Look into the crystal ball...

[Zorro]

Here are some predictions I have for the coming year.

Gomez Rangers. Drury Buffalo. Briere LA. Giguere Boston. Zheredev traded to Pittsburgh. Karia Vancouver(make it happen). Selanne resigns. Niedermayer plays another year. Lidstrom one more year and then back to sweden. Forsberg Detroit. Bertuzzi Phoenix. Nagy should play for peanuts and accept anything, end up going to chicago. Joeseph to back-up Raycroft. Roenick to sign in Canada. Souray, tough one I say Washington. I think Smyth will either go T.O. or NYI. Blake will do the opposite to Smyth. Agree with Dobber> Yashin to russia.

I can\'t wait to see how many I actually get right.

Can anybody else share their thoughts on what might happen. I can\'t wait for the draft and then ultimately July 1st.

Post edited by: Zorro, at: 2007/06/19 12:05

Post edited by: Zorro, at: 2007/06/19 12:18

[andrewklassen]

Someone has to weigh in so here goes...

Briere stays in Buffalo (his offense is worth the salary)
Gomez to the Flyers (they need a number one center...Carter\'s not ready)
Drury to Rangers (good two-way center ice man...will be overpaid, but a good fit with the Rangers defensive system)
Giguere (needs to stay in Anaheim...their defense makes him look better than he is)
Selanne (retires on top of his game...maybe one more year in Anaheim)
Niedermayer (same as Selanne)
Zherdev (who cares!?..he should go back to Russia)
Yashin (goes to Atlanta and centers Kovalchuck or Hossa..this is the only place I see him possibly able to be fantasy worthy)
Smyth and Blake (both resign in NYI...I\'d actually like to see Smyth in Vancouver, but they don\'t have the cap room)
Kariya (stays in Nashville or goes to Pittsburgh...they need wingers who can keep up with Crosby and Malkin)
Forsberg (maybe stays in Nashville...he\'d be worth keeping for one year b/c of the chemistry with Radulov...he\'s another guy I wouldn\'t mind in Vancouver if he came cheap enough...maybe Naslund could score then)
Lidstrom (agree...he resigns for one or two years in Detroit)
Souray (I think Montreal will try to resign him...maybe Edmonton scoops him up...they could use his point shot...they need anyone who can shoot)
Nagy (who cares!? He should go to Columbus and form an underachievers line with Federov and Zherdev:lol: ...that\'d be a Hitch favorite)
Bertuzzi (this guy has the size and skill to make one drool, but has nothing between the ears:P ...no discipline and little work ethic...Gretzky likes ex-Canucks with this MO (see Jovanovski)...I like your call about Phoenix on this one)

Post edited by: andrewklassen, at: 2007/06/19 13:25

[InForAPenny]

I\'ll give this one a go, always fun to see who\'s right.

Briere: stays in Buffalo, I\'d rather keep Drury, but I think he\'s gone
Gomez: to the Rangers (no reason than my 2 cents)
Drury: to San Jose (they can shake things up and still go for the cup...Thornton leads Reg season, hands over to Drury for playoffs)
Giguere: stays in Anaheim (probably for less money than open market - knows he\'s on a good thing)
Selanne: I think if he\'s enjoying himself he\'ll stay one more year
Niedermayer: I don\'t think he\'s ready to hang em up yet, another year for him too - will give Burke time to find more help
Zherdev: anywhere but Vancouver...please
Yashin: to Washington, to play with Ovechkin, one year contract only
Smyth: although he\'d fit Calgary perfectly, I say he stays in NYI
J.Blake: to Toronto to play with Sundin...he is then a bust and Leafs miss playoffs again....hehe
Kariya: too much money for Van (unfortunately), will stay in Nashville
Forsberg: to Colorado for one season then back to Sweden
Lidstrom: one or two more seasons, then he joins Forsberg, Naslund, an Ohlund back home
Souray: still thinking San Jose, but things will need rearrnging there, or how about this: Niedermayer retires and Burke signs Souray in his place.
Nagy: not sure, goes East where he can just play offense and away from the grinding that keeps hurting him...let\'s say Pittsburgh he knows Laroque will protect him from their days in Phoenix
Bertuzzi: re-signs in Detroit for less money, Phoenix won\'t have him

It\'s all a crapshoot and yes Burke won\'t overpay, but it\'s fun to throw the idea out there for Souray.

[Pete]

Wow ! That\'s a good one !

Briere: Montreal (6 years / 48 millions) Montreal need a \"francophone\" and we\'ll have him)

Gomez: Atlanta (with Kovalchuk or Hossa ... WOW)

Drury: NY Rangers

Giguere: Boston (he\'ll be near Quebec and I think he dislike the hockey coverage in California)

Selanne: Stays in California to play a year with Kariya

Niedermayer: I really think that he\'s gone !

Zherdev: Who wants him ? He\'ll stays in Colombus

Yashin: Eeeee ... Detroit

Smyth: Long Island (Yashin wasn\'t buyout for no reason)

J.Blake: Vancouver (Sedin to Sedin to Blake ...)

Kariya: Anaheim anyone ?

Forsberg: back in Philly

Lidstrom: Detroit (that\'s a no-brainer)

Souray: Montreal (nobody will give him what he wants)

Nagy: Pittsburgh (they wanted him at the deadline)

Bertuzzi: Phoenix (Gretzky strikes again)

[Fergie]

Briere: Montreal
Gomez: NY Rangers
Drury: Buffalo
Giguere: Anaheim
Selanne: retires, plays in Finland
Niedermayer: Anaheim
Zherdev: Vancouver
Yashin: Mettalurg
Smyth: Long Island
Kariya: Anaheim to replace Selanne
Forsberg: Flyers
Lidstrom: Detroit
Souray: Montreal
Nagy: Dallas
Bertuzzi: Detroit
Joseph: Toronto
Fernandez: Florida

[reeveta]

Aww… there is nothing like trade and free agent speculation to get the creative juices flowing. I really wish I was a fiction writer and then I could do this stuff all day long. Let’s see what reality I can make up today.

In the 11th hour:
-Giguere stays in Anaheim by signing a short term max dollar contract because Burke won’t give him long term.
-Selanne is disappointed that he can’t sign with Anaheim but this is a salary cap world.

In the first 5 minutes of free-agency:
Gomez, Briere and Drury all sign for stupid money (like 5, 6, or 7 years at 7.5 million)
-one going to NY Rangers,
-one to Philly and
-one to a surprise city (LA, Chicago, or Phoenix or something else that makes no sense).
Buffalo keeps neither because that is the smart move. Those players are good (top 30 maybe) but not worth elite money (top 5-10).

-Forsberg signs a modest contract (2-3 years at 2-3 million) with Colorado but shatters he knee getting up to shake hands
-Selanne is signed by Buffalo for a ‘modest’ contract (2-years 4 million per year) now that they don’t have to worry about the money they threw at Drury or Briere.
-Kariya tries to sign in Vancouver but realizes there is not cap room and signs a short (2-3 year) deal with L.A.

10 minutes into free agency:
-The Leafs start to feel left out so they try to sign Ryan Smyth to a Gomez/Briere/Drury kind of contract but he is snatched up by the Islanders who sign him to a Yashin-like deal.
-The Leafs then turn around and sign Jason Blake to a Scott Hartnell kind of contract. Management pretends this is the guy they have always wanted. Toronto fans plan the parade route (I think it should start at the ACC, go up Young, turn west on Bloor, then down through Queen’s park, then to City hall).

The second day of free agency:
-Nagy realizes that not only did he let down a whole bunch of fantasy owners but he also ruined his chances at a big money contract. He is signs a 2 year deal with Montreal because they are short of underachieving players.
-Souray realizes that he shouldn’t have tipped his hand so much as to where he wanted to play because San Jose has him over the barrel and he ‘only’ gets 4.5 million over 4 years. (Ok this might not happen but I hate this guy - don\'t ask me why, I just do)

Next season:
-Yashin plays one year in Russia and then realizes that he doesn’t need to work at all and he still gets cheques from the Islanders. Skating is so much work.
-Zherdev is moved early in the season when he continues to show no signs of playing hockey. He rips it up with his new team and makes the Blue Jackets look stupid.

The Stanley Cup is won by another hockey hot-bed such as Anaheim, Tampa or Carolina. Maybe it is San Jose’s turn.

That was fun!

[Zorro]

Now that was interesting. Good job!! Anybody else have anything to add. I would love for Dobber, Lanky, my boy T.Giraffe, etc to put their thinking caps on and tell us what they are thinking come July 1st and into the season.. Z..

[doulos]

Well just for kicks...

Briere - Buffalo, they\'ll keep him over Drury.
Gomez - He says he wants to end up with a contending team. But he gets Washington instead.
Drury - I see him going to the Rangers as well, big American market.
Giguere - Anaheim keeps him
Selanne - Anaheim still
Zherdev - Edmonton Oilers draft him and he and Hemsky pass to each other all night long but never score
Yashin - To Russia with love (and a LOT of cash)
Smyth - The Oilers sign him for reasonable money but a long term deal and give him the C.
Blake - He resigns back in Long Island
Kariya - He\'ll stay in Nashville
Forsberg - He\'ll limp his way back to Colorado for one last year with Sakic
Lidstrom - For sure Detroit
Souray - Somewhere odd like Phoenix seems plausible to me
Nagy - Washington
Bertuzzi - The Calgary Flames reunite Big Bert with Keenan. (I don\'t actually believe this but I have no clue with this guy. Detroit would be the safe bet I suppose)

[birddog]

The opposite side...

Buffalo is only hoping to bring back their own UFA\'s and it\'s looking like they\'ll only be able to afford one of the big two.

Boston is desperately searching for a goalie.

Montreal doesn\'t seem to have the cash to sign Souray but he is a big part of there team. Rumor has it they are looking to trade or sign a top center - Briere or Marleau. Why is it every guy rumored to Montreal his name ends in a vowel? Marleau isn\'t French but I can here the guys on RDS now rolling those r\'s.

Toronto has 10 million to spend and will need to spend every penny wisely.

Philly is rumored to be in the market for Gomez or Briere.

L.A. is rumored to be after a top center or goalie. Drury\'s and Giguere name are most frequently mentioned.

Washington needs help on D and up the middle but will they spend the huge amount of cap room they have. Ovechkin says they better.

Nashville is hoping to have enough players under contract to meet the minimum cap requirements. Doesn\'t look good for one of the NHL\'s up and coming teams. Can you say Hamilton Predators? Get your season tickets now!

Minny always seems to sign someone even though they are never around the rumors. My guess is Nagy will be heading to Minny - keep in mind I have no information to back up that statement.

Chicago will probably sign a player or two but for whatever reason he won\'t play well. See Aucoin and Khabibulin (did I spell that right?).

Pittsburgh could make huge strides but must be very careful not to tie up to much cap and not have enough to sign Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Whitney, and Fleury to the top dollars they\'ll command.

New Jersey will sign Rafalski and maybe even Gomez (hunch, hunch) every year they are rumored to be losing half their squad but Lou seems to be able to pull the rabbit out of the hat. Can Lou work his magic again?

Ottawa is rumored to be shopping Gerber (good luck with that performance and huge contract) and Redden. How quickly the mighty have fallen. Redden went from untouchable, to irreplaceable, to overpaid in about one year.

Edmonton has some cap and needs a star but is more likely to trade for a player then have anyone make the move to the frigid temperatures of Edmonton. Lowe is probably the most aggressive GM around and doesn\'t hesitate changing making big moves.

Calgary likes Angelo Esposito, or maybe Daryl was kidding. Keenan has ruined Huselius\' coming out party.

Colorado are awfully quite for a team that was a perennial powerhouse. Will they fade into the sunset or is Forsberg coming home?

Columbus will have a tough time finding someone that wants to play for a bottom dweller.

Anaheim could loose Selanne, Neidermayer, and Giguere in a couple weeks.

Detroit always does something. Are there any 40+ year old defensemen left?

Islanders are marching to the beat of a different drummer and no matter how bad Snow is he can\'t possibly be as bad as Milbury. I can\'t even list all the good players he has traded away. Is Peca headed back to the Island?

Tampa signs, well nobody because they have no money.

[birddog]

Post edited by: birddog, at: 2007/06/21 02:29