Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE that trade. It just doesn't make sense to me from Philadelphia's perspective. I think something like Kovalev and Lee for Ryan has much more sense of actually happening.

I WISH!

For Philly they would get back a skilled top 6 forward with only 1 year left on his contract and the get a solid defencive defence man and an offensive one. They would be getting some flexibility. Philly has many good forwards and they should be a the top of there division.

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"When it comes to humility, I'm the greatest." Bullwinkle

Democracy empowers the slave to chose his master.

Boston-Atlanta:
To Boston:
Ilya Kovalchuk

To Atlanta:
Marco Sturm OR Michael Ryder
Mark Stuart OR Matt Hunwick
Zach Hamill (only if the two roster players plus 4 draft picks won't do it )
BOS 1st Round Pick in 2010
TBL 2nd Round Pick in 2010
BOS 2nd Round Pick in 2010
BOS 1st Round Pick in 2011 (still have Toronto's 1st round pick next year as well... can afford to do it)

Los Angeles-Atlanta:
To Los Angeles:
Ilya Kovalchuk

To Atlanta:
Alexander Frolov
Brad Richardson
Teddy Purcell
Vyacheslav Voinov
LA 1st Round Pick 2010
LA 3rd Round Pick 2010

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Ok, I know people think Kovalchuk's the best thing since sliced bread, but NO team is going to allow themselves to get that raped over a trade

I think the LA trade is more realistic, maybe take away Brad Richardson, but I could see Boston overpaying, as 1) they're in desperate need of offense, especially for the playoffs and 2) they have tons of draft picks in the first two rounds this year, so they could easily afford to do these trades in order to pull ahead in bidding wars to acquire Kovalchuk.

Kovalchuk-Savard as a one-two punch, wow.

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Guys... Really? I mean, just... really? Come on people, lets be a little more realistic with our ideas.

I don't mean you Rayzor, most of your ideas seem at least half decent, although I'm almost certain LA wouldn't be wiling to give up that much of their future for a rental player yet, they are still at least one more year away from being a serious contender. Boston, maybe, but I stil think thats too much for a rental.

But yeah, most of these ideas are just downright silly. Come on guys.

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Well, I guess I'll have to back up the Boston proposal. I'll keep it short and sweet.

Boston's 2010 draft picks in the first two rounds:
Toronto's 1st Round Pick (likely to be top 5)
Boston's 1st Round Pick (top 18-25, deep draft)
Toronto's 2nd Round Pick
Boston's 2nd Round Pick
Tampa Bay's 2nd Round Pick

Boston by no means needs to have these many draft picks as they are not a rebuilding team and it would be really stupid to keep all these draft picks then get a star player to add offense for a deep playoff push this year.

Maybe my proposal is a bit overpayment, but only because it's something I can really see the Bruins doing in order to assure they get Ilya Kovalchuk. Who doesn't want Ilya Kovalchuk? It would add a huge boost to a teams offense, in this case, Boston, their offense is ranked 28th in the league, only Montreal and Carolina is ranked lower than the Bruins are.

LA's proposal, taking out Brad Richardson is something you could do, and even the 3rd round pick, but I still think Atlanta would ask for a little more than that for Ilya Kovalchuk.

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Bryan Murray: "Sup Waddell? I got an offer for you regarding Kovalchuk."

Waddell: "Sure let's hear it, talks aren't going to well so i would rather get SOMETHING back for him."

Atlanta gets:

Ottawa Senators

Ottawa gets:

Kovalchuk

Waddell: "Ok...umm Karlsson, Cowen, Regin, Swedish prospects included? with Alfy?"

Murray: "Well...I drafted those guys sooo no not really and Regin and Alfy have to stay...You get Spezza and Kovalev though!"

Waddel hangs up.

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First off, the LA deal, I have been telling people for months now, since the summer, that Kovalchuk is gonna end up in LA. But I don't believe it will be through a trade for a rental, why would LA give up that much of their future when they just aren't ready to make a serious run yet? Bernier is supposed to be the goalie that takes them to a Stanley Cup, hes not even in the NHL yet, I'm not sure Quick has what it takes to be a "Stanley Cup" goalie. Their defense cast is still too weak, but in just a couple years Teubert, Hickey and Voinov should all be ready for NHL duty to some extent and Doughty could very well (depending on what Erik Johnson and Shea Weber have to say) be the best defenseman in the NHL. They have all the cards in place to build a potential dynasty and Lombardi will not risk blowing that up to get Kovalchuk when he can just sign him in July.

Kovalchuk will end up in Boston or Chicago (there are a handful of other posibilities but those are by far the most likely) at the deadline and then will sign a long term deal with LA in the summer.

You do make very good points about Boston, they aren't really losing anything by trading away their first round picks when they still have Toronto's [higher] picks. And you are right that they need help offensively. So something like:

Kovalchuk for
Ryder, Hunwick, Hamill, 2010 Boston 1st, 2011 Boston 1st, Tampa 2nd round pick?

Kovalchuk-Savard-Bitz
Lucic-Krejci-Recchi
Sturm-Bergeron-Wheeler
Paille-Sobotka-Satan

Extras: Begin, Thornton

...Yikes

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^^ Exactly!!

Switch Wheeler and Bitz, Krejci and Bergeron, and maybe even Sturm and Lucic. And don't forget:

Chara - Morris
Hunwick - Wideman
Ference - Boychuk
Stuart

!!!

I wouldn't trade Spezza alone for a UFA Kovalchuk. If he was signed, sure. But he isn't.

Sens interested in Svatos..
The Fourth Period :: Colorado Avalanche :: Avalanche looking to deal Svatos

OMG, what FAIL!!! ...native of Kosice, Czech Republic...

He's Slovakian, lol. Kosice, Slovakia, not Czech Republic!!!

lol, I was about to say that...

Did all of Czechoslovakia magically became the Czech Republic?

Alright, time for me to do another trade rundown. I think, at this point, halfway through the season with a LOT of impending free agents, expiring contracts play a huge role. It's been a tough season thus far in terms of measurement, as lines have been unstable due to injury as well as other factors. For the most part, I believe Murray will hang on to players who are signed past this season and focus more on impending free agents. So if Kovalev and Cheechoo can't mesh with the team more by then, their contracts will be up anyways. That's $8.5 million extra - which can get us someone fresh and let us pay increases to guys like Karlsson.

Here are the impending free agents in the forward ranks:

Donovan - UFA
Shannon - UFA
Foligno - RFA
Regin - RFA

I left out Winchester, Keller, Hennessy, and St. Pierre because they're on minor contracts and can all be signed on the cheap. The UFAs are listed first, as they are a higher priority since they could be lost for nothing. IMO, Donovan's not an issue. He seems to love the team, so if he keeps playing for a couple years I'm sure he'll sign for $1 million or less. As for Shannon, I say trade him. Foligno will likely accept something in the vicinity of $2.2 million. I'm willing to pay it. Regin will sign for less, and I say take him. So, realistically speaking, I know it doesn't sound pretty, but it leaves our only tradable assets at forward being Ryan Shannon and the prospects. It leaves the roster looking like:

Kovalev - Spezza - Alfredsson
Michalek - Fisher - Cheechoo
Foligno - Kelly - Neil
Ruutu - Regin - Donovan

Let's move onto defense:

Volchenkov - UFA
Picard - RFA
Campoli - RFA
Lee - RFA

So we expect Volchenkov to sign, but what of the other three? I think everyone knows Lee's time is up, and when it comes to Picard VS Campoli it's a tough call but Picard is BM's boy, so I think Campoli goes. In any case, the incoming Patrick Wiercioch will soon be taking that LD spot away from Picard and Campoli. That adds Lee and Campoli to the tradable list, and leaves us with something like:

Kuba - Karlsson
Volchenkov - Carkner
Phillips - Picard

So we're left with, when we look at things realistically, less-than-ideal forward and defense corps, with only Ryan Shannon, Brian Lee, Chris Campoli, and our untested prospects for trade bait. Not to mention, even if the deals do go down as I've suggested, we're still RIGHT against the salary cap, and dismissing the above three players only frees up about $1.5 million.

So, what do we do? First of all, drop Cheechoo from the 2nd to 3rd, drop Neil from 3rd to 4th, and float Donovan to sit in for the inevitable injuries and slumps. It leaves an empty spot at RW on line 2. Then, we add Phillips to the trade list, and move Picard over to his natural left spot on the 3rd pairing. Now, without Phillips' contract and adjusted cap, we have about $6 million to add a right winger and right-shot defenseman. These players are David Backes and Kevin Bieksa, and it can give us a deep-playoff lineup:

Kovalev - Spezza - Alfredsson
Michalek - Fisher - Backes
Foligno - Kelly - Cheechoo
Ruutu - Regin - Neil
Donovan

Kuba - Karlsson
Picard - Bieksa
Volchenkov - Carkner

I imagine Patrick Wiercioch will soon be replacing Alex Picard at that 2nd spot, and the year after that would likely see Cowen in place of Bieksa.

The not-too-distant future could look something like this:

Kovalev - Spezza - Alfredsson
Michalek - Fisher - Backes
Foligno - Kelly - Petersson
Caporusso - Regin - Silfverberg
Neil

Kuba - Karlsson
Wiercioch - Cowen
Volchenkov - Bieksa/Carkner

Leclaire/Lehner
Elliott/Holt/Brodeur

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Are you sure shannon isn't an RFA?
This plan seems pretty far out... There is no way to predict who will hit free agency. And those who do often get overpaid. Right idea, but we can't predict the future, there is no way all can go to plan as smoothly as we would like it.

Trade Gomez for a 5th.
Trade Gionta for a 3rd.
Trade Cammalleri for a early 2nd.
Trade Plekanec for a 1st.
Trade Markov for two 1sts, one second, one top prospect
etc...

see where this is going?

I agree but also the exact opposite can happen:

I don't really wanna see Shannon go...Shannon imo has been one of our best consistent players recently and could be something bright, plus, for his tag i say keep him around.

Campoli>Picard as of late, no question about that and i think Campoli can be a SOLID top 4 forward in the future if he keeps this up.

I think in 2 years Regin can be our solid 2nd line center while Fisher goes back to wing.

This team IMO has a bright future but i just don't think anyone can judge this team on what will happen NEXT YEAR!

This team has SOOOO much question marks.

Petersson: Considered a poor man's Alfredsson. Has the talent to come to NHL next year for 3rd line role and some sources say he might while others say he will stay an extra year and become very good to make a huge impact with the Sens. Maybe he will take longer.

Silfverberg: One of the best 2 way prospects out there. Is mature beyond his years and has experts saying bust or star. So far he is playing like a star and getting better, can have big impact on Sens in 2 years or he might take longer than expected.

Wiercioch: Some say he is one of the most complete all-around defenceman there can be but is a project defenceman and will allow him time to develop. He has basically owned NCAA and keeping him there will only lower his morale as he want's to play in a competitive league. Some say he was supposed to be in the AHL this year and definatley in the NHL next.

Cowen: Huge potential and if it wasn't for his knee injury scouts said he would have been playing in the NHL this year. Many have him locked to be in the NHL next year but some see his WHJC performance as a concern and have mixed feelings now.

Spezza: Obviously has the skill and is still young for his talent. People say he is like Lecavalier, still trying to find his perfect 2 way game, though if Regin pans out as expected and Spezza continues his struggles, a trade could be on the way.

Foligno: Solid top 6 forward but could become a real threat once he brings together the physical aspect of the game as well as the skill aspect.


I mentioned ALLLLL this because i want to say that our team HASSSS no real long term plan.

This team has the potential to stay almost the exact same and be one of the best in the league with players like Michalek, Karlsson, Spezza, Foligno, Regin, Brodeur, Leclaire, Lehner getting much better.

Or this team could be TOTALLY different if Spezza wants out or we struggle to sign Volchenkov or Fisher all of the sudden gets his job kicked out by Regin or if both Regin and Fisher act like top 6-9 forwards and not legit 2nd line players.

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