EDM news!

[Rustyrug]

Remember, Minnesota has signed Backstrom to $6M. I don\'t think they would want so much money on their goaltending.

They will trade him because Harding won\'t sign to be a backup. Atleast I don\'t think so.

I would bet they trade him east as they wouldn\'t trade him to someone they will fight with for the playoffs

[duballstar014]

Offer sheet? Flyers can\'t even afford to sign Harding to a one-day tryout.

[fzusher]

ultrawhiteness wrote:

CBC said that he was going to honor his KHL contract and was talking about returning the year after.

they also had a quote from him: \"playing on the 3rd or 4th lines wouldn\'t be that bad. at least you don\'t have to produce every night\".... thats from memory so the wording might not be exact.

The quote is in the TSN interview gagnerific linked to, and dumb and dumber on CBC took it completely out of context.

Here is the quote in context:

Jagr signed a lucrative deal with Omsk after the New York Rangers let him walk away last summer and no other NHL team stepped up with more than a one-year contract offer. At that time, he was eager to shed some of the weight brought on by high expectations.

\"Day-by-day it\'s so much pressure,\" said Jagr. \"I don\'t know how to describe it. If I would be on the third or fourth line, I would probably be in the NHL because you don\'t have to produce every night.

\"After a while, you just need a rest. You know, clear your head.\"


So the point is not to say that playing 3rd or 4th line is easier because you can coast, but to say that it is less of a mental grind because of lesser expectations. The rest of the interview suggests that his attitude is essentially \'if I can\'t produce to the level that is expected of someone with my skill/talent, I won\'t be in the NHL\'. He also notes he was in a similar frame of mind before the lockout year, and used the lockout year to clear his head. The article then noted that he dominated the league the season after.

In other words, it\'s the old \'I just need a break/change for a short while\'. Pity my midlife crisis getaway doesn\'t consist of making a few millions in Europe ...

[Dutch]

the oilers need a number 1 centerman more than anything in the world

[loco man]

Fzusher,

I took the same from the article as well and am holding my breath that one year away has been time enough away to clear his head.

What do you think the chances are that he will allow himself to be bought out (seems like I read somewhere that he said he wouldn\'t ask for it, but would be OK if the option was presented to him) and return to the NHL for the coming season?

[fzusher]

loco man wrote:

Fzusher,

I took the same from the article as well and am holding my breath that one year away has been time enough away to clear his head.

What do you think the chances are that he will allow himself to be bought out (seems like I read somewhere that he said he wouldn\'t ask for it, but would be OK if the option was presented to him) and return to the NHL for the coming season?

While anything is possible, the financier behind Omsk (Roman Abramovich, of Chelsea FC fame), even though he took a hit of some 3 Billion dollars (or was it pounds) in the recent financial crisis, is still worth about 7 billion ... As far as I know, and I don\'t follow this too closely, Omsk are among the KHL\'s least financially burdened clubs as a result.

Oh, and Dutch, the Oilers need a coach more than anything in the world. After all look where a season of playing without one got them :P

[Dutch]

well I agree on the coach, but I actually meant for the playing roster they need a centerman more than anything.

2 wingers without a centerguy is still gonna be useless IMO

[duballstar014]

Dutch wrote:

well I agree on the coach, but I actually meant for the playing roster they need a centerman more than anything.

2 wingers without a centerguy is still gonna be useless IMO

Well they still have Brule and Potulny......right?

[metaldude26]

lanky wrote:

metaldude26 wrote:

playmaker26 wrote:

Jagr would definitely help.

And Edmonton better not sign Harding to an offer sheet. Philly should

Obviously I want him on my Oilers, but Philly is a decent fit. I emplore everyone to pick up Harding for cheap in your keeper leagues. Right now he\'s still very much under the radar but he could bust out big time next season if he can escape from behind Backstrom. He\'s worth a flyer if nothing else.

Harding won\'t be switching teams because of an offer sheet.

1) Minnesota has plenty of cap room to match any reasonable offer sheet for harding (reasonable would be in the 1-4 million dollar range).

2) No team in the league is going to offer Harding more than 4 million dollar offer sheet because he\'s not worth that cap hit yet (as he\'s never started consistantly in the NHL), and 4 million dollars would involve such team giving up a 1st, 2nd, AND 3rd round pick (which these days are like gold).

3) Phili will not sign harding to an offer sheet because payback is a bitch. Phili is in one of the most dangerous cap situations in the league because of two things. One, they are pretty tight to the cap and have several players with NTC... and Two, they have several young guys that are worth offer sheets that are coming up for RFA the next few years.

If phili goes out there and unsuccessfully (or successfully) tries to lure Harding via offer sheet, Minnesota will hit them back by going after Parent, Coburn, Giroux, Nodl, etc... This is something that Phili doesn\'t want to even risk exposing themselves to, because it would take far less money for minnesota to get one of their players via offer sheet, then it would take for them to get one of minnesota\'s guys (because of their current cap situations).

4) Edmonton will not get harding via offer sheet, because Minnesota will match whatever they offer just in principle (as they are divisional rivals).

5) In my very humble opinion. Harding will resign with minnesota (start more games next season - as backstrom was fairly overworked this season), and then get traded next year halfway through. Either that, or his rights will be traded this summer to another team. Regardless, Minnesota will be picking where he goes...

You make some compelling points. If Minnesota does match a 3-4 million dollar offer sheet, then they are crazy. That\'s a 5th of the cap to one position. I think Minnesota would let him go anything over 3 million because the draft pick would help them restock the farm.

I agree completely with the tail end of point number 5. Very good chance he is traded. They pretty muched nixed Hardings future in Minnesota when they signed Backstrom to the longterm deal. I very much think that a draft day trade is a likely scenario. Something before July 1st and before teams can attempt to poach Harding. It makes sense for both teams. Minnesota can ask for top dollar to give any team sole rights to negotiate with Harding.

My point was that I think that Edmonton and Philadelphia would be good destinations for him in terms of need in goal but ultimately he should be on his way out no matter where he ends up.

[dthif1980]

lanky wrote:

metaldude26 wrote:

playmaker26 wrote:

Jagr would definitely help.

And Edmonton better not sign Harding to an offer sheet. Philly should

Obviously I want him on my Oilers, but Philly is a decent fit. I emplore everyone to pick up Harding for cheap in your keeper leagues. Right now he\'s still very much under the radar but he could bust out big time next season if he can escape from behind Backstrom. He\'s worth a flyer if nothing else.

Harding won\'t be switching teams because of an offer sheet.

1) Minnesota has plenty of cap room to match any reasonable offer sheet for harding (reasonable would be in the 1-4 million dollar range).

2) No team in the league is going to offer Harding more than 4 million dollar offer sheet because he\'s not worth that cap hit yet (as he\'s never started consistantly in the NHL), and 4 million dollars would involve such team giving up a 1st, 2nd, AND 3rd round pick (which these days are like gold).

3) Phili will not sign harding to an offer sheet because payback is a bitch. Phili is in one of the most dangerous cap situations in the league because of two things. One, they are pretty tight to the cap and have several players with NTC... and Two, they have several young guys that are worth offer sheets that are coming up for RFA the next few years.

If phili goes out there and unsuccessfully (or successfully) tries to lure Harding via offer sheet, Minnesota will hit them back by going after Parent, Coburn, Giroux, Nodl, etc... This is something that Phili doesn\'t want to even risk exposing themselves to, because it would take far less money for minnesota to get one of their players via offer sheet, then it would take for them to get one of minnesota\'s guys (because of their current cap situations).

4) Edmonton will not get harding via offer sheet, because Minnesota will match whatever they offer just in principle (as they are divisional rivals).

5) In my very humble opinion. Harding will resign with minnesota (start more games next season - as backstrom was fairly overworked this season), and then get traded next year halfway through. Either that, or his rights will be traded this summer to another team. Regardless, Minnesota will be picking where he goes...

No way Minny match any offers for Harding. They have Backstrom at 6M$. They will match if the offer isn\'t big, but at 3-4M$, they will let him go for sure.

[Dutch]

Well they still have Brule and Potulny......right?

hahaha ya I forgot, pencil the oilers in for cup winners next year hahaha

[Crispy Water]

This article is what appeared to light the fire regarding this \"someone needs to sheet Harding\" discussion. I post it here because it highlights a couple of the technical points that should be considered:

http://www.mc79hockey.com/?p=3125

If you look in the comments, you\'ll see an Avalanche blogger suggested it a couple of days prior, and I do believe that Colorado is the team for whom the move actually makes the most sense. I agree it is probably not going to come from Philly.

The other goalie people are floating as an offer sheet magnet is Kari Lehtonen.

[Maaaasquito]

A lot of teams are eyeing Lehtonen but I don\'t think they\'ll gamble, remember with offer sheets the other team gets compensation for it too.

Lehtonen is making $4 mill a season, so I don\'t think a team is going to make an undervalue offer sheet towards him and expect him to sign.

At $4 mill the compensation is a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round draft choice. Lehtonen is good, but most teams are stable at the goalie position or they can go through free agency that they wouldn\'t want to give up $4 mill in salary + 3 draft picks just for Lehtonen.

Lehtonen WON\'T be signed to an offer sheet from another team.

Atl however would probably entertain offers via trade, since they already have Pavelec and Hedberg fully capable of the job between the pipes.

Also for Harding you have to look at the value of Harding, with so many goalies available for cheap, Raycroft, Budaj, Fernandez, Rolo, or Biron. I don\'t think many teams see the upside of sending an offer sheet to Harding, when he doesn\'t have number one experience.

And if you look at the scenarios, an offer of between 1-3 million is easily matchable for Minny.

Also if it\'s more than $2.6 mill per year it\'s going to cost a team a 1st round pick, which is a hefty price to pay for someone who doesn\'t have number one experience.

The question remains is Minny willing to let Harding walk at say $1.5 mill and get a 2nd round pick in compensation and sign a Budaj to backup Backstrom at a cheaper price to offset Backstrom\'s $6 mill salary?

[Flyer Fan]

Another reason to count out Philadelphia signing Harding to an offer sheet, is that the Flyers sent their second round draft pick to Phoenix with Upshall for Dan Carcillo, they would have to find a way to reaquire that pick from Phoenix before they could make any offer that required them to give a restricted free agent\'s team a second round pick as part of the compensation, ...and it has to be their own pick too.