top 6 forwards, too many actually, so they need to get rid of a couple to make room for the big one (Kovalchuk/Marleau/trade acquistion). Kulemin fits on the 2nd line. Jimmy Hayes helps re-stock the prospect pool after the Halak trade.

St Louis then signs Halak for 3 years at 4.5, Erik Johnson for 5 years at 4.5, Perron long term at 3.75, Steen for 3, Kulemin for 3.25, fill out the roster with Janssen, Winchester and D'Agostini and then they STILL have well over 10 million left to outbid the rest of the league for Marleau, whom they could give 7 million. Their roster next year:

Perron-Marleau-Boyes
Kulemin-Berglund-Oshie
Steen-McClement-D'Agostini
Crombeen-Winchester-Janssen

Brewer-Johnson
Jackman-Pietrangelo
Kaberle-Polak




This ones a little less realistic and more just for fun:

Ottawa - Columbus

To Ottawa: Derrick Brassard, Kristian Huselius, 4th overall pick, 55th overall pick

To Columbus: Jason Spezza, Nick Foligno, 16th overall pick

Columbus standpoint: Why else? They finally get an all-star center and all-world playmaker to play with Rick Nash. They give up their second line left wing and get back a gritty, young left wing with top 6 potential. They're not gonna give up the 4th overall pick easily, we have to swap 1st rounders, but they also throw in Vancouver's 2nd rounder, something like the situation in the Kovalchuk trade.

Ottawa standpoint: We get a potential first line center at less than half the price of our current first line center. That is the biggest reason I would do this trade. If, over the next 3 years, Brassard averages even 65 points (50, 70, 75), we would have a capable number one center and could spend the rest of that money elsewhere. We get a top 6 left winger to share duties with Michalek. Murray picked Huselius so he knows him well and would quite likely trade for him. Foligno was a Muckler pick so Murray might be willing to part with him. We move up to the 4th overall pick and add another very good prospect to the system. We can then use the extra cap space this summer to re-sign Sutton and have about 4 million leftover to either re-sign Cullen or sign another defenseman.

Our roster next year:

Michalek-Brassard-Alfredsson
Huselius-Regin-Kovalev
Winchester-Fisher-Shannon
Ruutu-Kelly-Neil

Phillips-Michalek
Sutton-Karlsson
Kuba-Carkner
Campoli/Lee (trade the other one for a pick or prospect)

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I'm not sure St. Louis would do the first deal. Backes had an off year, but is still pretty good, and I think the Blues need to lock him up (UFA next season). I had originally thought that a McDonald for Kaberle deal could work, though. I think the Blues might part with McDonald or Backes, but not both. What do you think of this counter offer?

To Toronto: Andy McDonald + 14th overall
To St. Louis: Tomas Kaberle + Nikolai Kulemin + Mikhail Stefanovich

As for the Spezza one, sounds good. I actually posted in the Spezza thread today, saying Brassard + Huselius + 4th for Spezza + Foligno + 16th, so we had pretty similar deals.

With Spezza gone i just CAN'T see Michalek on our top line. UFA signing?

Ray Whitney for 3.5 mil for 1 year?

Whitney-Brassard-Alfredsson
Huselius-Regin-Kovalev
Michalek-Fisher-Shannon

We need pure talent on our top line.

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Haha, yea I think I might have subconciously bit your idea.

The Toronto one doesn't work for me if I'm Burke. I wanna win a cup in the next 3 years, even if it's at the expense of the team's future. The 14th overall pick isn't gonna help me to do that. I need top-six forwards.

Besides, St Louis actually does need to clear up roster space. Oshie, Backes, McDonald, Berglund, Steen, Perron, Boyes are all top 6, I really think they're going to go after Marleau or Kovalchuk this summer.

But still, I guess you're right. Wants and needs aside, if the value isn't fair then the deal doesn't work. What about Kaberle and Stefanovich for Backes and a 2nd?

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I think that one would work. I originally saw a deal like Kaberle for Backes + 2nd, and I didn't think it was fair for St. Louis because Kaberle has one year left. However, I didn't realize David Backes only had one year left on his deal. I think this is a good trade for both teams. Kaberle should net a big return, and I don't think Burke will trade him unless a team offers a great deal.

Haha, yea I think I might have subconciously bit your idea.

The Toronto one doesn't work for me if I'm Burke. I wanna win a cup in the next 3 years, even if it's at the expense of the team's future. The 14th overall pick isn't gonna help me to do that. I need top-six forwards.

Besides, St Louis actually does need to clear up roster space. Oshie, Backes, McDonald, Berglund, Steen, Perron, Boyes are all top 6, I really think they're going to go after Marleau or Kovalchuk this summer.

But still, I guess you're right. Wants and needs aside, if the value isn't fair then the deal doesn't work. Maybe St Louis would prefer Grabovski to Kulemin? Or maybe Burke would take Steen back rather than Backes if St Louis throws in a pick or prospect.

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I'd prefer Kulemin to Grabovski if I was St. Louis (and any team). Kulemin wants 3 million, and Grabovski makes 2.9, so the salaries are pretty even. I just think St. Louis would rather take Kulemin (partly because he's a LW) over Grabovski and his attitude/selfish play. They do have Berglund, McDonald, Oshie and Backes at center already.

But I do think Burke would want Andy McDonald back. He's a great player who's pretty underrated. 57 points (24 goals) in 79 games isn't bad. Add in a little something else from St. Louis and you might be able to get Kaberle and Kulemin.