Thearon W. Henderson - Getty Images
6 months ago: SAN JOSE, CA - NOVEMBER 05: Jamie McGinn #64 of the San Jose Sharks fights for the puck with Ryan Suter #20 of the Nashville Predators in the first period during an NHL game at HP Pavilion at San Jose on November 5, 2011 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
I don't have time for a full "notes" post today, but the read of the day is over at The Tennessean, where Josh Cooper highlights the opportunity facing Ryan Suter these days, while he leads the Predators in Shea Weber's absence. Josh writes that the team has been impressed with how he's handled things so far:
The Predators have noticed many positive signs in Suter since Weber's injury. They've seen an increase in focus, communication and a higher level of leadership. In three games since Weber's injury, Suter has a minus-1 rating, but that number is not an accurate reflection of his game. In his past two games - both shootout wins - Suter hasn't played less than 29 minutes.
If he hits free agency on July 1, Suter will be head & shoulders above the rest of the defensemen on the market, a situation which could lead to absolutely stupid money being thrown his way, and/or a choice of signing with any number of legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. With today's game on the NHL Network, Suter can make a case for himself in front of a large audience.
As I wrote 3 weeks ago, the onus is on Preds GM David Poile to make sure that Suter either gets signed long-term, or brings a king's ransom in return on the trade market (this season's NHL Trade Deadline comes on February 27). With each passing day, however, a re-signing looks less and less likely. The money, as stated repeatedly by Preds ownership, shouldn't be an issue, and instead the question is whether Suter wants to stay with the organization which drafted and developed him as an NHL star. Have the Predators taken any action over the last several months to convince him (or us, the fans) that they'll be a real threat to win the Cup in the short- or mid-term future?
Even the most optimistic of Preds fans would be hard-pressed to make that argument. This season has seen a youth movement among the forwards and defense, and the team remains near the bottom of the NHL's team payroll lists.
With today's Flames/Predators game the only one on the NHL schedule, you have to wonder how many general managers around the league are going to take time out of their day to tune in, while calculating not just what it might take to sign Suter to a new contract, but what the price might be for a trade over the next few weeks.
0 recs | 51 comments
Suter's new ring tone
Show me the money!!!!!!!!!!
grassman - January 1, 2012
suter
suter will be gone by february . lets hope we get a good return
Mamie France - January 1, 2012
NEVER HAPPEN
maybe we lose him but the chance we get valuable player(s) in season is slim. if he isnt signed we may have a sign and trade type draft day deal.
predswilrule - January 1, 2012
Preds Organization
Once again Preds talk a good game but as usual accomplish little in keeping star and or developed players.
Appears Suter will follow the paths of Hartnell, Zanon, Vokoun, Ward, Goc, Mason, Hamhuis, Sullivan, Timonen, Franson, Ellis, Ryan Jones, Zidlicky, O’Brien, Santorelli.
Certainly many are role players but you get the point.
How you could possibly let a prime 26 year old defenseman get to this stage is beyond me. Instead were paying 4 million bucks or more to average forwards like Erat, Legwand and Fisher. Management has done nothing to convince these guys to stay.
Probably overpaid some for Pekka but they had no choice. According to Cap Geek were last in payroll so how can you take this organization seriously?
virgil trucks - January 1, 2012
Remember, Suter is on track for unrestricted free agency. The team can do all they like, but Suter can ultimately make the decision on where he plays next season.
Dirk Hoag - January 1, 2012
This is true.
And I am afraid we will be facing the same scenario w Weber next year.
bandman - January 1, 2012
So true
But now Im thinking we signed Pekka knowing full well we werent keeping Weber AND Suter. Pretty sad.
ajs3677 - January 1, 2012
So the question is what does a team in a market like ours have to do to alter this pattern?
And even if we have the money, can the reality of Nashville vs. the Detroits, Vancouvers, etc. be overcome on a regular basis?
bandman - January 1, 2012
I think it can be overcome. The margin between rich and “poor” teams has never been more narrow than it is in today’s NHL.
Dirk Hoag - January 1, 2012
What about the lure of the bright lights those larger markets offer?
Imagine the endorsements Weber could get in Vancouver.
bandman - January 1, 2012
This is a good point to make. We had no problem attracting top UFA’s during the two years following the lockout because we looked to be a team on the upswing that could compete for the Cup. Arnott wanted to sign here and so did Dumont (remember, they were good back then!). Perception equals a persons reality, and if UFA’s, our own and other teams as well, look at us as a team that will perpetually be unable to bring in the talent needed to be more than just a tough team to play against, they’ll sign elsewhere.
What ownership needs to do is change the current perception of this organization. Being dead last in payroll doesn’t help in this cause. Signing Rinne helps somewhat, but it may come down to where he’s the only one of the three who we could get to stay here at the end of the day.
Grizzledbear - January 1, 2012 via mobile
The building is full now. What will the excuse be if we don’t spend more.
I am worried that the upcoming lease negotiations with the city will erase much of the new found money. It seems clear the city is positioning itself to lower their subsidy of the arena/preds.
bandman - January 1, 2012
There really hasn’t been a whole lot the organization could do to bring in new star players since the start of the season. Right now there are only 5 or 6 teams in the NHL that are out of the playoff picture that might be looking to start rebuilding. Columbus and Anaheim probably wouldn’t make a trade with us. Edmonton has a lot of young talent and is very unlikely to move any of it. That leaves Carolina and the Islanders to trade with right now. I doubt there will be a big trade until February when the playoff race will be a little more fleshed out and more teams will be getting into rebuild mode.
Stormyt - January 1, 2012
As I said back in July, the time to have made a move was during free agency. That was a huge missed opportunity for this franchise to change the perception of it. Instead, what players and agents saw was us losing all of our UFA’s and not signing anyone but the Bergfors the Great. Now while those of us looking more closely at what prospects we have in the system and all the other details leading up to why we let players walk may have one view of the situation, people outside of the organization see it as a low budget team unable/unwilling to keep or sign UFA talent.
By sitting out the UFA signing frenzy, we now are in a position of being a buyer in a market with few sellers. That translates to those few sellers being able to extract a large return for those few available players. Not a position you want to find yourself in.
Grizzledbear - January 1, 2012 via mobile
Yep summer would have definitely been the time to make a move. I’ve got a feeling we’ll make a trade for someone like Milan Hejduk come February.
Stormyt - January 1, 2012
He’d be a great pickup, but I’d doubt Hejduk will be moved. They just named him captain a few weeks ago in Colorado.
Dirk Hoag - January 1, 2012
Not to mention the Avs are 1pt in back of us in the standings. They won’t be sellers if that continues.
Grizzledbear - January 1, 2012 via mobile
Right, but I think we get someone like him. A veteran forward on the downside of his career, but still has something left. Someone who can make an impact for the next 2 or 3 years. And it will probably come from a team that is within a couple points of us right now but ends up falling off the pace in January. (Unless that team is us…)
Stormyt - January 1, 2012
Someone like…Iginla? He only has one year left of his ridiculous contract. lol
DonBorvio - January 1, 2012
I’d love to see the Pred Killer become Killer Pred
Stormyt - January 1, 2012
*become a Killer Pred
I really need to proof read this stuff…
Stormyt - January 1, 2012
The way the Flames are burning out during this road trip of their’s, Iginlia may become available sooner rather than later. That team has run out of gas.
Grizzledbear - January 1, 2012 via mobile
The only argument I have against the free agent frenzy was the massive overpayment made by franchises. Florida, in an attempt to get above the cap floor, offered some large contracts to medium-strength players. Buffalo added to the problem by giving Leino an unwarranted and unearned contract.
I don’t think that sitting out on this particular UFA class was all that detrimental. There wasn’t a very strong UFA class to begin with, and now the Predators have the money to get a Suter and Weber deal done, if those two want to sign on.
JDesthubert - January 1, 2012
I don’t think Michael Ryder was an over-payment by any stretch. In fact, he’s got more goals than the departed Brad Richards has with the Rangers. Whether Ryder would have came here or not I can’t know, but that would have been a great pick up for us. As would have Fleischmann who signed with the Panthers. We missed the boat on those two.
Grizzledbear - January 1, 2012 via mobile
Hindsight is always 20/20.
Ryder really wasn’t that attractive to a lot of teams. He was a serious afterthought on a Bruins team that won the Cup. He’s 31, and hasn’t been able to recapture his early magic in Montreal.
As for out scoring Richards, that should be expected. Brad Richards isn’t a goal scorer. He’s a playmaker. His top output was last season with 28 goals. He’s never broken the 30 mark, which is something Ryder has done. Richards will usually get around 24 goals.
Plus, comparing Richards to Ryder is a massive stretch anyways. Ryder has never been a point per game player, while Richards has done it 3 times in his career. Richards has also won a Conn Smyth.
Fleischmann missed half of last year with blood-clotting issues. No one would have expected him to come back in and score at this pace.
JDesthubert - January 1, 2012
You’re missing a huge point here: Ryder costs half of what Richards does! Niewendyck (I botched his name and likely always will, LOL!) has a good eye for talent and made a nice pickup there. With the talent the Bruins have, a guy like Ryder wasn’t going to get the big time minutes he gets in Dallas, or like he would have got here.
Fleischmann would have had some risk attached to him coming off the blood clot issue, but there’s no denying how good he’s been for the Panthers either. The point was that there was massive over-payment for all these UFA’s, but both Ryder and Fleischmann have been bargins considering the numbers they’ve put up this season.
Grizzledbear - January 1, 2012 via mobile
And you’re still missing that hindsight is 20/20.
No one, not even you, could have guess that Fleischmann would have vaulted up the scoring charts like this. I’m not denying his point totals, but no one in their right mind would have projected him to score over 90 points at the beginning of the season.
As for Ryder, I’m still not sold that he’ll finish the season like he’s started. Streaky doesn’t even begin to describe Ryder.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/2499/gamelog;ylt=AvHHQsh.W7kTs4UN6HcGoJivLYF
Take a look at how many games he has zero points. He’s really streaky. Even if you look back at his years in Montreal, he can disappear for 4-7 games at a time. I don’t believe he’ll sustain these numbers over a full season because he hasn’t done it since the lockout.
JDesthubert - January 1, 2012
hate to break it to ya
but both Griz and I had tapped Fleischmann as a key offseason target. I even nailed his contract numbers. Poile just didn’t think it was worth it for the guy. Feel free to read the summer posts if you don’t believe me. So don’t judge less ye be judged.
Shawn Kehoe - January 1, 2012
I’m not here to pass judgement, so if you’re taking that vibe, then I do apologize, but basing an argument on hindsight is only going to lead to banging your head on a wall.
I thought Fleischmann was a good player as well, but I never had him as an elite scorer, which he is becoming. If you really thought that he was going to end up in the top 30 (currently at 26th in points) in scoring, then all the more power to you.
JDesthubert - January 1, 2012
Being a GM is all about having foresight!
Of course a GM has to be able to make judgements on what a UFA could bring to his team. It’s not like some perfect player at the perfect salary is just sitting there awaiting an offer from any team. If a guy like Ryder were coming off one of his 30 goal seasons, he would have gotten mega bucks this off-season. You have to make the call whether he can still put up those numbers……..and it looks like he is doing just that!
But your original point was that teams massively over-paid for free agents, and in the case of Ryder and Fleischmann, that just wasn’t the case.
Grizzledbear - January 1, 2012 via mobile
Hey, grizzly – apparently they were talking Parise-for-Weber on NHL Home Ice today. Probably doesn’t mean anything, but thought I’d throw it out there.
DonBorvio - January 1, 2012
They just do it to torture me. :/
Can’t see that happening unless someone knows that they can re-sign their newly traded for player.
Grizzledbear - January 1, 2012 via mobile
clarification
I meant they knew we would not keep either of them…so they kept Rinne.
ajs3677 - January 1, 2012
Suter
Understood but why wasn’t this done before the season – this is nothing new for the Preds.
In the end they can’t keep their own drafted players.
virgil trucks - January 1, 2012
and Klein being our top d-man next year possibly...
…scary…
JBoogie22 - January 1, 2012
That's funny.
preds4ever - January 1, 2012 via mobile
It would probably be Roman Josi at this rate.
DonBorvio - January 1, 2012
RIGHT
klein will still have the flu
predswilrule - January 1, 2012
Fact is......
……..nobody knows what’s gonna happen to Suter and Weber. We just gotta wait and see. And if Suter wants out, then we have to trade him to Philly. It’s just that simple, and then he becomes public enemy #1. Same thing with Weber.
Pekka for Predator Pontiff - January 1, 2012
As painful as it is to consider losing a guy like Suter, we could make a pretty good positive out of a negative if we were able to get a Couturier or Schenn for Suter (the Flyers are always an attractive destination for UFA’s) and then also have the money we were going to use to re-sign Suter on a quality UFA. In that scenario we could add two good players while losing one very good player.
Grizzledbear - January 1, 2012 via mobile
Ya gotta do whatcha gotta do, right?
Pekka for Predator Pontiff - January 1, 2012
Man, the Flyers have some really good trade pieces and need a D-man like Suter, but the thought of seeing him the the orange and black makes my stomach turn.
Stormyt - January 1, 2012
Better than red and white (barf) or green and blue!
DonBorvio - January 1, 2012
The green and blue would suck, but it would be kind of funny to see Hamhuis get knocked down to get second line behind Suter again…
Stormyt - January 1, 2012
*to the second
Stormyt - January 1, 2012
Are we sold out yet?!?!?!
preds4ever - January 1, 2012 via mobile
Willy's back in the lineup tonight!
And my seats are right behind where Tom and Stu did the pre-game video:
http://video.predators.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=739&id=146442
DonBorvio - January 1, 2012
They lied, Willy is out :(
DonBorvio - January 1, 2012 via Android app
Boo, free Willy!
Stormyt - January 1, 2012
??????
why am i watching hillen and/or boullion and not blummer? these guys must be tired of this organization pissin down their necks and telling them its the rain!
Mamie France - January 1, 2012
forwards
comand those contracts!! see what happens when you shoot . pretty cool huh
Mamie France - January 1, 2012
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