Steep price for a 1 year rental

Ya not sure I like that either. Chara could still sign year by year for the next 2. Why don't we see what we have in prospects this year. I think we will get a good understanding both of the ones that make the big club and the ones that play in Providence this year.
Contract is a little hefty for Pasta no? I was figuring we get him around $6.25M?

It's not as high a price as it looks if you consider JFK NHL ready. Spooner isn't useful if JFK is ready and Lauzon will probably never make it with us because we have 3 other, higher ranked, Left handed defensemen. If this deal gives us a 25% more chance to sign JVR as a UFA, I'd say it's about even for us. The biggest piece in the deal to me is that 2nd round pick. We've been really good in round 2 lately with Carlo, JFK and Lindgren among others.



If we get him for under 7 on an 8 year deal then we're getting a steal. He compares very close to 2 other players in his age bracket and they are named Leon Draisaitl and Jack Eichel. Pasta had .93 PPG last season, while Draisaitl had .94 and Eichel had .93. He's on their level and they are looking at deals of around 8M or possibly more. I think anyone who has him signing for 8 years needs to add in some extra money. If he signs for just 6 years then 6.25M is more fair, but he's not likely to lock in 2 extra years of his prime for the same price. You have to straddle the fence between giving him an incentive to lock himself in, while still keeping it a team friendly deal. I feel 7M for 8 years is a bargain, I think Pasta is better than Krejci by a fair amount and we signed Krejci to a 7M+ 5 year deal when he was near the end of his prime.

Spooner is a 40-50pt centerman and solid on the PP. Trading him within the division is kind of crazy considering you'll most likely have to face him for the next 3-5 years minimum. I have to disagree on Lauzon. Right now I have him as our best LHD prospect. He plays a psychical game, can score and has all the tools you look for in a top 4 d-man. I could see him making a push for a roster spot for the 2018-2019 season.

If I'm looking at 1-year rental LWer's, I'd rather kick tires on James Neal. You'll be able to move pieces out of the conference and Vegas is looking for futures while TOR is looking to win now.

Spooner is one of the softest players in the league, I can guarantee you we aren't scared to ship him off in our conference. I don't get how you think Lauzon is better than any of Zboril, Lindgren or Vaakanainen, let alone all 3. James Neal could be an option, but he's also 2 years older so I would consider him a pure rental. I wouldn't give another big deal out to a guy who turns 31 that year. I just can't get over how you are at all worried about trading in the conference with these guys, thats absolutely hilarious. Spooner plays his worst in the biggest games and you're worried about him being angry at us dealing him and somehow getting revenge by playing good in a big game.

No I'm worried about a guy like Spooner (who was a key part of the #1PP last year) having the opportunity to feed a guy like Matthews or Nylander lol. 100% he's soft, but that doesn't mean he can exploit a slower Bruins defense with his speed. He knows how to attack the team and that's why I wouldn't trade him in the division. I'd consider the conference, but I really rather not trade him in the division.

As far as the LHD Prospects go, yes 100% I have Lauzon as our best LHD. Following him I have Zboril and Lindgren neck and neck with Vaky 4th. The reason he's 4th is mainly because I haven't seen enough of him to get an idea. Zboril has all the god given talent to be the best of the group, but its the thing between his ears that is a question mark for me.

I think Spooner would get absolutely man handled by Chara if they set up the PP the way we did. We attacked the LD most times, so I think little Spooner would have a big problem on the half boards when he's being blanketed by Charas reach. He could get some cheap assists, but I don't think he'd dominate the game. Lets just not trade him to MTL. I'd be afraid they'd get the absolute best out of him and that'd be a problem for us. I wouldn't trade him to MTL TO TB or OTT in our division, but everywhere else doesn't scare me probably the Rangers, Pens and Caps as well to round out the division, but everywhere else wouldn't be a problem with me. The whole conference shouldn't be off limits if the price is right, just a couple teams here and there.

If you followed hockey you would know that trades within division rivals rarely happens, not at least for big name players. That's why you saw Sweeeney talking with Minny/Colorado about potentials.....and when Seguin/Thornton/Hamilton got traded it was way out west!!!!!!!

The PP is a small % of the game. and when on the PP it's puck movement that keeps Chara close to the net to defend there and let Tuukka see the pucks coming at him. Spooner could very well exploit that with Nylander and/orMatthews. You say you wouldn't trade him to Toronto but that is exactly what you are suggesting here???

Should probably stop commenting on this post, let it die into the old pages and let you start again.