Staal . ROR could walk after next year and he could command more the $6mil
- willi

Unless ROR would do a sign & trade deal, i would take that. To get ROR, you guys do realize #51 or #3 will be going the other way right?

Considering ROR only has 1 more yr till FA, he will command over 6 in his contract, probably Staal.
- sammy87

Exactly + O'Reilly's Camp seem to be hard to work with on contract talks. If it wasn't for this I'd probably go for him.

Exactly + O'Reilly's Camp seem to be hard to work with on contract talks. If it wasn't for this I'd probably go for him.
- Barnaby36

That's where I'm at. ROR prob has more offensive upside. But I'd rather have Staal all things considered.

Plus, Canes are prob one of a handful of teams that still really value Sutter

Here's a fun one...would you rather trade for ROR or Jordan Staal? you cannot answer neither.
- YouMeAndDupuis9

Staal. Despite injuries and lower production in Carolina. Just to go down the long list, he would:

Be a big boost to this team's and fan base's morale.
He always played top six minutes from the third line, even with everyone healthy. Which means MJ can continue playing Sid and Geno moderately compared to years past so maybe they can be fresh and uninjured for the playoffs.
Obviously he can step up if one of those two go down.
Spalling and Staal are very responsible and dependable in their own ends; you can now legitimately refer to this as a shut down line without having to listen to MJ spoon-feed the casual fans crap about how good Sutter is.
He's amazing on the PK which is a blessing given how it's played this month, hes more likely to score a shorty than Sutter is even now, he keeps other teams PP units honest and on their toes.
He has more term than ROR and we won't have to worry about him running for free agency anytime soon.
Last but most important, having Staal back would mean Bartley can shut up about Sutter

Unless ROR would do a sign & trade deal, i would take that. To get ROR, you guys do realize #51 or #3 will be going the other way right?
- joescullz

Yeah I wouldn't move 51 or 3 for 2 yrs of ROR, but if he were to sign a 4 or 5 yr deal at his current cap or slightly above, Id consider it. The 3C is a huge hole on this club. To be honest Id probably take Berglund off STL. I know he's having a bad year but he's an upgrade over Sutter for the same price with term left, and wouldn't cost as much to acquire.

Also, I see ROR and Staal as 2C on just about every team. I don't think ROR would want to be the 3rd wheel here. I think thats why Staal left as well. Why would he want to stay and not expand his career? Had the Pens moved 71 and offered 11 the role, I think he stays.

Also, watched highlights of the stadium series. Sharks swathers were kinda meh, but I like the white pants of the Kings. I think if the Pens go with a new 3rd jersey again, something similar to the Pirates look. Black sweaters with a big yellow P, white pants, black and yellow socks.

Yeah I wouldn't move 51 or 3 for 2 yrs of ROR, but if he were to sign a 4 or 5 yr deal at his current cap or slightly above, Id consider it. The 3C is a huge hole on this club. To be honest Id probably take Berglund off STL. I know he's having a bad year but he's an upgrade over Sutter for the same price with term left, and wouldn't cost as much to acquire.
- sammy87

I would take Berglund. What would it cost to get him? Sutter straight up? Despres?

I would take Berglund. What would it cost to get him? Sutter straight up? Despres?
- joescullz

I don't think they need F's, so a Dman most likely.

I wonder what Bergenheim costs? Sutter for him? FLA might want a 3C with a yr left and playoff experience. If the Pens could swing both, I think they would be pretty solid.

Perron-Crosby-Hornquest
Kuni-Malkin-Comeau
Bergenheim-Berglund-BB
Spaling-Max-Downie

Also, I see ROR and Staal as 2C on just about every team. I don't think ROR would want to be the 3rd wheel here. I think thats why Staal left as well. Why would he want to stay and not expand his career? Had the Pens moved 71 and offered 11 the role, I think he stays.
- sammy87

There's always the chance to pick up Carl Soderberg..but that is in the off season if boston cannot afford his raise with their cap crunch and plenty of others who need to be resigned.

As for Staal, I think he really just wanted to be with his other two brothers in Carolina (everyone forgets the younger one). His role was bigger in name only; he always played big minutes here. He gets more attention and blame being second pivot behind his brother and lets face it they're not going anywhere anytime soon. A lot of bad contracts, some overrated players, and a lot of injuries.

Francis seems to want to put his own stamp on the team and if he wants to move Eric and he allows a trade while claiming he never wanted to go anywhere, then what is left for Jordan to stay for? It would only be a matter of time before they go looking to send him out too. And why not try to move Eric before the draft with how deep these next two are? Even if they only want to retool instead of going full rebuild Eric would bring back some quality players and a pick or more to add to their already high first rounder. If they trade us Staal and send Sekera out with him it gives them a good chance to turn around quicker while dumping a good amount of salary.

Also, I see ROR and Staal as 2C on just about every team. I don't think ROR would want to be the 3rd wheel here. I think thats why Staal left as well. Why would he want to stay and not expand his career? Had the Pens moved 71 and offered 11 the role, I think he stays.
- sammy87

Maybe Malkin can move to wing with Jordan at Center sometimes

If Malkin wants to continue this 43% faceoff pct bad-ness, then maybe they could do that for a game here and there and keep everyone happy.

I would even consider Filpula. 3 years left at $5 mil for a 30 year old...but he does have a NMC

I would even consider Filpula. 3 years left at $5 mil for a 30 year old...but he does have a NMC
- willi

And Tampa has next to no reason to move him, regardless of how they look at Sutter's game.

There's always the chance to pick up Carl Soderberg..but that is in the off season if boston cannot afford his raise with their cap crunch and plenty of others who need to be resigned.

As for Staal, I think he really just wanted to be with his other two brothers in Carolina (everyone forgets the younger one). His role was bigger in name only; he always played big minutes here. He gets more attention and blame being second pivot behind his brother and lets face it they're not going anywhere anytime soon. A lot of bad contracts, some overrated players, and a lot of injuries.

Francis seems to want to put his own stamp on the team and if he wants to move Eric and he allows a trade while claiming he never wanted to go anywhere, then what is left for Jordan to stay for? It would only be a matter of time before they go looking to send him out too. And why not try to move Eric before the draft with how deep these next two are? Even if they only want to retool instead of going full rebuild Eric would bring back some quality players and a pick or more to add to their already high first rounder. If they trade us Staal and send Sekera out with him it gives them a good chance to turn around quicker while dumping a good amount of salary.
- ImScore71

For the fan base, moving E. Staal out, and J Staal and with Semin well being Semin over paid and terrible. That leaves Skinner as the cornerstone of the franchise to build around?

And Tampa has next to no reason to move him, regardless of how they look at Sutter's game.
- ImScore71

I didn't say sutter would be part of the deal. He would most likely be a separate deal. Tampa will cap space even more than us in a couple years

Rask with back-to-back penalties. I don't recall when the last time a goalie did that...

Rask with back-to-back penalties. I don't recall when the last time a goalie did that...
- joescullz

The Bs are coming apart. And Krejci being out won't help things. GMJR should be sniffing around Chirelli to see if he wants to make another Seguin type trade

The Bs are coming apart. And Krejci being out won't help things. GMJR should be sniffing around Chirelli to see if he wants to make another Seguin type trade
- willi

Lol. That will never happen again. B's will probably land Vermette

Not wanting Staal back is ridiculous. I'd rather overpay for Staal than overpay for Sutter any day of the week, and if you think about it, it'd be only adding around 2 mil to our books assuming Sutter is being directly replaced by Jordie. Not to mention since this would mean Carolina was going into full rebuild, we'd probably be able to get them to retain salary since their team would be primarily consisting of cheap, young players.

Send them Sutter, Harrington, and a pick in next year's draft. Make cap space by moving other people out for draft picks depending on how much salary Carolina retains.

Our top 6 finally looks good all around, our D is solid once Hoff comes back, and our bottom 6 is really only bad because our current 3C is weak. Imagine how son-of-a-female dog a line of Spaling/Staal/Downie would be. Spaling/Staal/Bennett, while considerably softer, would put up some serious points as a third line. Assuming The Kun isn't shipped out to make cap space we got:

Perron/Crosby/Hornqvist
Kunitz/Malkin/Comeau
Spaling/Staal/Bennett
scrub/irrelevant/Downie

Downie, Comeau, and Bennett can move up and down the lineup at will depending on how we want to configure lines. The fourth line is still questionable, but with that top 9 it doesn't matter as much. We're not fixing the fourth line this year so we may as well bolster the top 9 as much as possible.

For the fan base, moving E. Staal out, and J Staal and with Semin well being Semin over paid and terrible. That leaves Skinner as the cornerstone of the franchise to build around?
- sammy87

That's why Francis has to decide if he wants to retool or rebuild. It's a risk given their fanbase but they have to shed salary and bad contracts if they can because they can't/don't want to spend to the cap as much as they have been. Their roster hasn't been going anywhere for a few years now and being 4 mil under the cap with several guys who are unmovable leaves them little room to improve without sending out the guys you named above.

Semin isn't going to be moved until someone gets desperate, he improves his play enough for someone to take the risk, or if Carolina retains salary the owner doesn't want to spend. Eric has already been shopped, but won't be moved during the season because of that high hit.

If they're going to move Eric there's little reason for Jordan to want to stay on a team that's going to need time to turn around or for Carolina to want to keep paying him. The Penguins obviously have interest, and are one of the few contenders who could fit him with some work. Then add in Ward and Sekera as other guys being shopped and Carolina could be shedding a lot of salary between the TDL and before the draft.

With their already high if not lotto winning pick they will likely get up to two roster players, a prospect and a good pick for Eric; and a lot more if they move Jordan Sekera and Ward anytime before the draft. They'd be getting some roster players capable of playing next year, some prospects ready to try to make the jump and a hell of a lot of picks between this year and next.

Edit: I forgot Tlusty. If they move him before he can walk for nothing thats a really sick haul in two really good drafts, or flip some of them for roster players next season.

Depending on who Carolina is looking to ship out before next season I would do this:

With a lot of contenders looking for help on the blueline, find out which ones are not on Scuderi's LNMC and trade him for whatever you can get. Most likely a middle to end round, but it really doesn't matter as a salary dump.

Then offer Sutter, Harrington, and the Scuderi pick for Staal. Since we would now have a vacant spot on D I would then offer a pick from next years draft and either Sundqvist or Zatkoff for Sekera. Sundqvist becomes expendable with so much term left on Staal's contract. Zatkoff may be enticing if the Canes find a buyer for Ward. Khudobin has been outplaying ward and offers better value, Zatkoff could be their backup for next year or even try for their number one spot.

Then you get to roll this deep roster into the playoffs

Perron Crosby Hornqvist
Kunitz Malkin Comeau
Spalling Staal Bennett
Adams Lapierre Downie

Letang Martin
Erhoff Sekera
Despres Pouliot

this staal talk is very interesting. even suspending for a moment the fact that i just cant see carolina returning him in such a quick turnover, its a very complicated issue for me.

jordan staal simply is not worth 6 million a year. he does many, many good things. but i still just cannot see him justifiably being worth 6 million a year.

that being said, i do wonder if the fact that he just so happens to excel at the very things that this team sorely lacks the most, doesnt at least make it a subject worth examining.

Depending on who Carolina is looking to ship out before next season I would do this:

With a lot of contenders looking for help on the blueline, find out which ones are not on Scuderi's LNMC and trade him for whatever you can get. Most likely a middle to end round, but it really doesn't matter as a salary dump.

Then offer Sutter, Harrington, and the Scuderi pick for Staal. Since we would now have a vacant spot on D I would then offer a pick from next years draft and either Sundqvist or Zatkoff for Sekera. Sundqvist becomes expendable with so much term left on Staal's contract. Zatkoff may be enticing if the Canes find a buyer for Ward. Khudobin has been outplaying ward and offers better value, Zatkoff could be their backup for next year or even try for their number one spot.
- ImScore71

I like this a lot, but I don't feel a burning desire to acquire Sekera if we manage to ship out Scuderi but don't move Martin. I think Dumoulin would be an upgrade over Scuderi anyways. The only issue would be configuring pairings. It would be obvious to put Despres in the top 4, but that would mean playing Pouliot and Dumoulin together which could be a disaster and would probably need to be overly sheltered.

I think Harrington is the obvious guy that'd we'd want to send the other way out of our prospects. We need two of Dumoulin, DP, and Harrington to be mainstays in our line up next season, and Harrington's the farthest away, but his upside could be a good selling point to Carolina. I'd hesitate to trade Dumo when we're gonna need his ELC next season to make the cap work.

Depending on who Carolina is looking to ship out before next season I would do this:

With a lot of contenders looking for help on the blueline, find out which ones are not on Scuderi's LNMC and trade him for whatever you can get. Most likely a middle to end round, but it really doesn't matter as a salary dump.

Then offer Sutter, Harrington, and the Scuderi pick for Staal. Since we would now have a vacant spot on D I would then offer a pick from next years draft and either Sundqvist or Zatkoff for Sekera. Sundqvist becomes expendable with so much term left on Staal's contract. Zatkoff may be enticing if the Canes find a buyer for Ward. Khudobin has been outplaying ward and offers better value, Zatkoff could be their backup for next year or even try for their number one spot.

Then you get to roll this deep roster into the playoffs

Perron Crosby Hornqvist
Kunitz Malkin Comeau
Spalling Staal Bennett
Adams Lapierre Downie

Letang Martin
Erhoff Sekera
Despres Pouliot
- ImScore71

id love sekera, but man i think he is going to fetch a pretty decent penny. id have to think he is going to be his own, somewhat major deal, rather than a tag on to another one.

this staal talk is very interesting. even suspending for a moment the fact that i just cant see carolina returning him in such a quick turnover, its a very complicated issue for me.

jordan staal simply is not worth 6 million a year. he does many, many good things. but i still just cannot see him justifiably being worth 6 million a year.

that being said, i do wonder if the fact that he just so happens to excel at the very things that this team sorely lacks the most, doesnt at least make it a subject worth examining.
- stayinthefnnet

@TSNAaronWard: Amid Jordan Staal trade rumors, I am told he has been reassured today, by the team, that this speculation is unfounded. #TSN