Casey Cizikas

[Tjay]

Holy over payment Batman! I expected 3 years at 2 per.

No way he's centering the 4th line next year.

I was hoping 5 for 10. There was no discount with this contract and you usually take less to get the financial security that comes with a long term RFA contract.

[mw147]

https://twitter.com/StapeNewsday/status/738466373702144004

Arthur Staple @StapeNewsday So, to sum up: #Isles fans are skeptical of the Cizikas deal. Fans of other teams whose GMs will overpay someone this summer are mocking it.

https://twitter.com/StapeNewsday/status/738468542916513793

Arthur Staple @StapeNewsday So, unless #Isles wanted to let him go, this was the deal they could make to buy 3 years of UFA.

https://twitter.com/StapeNewsday/status/738468348757966849

Arthur Staple @StapeNewsday Also Cizikas was arb eligible. Closest comp is Marcus Kruger, who makes $3.08m AAV starting next year. CC would have gotten $2.75-3m award.

[FranzyFan]

https://twitter.com/StapeNewsday/sta...66373702144004

https://twitter.com/StapeNewsday/status/738468542916513793

https://twitter.com/StapeNewsday/status/738468348757966849

If the third tweet is true, I understand the contract. Still it is a shocking number. Still think Stamkos is a huge reach and truthfully doesn't replace most of what losing Frans would cost us. I would much rather lock up Frans then take a gamble that Stamkos. If Stamkos doesn't sign & Frans leaves, Barzal better be everything he looks like and more and Strome needs to bounce back in the worst way.

[Dom]

If Casey moves up does that mean Frans is gone? If our centers are JT-Stamkos-Casey-Quine I think I will deal with it. But if it is JT-Brock-Casey-Quine, that does not sound as good to me.

Don't get me wrong, I really like Casey and what he brings. But I do think this is an overpayment. Is this the place for that? I think I would rather overpay Kyle by $500,000 or $750,000 than I would Casey.

I would hope so. It's either they let Frans walk, or they sign him for a ton of money when he'd clearly be on the decline, and then most likely trade one or more of Nelson and/or Strome.

Also, signing Nielsen means blocking Barzal (and possibly Beauvillier) from earning a top 6 Center spot for the duration of Nielsen's contract.

As for Stamkos, I don't think it'd make sense to sign him and then NOT play him with JT. They'd absolutely have to play together, with Stamkos most likely on RW. And by the way, I think the idea that he won't play RW is overblown.

I would prefer:

Lucic ($6M) - JT - Stamkos ($10M)

Lee - Strome - Nelson

Kulemin - Cizikas - Clutterbuck

Prince - Quine - UFA RW with size and speed

Trade Bailey and Halak for picks, buy out Grabovski. I believe we'd still be about $5 million under the cap with the above roster.

Whatever you lose by allowing Matt Martin to go, you more than make up for with the Lucic signing, and Stamkos ALMOST makes up for the loss of Bailey.

Actually, Lucic replaces KO's production + Matt Martin's toughness, while Stamkos replaces Nielsen's and Bailey's combined production.

Quine and Prince replace Grabovski's production.

[ndh41]

My gut feeling says that if Franzie is back he will be on the top line with JT and then Barzal and Strome will battle it out for second line center with the loser of that battle moving to the wing on the second line. If nothing is done, will our lines look something like this:

Franzie-JT- Lee (or Nelson)

Nelson (or Lee)- Barzal-Strome

Kulemin-Zeke-Clutterbuck

Prince-Quine-Bailey

This is almost telling me there will be at least one move made and most likely being a trade because I am not sure you want to go into next year with this lineup at forward, way to many question marks. I think with the UFA market guys will be overpaid and I have a feeling Lucic will command at least $6.5 million and possibly a bit more because we're dealing with crazy GM's who can't help themselves and you'll see overpayments galore in the UFA market and IMO if you're going to overpay someone its Stamkos (if he walks). So my guess is whatever moves we do make will be via a trade and I have a feeling our target will be JVR, just a gut feeling on this one. I have a feeling the company like will be "too rich for my blood," when it comes to a UFA.

[Isles72]

figured he'd be in the 2.8 range but I suppose buying a few years of free agency has its price .

no complaints .

[Jethro]

A little more than i expected but he now slots in as the 3rd line center. If they sign Nielsen then Nelson or Strome plus a prospect will be dealt maybe for someone like Pacioretty.

Im still going with sign Stamkos and Lucic.

Lucic Tavares Stamkos
Lee Strome Nelson
Kulimen Cizikas Clutterbuck
Prince Quine UFA/waiver wire pick up

[mw147]

My gut feeling says that if Franzie is back he will be on the top line with JT and then Barzal and Strome will battle it out for second line center with the loser of that battle moving to the wing on the second line. If nothing is done, will our lines look something like this:

Franzie-JT- Lee (or Nelson)

Nelson (or Lee)- Barzal-Strome

Kulemin-Zeke-Clutterbuck

Prince-Quine-Bailey

This is almost telling me there will be at least one move made and most likely being a trade because I am not sure you want to go into next year with this lineup at forward, way to many question marks. I think with the UFA market guys will be overpaid and I have a feeling Lucic will command at least $6.5 million and possibly a bit more because we're dealing with crazy GM's who can't help themselves and you'll see overpayments galore in the UFA market and IMO if you're going to overpay someone its Stamkos (if he walks). So my guess is whatever moves we do make will be via a trade and I have a feeling our target will be JVR, just a gut feeling on this one. I have a feeling the company like will be "too rich for my blood," when it comes to a UFA.

If we go into the season with that forward group we are in big trouble and Garth should be fired immediately. I agree it's not likely to go down that way.

[mw147]

I would hope so. It's either they let Frans walk, or they sign him for a ton of money when he'd clearly be on the decline, and then most likely trade one or more of Nelson and/or Strome.

Also, signing Nielsen means blocking Barzal (and possibly Beauvillier) from earning a top 6 Center spot for the duration of Nielsen's contract.

As for Stamkos, I don't think it'd make sense to sign him and then NOT play him with JT. They'd absolutely have to play together, with Stamkos most likely on RW. And by the way, I think the idea that he won't play RW is overblown.

I would prefer:

Lucic ($6M) - JT - Stamkos ($10M)

Lee - Strome - Nelson

Kulemin - Cizikas - Clutterbuck

Prince - Quine - UFA RW with size and speed

Trade Bailey and Halak for picks, buy out Grabovski. I believe we'd still be about $5 million under the cap with the above roster.

Whatever you lose by allowing Matt Martin to go, you more than make up for with the Lucic signing, and Stamkos ALMOST makes up for the loss of Bailey.

Actually, Lucic replaces KO's production + Matt Martin's toughness, while Stamkos replaces Nielsen's and Bailey's combined production.

Quine and Prince replace Grabovski's production.

Are you available to be our new GM?

[Dom]

Are you available to be our new GM?

Thanks, but we already have my mentor in charge, so we're in good hands!

My estimation of our cap situation was based on the notion of the salary cap remaining unchanged from last year, but obviously that's not the case. The cap is supposed to be somewhere around $74.XXM, which is an increase of about $3M over last year's number.

That means we could sign Stamkos AND Lucic and still have a nice cushion for depth, in season call ups and even a significant late season acquisition, should it be required.

[mwells56]

I absolutely love Cizikas. I love his grit, his work ethic, and he's a really cool guy (I met him at the Sticks&Steak's dinner a couple years back and he was awesome).

You don't pay a fourth liner this much money.

We gave Okposo- who already had a 24 goal season and a 52 point season, albeit with a lot of inconsistent scoring- $2.8. This money should've gone to him, Frans, Stamkos, Lucic, you have it. I'm glad Zeeker is still around but I am NOT a fan of this contract. If the plan is to move him up to 3rd line and have Quiner center the fourth line, then even that's a gamble. Casey is really good at what he does, I'd have been in favor of keeping him there and paying him what that role is worth.

[mwells56]

I would hope so. It's either they let Frans walk, or they sign him for a ton of money when he'd clearly be on the decline, and then most likely trade one or more of Nelson and/or Strome.

Also, signing Nielsen means blocking Barzal (and possibly Beauvillier) from earning a top 6 Center spot for the duration of Nielsen's contract.

As for Stamkos, I don't think it'd make sense to sign him and then NOT play him with JT. They'd absolutely have to play together, with Stamkos most likely on RW. And by the way, I think the idea that he won't play RW is overblown.

I would prefer:

Lucic ($6M) - JT - Stamkos ($10M)

Lee - Strome - Nelson

Kulemin - Cizikas - Clutterbuck

Prince - Quine - UFA RW with size and speed

Trade Bailey and Halak for picks, buy out Grabovski. I believe we'd still be about $5 million under the cap with the above roster.

Whatever you lose by allowing Matt Martin to go, you more than make up for with the Lucic signing, and Stamkos ALMOST makes up for the loss of Bailey.

Actually, Lucic replaces KO's production + Matt Martin's toughness, while Stamkos replaces Nielsen's and Bailey's combined production.

Quine and Prince replace Grabovski's production.

Has Stamkos ever played wing in his career? Or his life, for that matter? It's not always about whether or not he's WILLING to- I'm more worried if he'll be any good at it. It's not as easy to just change positions as a lot of people think, that's why guys stick with one their whole careers most of the time. Remember when Ovechkin switched wings for a couple years? It helped him a little bit get off his cold streak, but now he's back where he belongs and is sniping goalies silly.

We've had an overload of centers the last two years, forcing us to move a few of them to wing, I think it's making us think it's easier than it seems. Now, for sure he'd still be able to put up a lot of goals/points by a regular player standards. But would he be able to put up the 60 he had when he was centering St. Louis? I'm not so sure. Even with JT as his center, it would- at the very least - take quite a bit of adjustment to make the transition to wing and hit Steven Stamkos level production.

[FranzyFan]

I would hope so. It's either they let Frans walk, or they sign him for a ton of money when he'd clearly be on the decline, and then most likely trade one or more of Nelson and/or Strome.

Also, signing Nielsen means blocking Barzal (and possibly Beauvillier) from earning a top 6 Center spot for the duration of Nielsen's contract.

As for Stamkos, I don't think it'd make sense to sign him and then NOT play him with JT. They'd absolutely have to play together, with Stamkos most likely on RW. And by the way, I think the idea that he won't play RW is overblown.

I would prefer:

Lucic ($6M) - JT - Stamkos ($10M)

Lee - Strome - Nelson

Kulemin - Cizikas - Clutterbuck

Prince - Quine - UFA RW with size and speed

Trade Bailey and Halak for picks, buy out Grabovski. I believe we'd still be about $5 million under the cap with the above roster.

Whatever you lose by allowing Matt Martin to go, you more than make up for with the Lucic signing, and Stamkos ALMOST makes up for the loss of Bailey.

Actually, Lucic replaces KO's production + Matt Martin's toughness, while Stamkos replaces Nielsen's and Bailey's combined production.

Quine and Prince replace Grabovski's production.

I don't believe this at all. Once one of Barzal or Beauvillier establishes themselves as a 2nd line C, you move Frans down to the third line where he should be playing anyway with 1st/2nd unit PP and top unit PK time. But, as I've stated many times, this is still predicated on them panning out. Nothing I've seen from Barzal says he won't, but some people said that about Strome although I wasn't one of them after spending time in St. Catherines.

Plus I am not big on gambling in FA; there's too many variables there. What happens if we miss out on Lucic and Stamkos? What's plan B? I think you have to keep Frans. You can still swing for the fences and settle for a solid winger like Ladd or Eriksson or even potentially Vrbata whom I have liked a lot though he had a really down season this year should you strike out.

[Dom]

Has Stamkos ever played wing in his career? Or his life, for that matter? It's not always about whether or not he's WILLING to- I'm more worried if he'll be any good at it. It's not as easy to just change positions as a lot of people think, that's why guys stick with one their whole careers most of the time. Remember when Ovechkin switched wings for a couple years? It helped him a little bit get off his cold streak, but now he's back where he belongs and is sniping goalies silly.

We've had an overload of centers the last two years, forcing us to move a few of them to wing, I think it's making us think it's easier than it seems. Now, for sure he'd still be able to put up a lot of goals/points by a regular player standards. But would he be able to put up the 60 he had when he was centering St. Louis? I'm not so sure. Even with JT as his center, it would- at the very least - take quite a bit of adjustment to make the transition to wing and hit Steven Stamkos level production.

Yes, he's spent time on RW already.

[Jethro]

I don't believe this at all. Once one of Barzal or Beauvillier establishes themselves as a 2nd line C, you move Frans down to the third line where he should be playing anyway with 1st/2nd unit PP and top unit PK time. But, as I've stated many times, this is still predicated on them panning out. Nothing I've seen from Barzal says he won't, but some people said that about Strome although I wasn't one of them after spending time in St. Catherines.

Plus I am not big on gambling in FA; there's too many variables there. What happens if we miss out on Lucic and Stamkos? What's plan B? I think you have to keep Frans. You can still swing for the fences and settle for a solid winger like Ladd or Eriksson or even potentially Vrbata whom I have liked a lot though he had a really down season this year should you strike out.

At 32 we've already extracted the best years of his career at a team friendly price. No need to pay him 5 or 6 million a year on the downside of his career. You can't just slot him down to 3rd line because you are now paying Cizikas as the 3rd line center.

Stamkos and Lucic and let Nielsen and Okposo walk. Snow will know pretty much right after the draft if he is in the running for them and if he's not he can always turn his attention back to Nielsen.