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Eric Staal Thread

cmaleski2 said:
Thanks JN, that explains my point much clearer. Although I would state that I'm probably one of the few here that actually would be 100% ok if this team does pull off the long shot and makes the playoffs. It would complicate things for sure but I can't root for this team to start losing games until we are dead and buried. The dirt has been shoveled on this team's grave for the last 2 months here but damn if this team isn't still trying to crawl out of the grave still.

Again it won't take much to seal this team's fate of definitely missing the playoffs, but this team is prolonging that with their play over the last 3 weeks. 3 more weeks of that same level of play and we continue this conversation (for good or bad). 3 weeks of one point per game or less and we can all move on with discussion of the return we should hope for when Ronnie starts the purge.
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Yeah I am in the same boat. As much as I moan about the team and results and direction, it is really hard for me to root against them. I mean, honestly? I hope they keep this up and we get some bonus hockey this year, sure. However, I really don't think this is a playoff team, nor a team that would go far if they surprise and make it in. From precedent though, and _that_ should serve well enough to keep the org's sites where they should be - they should _expect_ the team to do just that, because that has been typical of the team - crawling, scratching, keeping hope barely alive or blowing it in the final game of the season. In _all_cases, whether we made it or not, we overachieved.
Anyway, we shall see how things play out.
 
I'm fine with them making the playoffs, but highly skeptical they will do so. Therefore, no emotional investment at this point in time. Can handle it from both a team-building and a business-health standpoint, either way.

Know it's tempting for the media to look at the small point gap between where we are and where we need to be and say "well, they could make it". And they could.

But there's just no evidence of that just yet. All they've accomplished recently is perhaps positioning themselves for a slightly higher draft pick, which I'm fine with, as well.

To crawl through the teams above them and get to a wild-card slot will take 13 points out of every 10 remaining games played. That's 6-3-1, so not outlandish.

And, in fact, since the New Jersey debacle that started off December with a thud, they have played at a 10-5-3 pace through 18 games, which is not a bad sample size. That pace is actually just below the 1.3 points per game pace needed, taking us to 93 points for the season.

But...fall off that pace with a losing streak or 0.500 play and suddenly a team finds itself needing a 1.4 or 1.5 points per game pace to close out the season.

So, until they start producing at even a greater pace than shown so far...again, I'm skeptical.

However, like cmaleski noted...even if just for a couple of home games, a series against the Caps would initiate a geographic rivalry that could run for years.


EDIT: While I had all the web pages open, rolling 10-game average is now 5-3-2, or 12 points per 10 games (1.2 points/game).
And that's going to end up just short (around 90 points), if it continues.
 
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CarolinaPen said:
I am not rooting for the team to lose....which is actually different than my stance the past couple of years once we got to this point of the season.
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Same here. I rather enjoy pulling for the team to win, foreign sensation that it is.
 
Ya know... given his relative lack of contribution to the recent run of form (one good game), does anyone think that trading him would jeopardize the team's current competitiveness? Especially if we can swing a trade (not necessarily involving him) that involves a centerman better than what our third or fourth line offer? It's not like he's a vital part of team chemistry, captain or not.
 
HNIM said:
Ya know... given his relative lack of contribution to the recent run of form (one good game), does anyone think that trading him would jeopardize the team's current competitiveness? Especially if we can swing a trade (not necessarily involving him) that involves a centerman better than what our third or fourth line offer? It's not like he's a vital part of team chemistry, captain or not.
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If Eric were playing left wing on the "top line", I'd say it would make very little difference at all. Would just need to figure out who is taking his left-handed draws going forward. His shooting percentage is so anemic that it's not going to hurt too much to lose. And his assists are more of the puck-goes-through-me nature than playmaking passes.

However, since he's occupying the center position and Jordan currently has his own (very successful) line, it will mean some kind of shake-up in the lines has to occur if we lose Eric.

That's probably the biggest impact. From a leadership standpoint, might just make the future be now.

I certainly wouldn't be afraid of making a move, even if we were close. But, then, what's that look like from an outside view? And, would Eric ever agree to waive his NTC if he thought the Canes were close?
 
Elsker said:
However, since he's occupying the center position and Jordan currently has his own (very successful) line, it will mean some kind of shake-up in the lines has to occur if we lose Eric.
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Not defensively he's not. Watch closely. Against all but the biggest bruisers, Eric floats around while Lindholm does the down low defending. It's pitiful.
 
RF needs to have the following priorities for this year's team in this order...

1. Develop the young talent that is playing on the NHL Roster
2. Add additional future assets.
3. Make the playoffs

3 is good for 1. Blowing it up for 2 could have a bad impact on 1.

He just needs to be careful what he does because what he's doing now is working pretty good for 1. Tearing up the lines to adjust for losing 12 at this point could be a big negative.

Oh yeah CP, that does sum it up - he'd suck at scuba diving.
 
CarolinaPen said:
Outside of the excitement about how the team is developing, I really don't get the playoff talk. The team still sits 13th in the Eastern conference, has played two more games than most other teams, and sits with an 8% chance of making playoffs per NHL Club Stats.
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Not sure who is actually talking playoffs, but my comment "With the Canes only a couple of wins out of possibly sliding into 4th in the metro, Francis will be in "BUY" mode at the deadline!" was completely tongue in cheek.

Not rooting for losses by any stretch of the imagination. And I fully know better than to expect to win the draft lottery as well. The Canes will not draft #1, and won't win the cup either. I'm happy just seeing good results and youth progression.
 
If there's any defense being played on that top line, it's Lindholm all right.

In fact, between deferring to the two veterans on his line (particularly the stick-tapping "give me the puck" captain) and covering their rear ends on the defensive duties for that line, I'm not terribly surprised at his seemingly "off" season to date.

Would like very much to get Elias Lindholm away from Eric Staal. If nothing else, to avoid any Lindholm-see-Lindholm-do bad habits he might be picking up.
 
My whole point was that I hope that RF would have the stones to say to PK that 12 is making so little difference at this point that we might be better off BOTH near AND long term with a trade. As JB says almost incessantly, there is some idiot GM in this league who will give decent value for him. Just do it.

And as an aside, it doesn't say much for the league that this sorry-ass team (pardon my French) can still be in the conversation at this stage of the season. Reflective of the oversized playoff pool, for sure, but still. Maybe I should try to catch a few more western conference games.
 
Canes would be 1 point out of 3rd place in the Pacific Conference. Other than the Kings the really good teams are all in the Central.
 
Trace Trippy said:
Not much that we have not already heard, but the latest Staal rumors from the Hockey News. http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/rumor-roundup-eric-staal-likely-to-be-traded-by-deadline/
I'm starting to think he may wind up in Minnesota as a rental.
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Thanks.

Not to minimize he value, but we all agree we stole (and then some) that deal with the Kings. A 1st rounder and a good prospect.

Now. that being said. Kris Versteeg? Please milk it. He's valuable and exactly that do it all, fill in anywhere type versatile player that will be TREMENDOUS value for a p-off team. Just look at his track record... cheers
 
If you are just trading draft picks, a Versteeg rental should be worth at least a 3rd round pick with a 2nd round pick not impossible if multiple teams are interested and Versteeg continues to put up points like he has over the past month.

Unless 6th round pick Jake Massie somehow pans out for Chicago (which would be years and years away, if ever), we effectively got Versteeg and Nordstrom for just a 5th round pick in 2017. Dennis Robertson has done nothing special in the AHL and will likely never get to the NHL. He's an AHL plugger. Flip Versteeg for a 2nd or 3rd round pick it makes the end result for the Canes even better (Chicago did get the salary cap relief they needed, that was the value for them).

Of course I'll finish this Versteeg trade return talk with the "What if?" caveat. It would take some serious stones by Ron Francis to simply trade away all of our UFAs regardless of the standings. We still are not yet at that point where that becomes a thorny decision, but the team keeps getting closer....
 
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cmaleski2 said:
If you are just trading draft picks, a Versteeg rental should be worth at least a 3rd round pick with a 2nd round pick not impossible if multiple teams are interested and Versteeg continues to put up points like he has over the past month.
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Personally, if you can't get a 2nd rounder for Versteeg I'd be content offering him a deal for next season and carrying on. He's been pretty good here and is our best playmaking forward. He seems happy enough. Maybe he wants to settle in for awhile. If you end up losing him, it's not like you lost anything to get him in the first place and Nordstrom looks to be a keeper as a checking wing. He's a no harm no foul kind of guy.
 
dwind said:
Kopitar extended 8 years/10 per. This should make Staal the elder happy.
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Which should make Francis happy also as this news should just about seal the deal on not offering Eric and his agent anything close to what they hope to find on the open market for themselves with a new deal.
 
jeffbear said:
Personally, if you can't get a 2nd rounder for Versteeg I'd be content offering him a deal for next season and carrying on. He's been pretty good here and is our best playmaking forward. He seems happy enough. Maybe he wants to settle in for awhile. If you end up losing him, it's not like you lost anything to get him in the first place and Nordstrom looks to be a keeper as a checking wing. He's a no harm no foul kind of guy.
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Totally agree, a third round pick for Versteeg seems like a terrible return at the deadline. A second rounder is much better value, but he has actually fit in well with the Canes up front and I would like to see him stay. Liles, McClement, and some of the other UFA expiring contracts should be shopped/moved for whatever Francis can get.
 
CanadaCanes said:
Totally agree, a third round pick for Versteeg seems like a terrible return at the deadline. A second rounder is much better value, but he has actually fit in well with the Canes up front and I would like to see him stay. Liles, McClement, and some of the other UFA expiring contracts should be shopped/moved for whatever Francis can get.
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Versteeg is exactly the kind of veteran that this team needs going forward, and he's only 29 years old. That said, if its clear by the deadline that he doesn't want to sign here or that he does but there's no chance of working out agreeable terms, then he's too valuable not to move for future assets.

I am so ready for this Staal thing to be over one way or another. How many days until the deadline? 46? Ugh....
 
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