The Latest on Kuba

Alright, game's over, playoffs are out of reach, git'er done Murray

...said asq and the rest of tank nation... in December!

SeawaySensFan wrote:Murray stated to Vanilliotte Friedman that there is a deal to move Kuba and he's just waiting for the agent to get back to him. The Kuba camp is already open to a move according Murray it's just a matter of getting this specific team rubber-stamped.

I watched the Murray interview with Friedman on CBC. Murray didn't say he had a deal in place to trade him -- he said he was making a new offer to Kuba for an extension, and had been trying for the last 30 minutes to get into contact with Kuba's agent.

All the talk during that interview was how much Kuba wants to stay and re-sign. Murray mentioned there had been discussion of the possibility of having Kuba waive his NTC, but that question has not been asked yet, though Murray felt pretty sure it wouldn't be an obstacle if a new deal wasn't possible.

Rooney what do you prefer? Kuba leaving in a trade or getting re-signed at a reasonable price?

A trade seems good to me if we can get a first rounder.

I would like to know what UFA dmen are out there next year and if we could do better than resigning Kuba. IMO if there isn't much out there and we don't procure a first round pick for Kuba we may as well re-sign him.

rooneypoo wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:Murray stated to Vanilliotte Friedman that there is a deal to move Kuba and he's just waiting for the agent to get back to him. The Kuba camp is already open to a move according Murray it's just a matter of getting this specific team rubber-stamped.

I watched the Murray interview with Friedman on CBC. Murray didn't say he had a deal in place to trade him -- he said he was making a new offer to Kuba for an extension, and had been trying for the last 30 minutes to get into contact with Kuba's agent.

All the talk during that interview was how much Kuba wants to stay and re-sign. Murray mentioned there had been discussion of the possibility of having Kuba waive his NTC, but that question has not been asked yet, though Murray felt pretty sure it wouldn't be an obstacle if a new deal wasn't possible.

Yeah. Sounds like Kuba's looking for $4.5 million on a longer deal.

I'm torn. We probably won't get anything better than him on the market, but if we can snag a first round pick for him we could conceivably move Vermette, that first and our 2nd at the draft to move into the top-10 again to try to take Cowen.

Walking out of the draft with a forward like MSP/Duchene/Kane/Schenn AND Jared Cowen would be absolutely unreal.

I just don't see Kuba as somebody we should keep. He's an okay defensemen but we need somebody better. So if we're not going to keep him, we might as well trade him for something. Preferably a first round pick or 2nd round pick and a decent prospect.

There are other players I wouldn't mind seeing involved in a trade either. Players like Kelly, Smith, Picard and Schubert.

beerandsens wrote:Rooney what do you prefer? Kuba leaving in a trade or getting re-signed at a reasonable price?

A trade seems good to me if we can get a first rounder.

I would like to know what UFA dmen are out there next year and if we could do better than resigning Kuba. IMO if there isn't much out there and we don't procure a first round pick for Kuba we may as well re-sign him.

I think I'd prefer a trade. I'm certainly not interested in signing Kuba for $4.5 mil, and a 1st rounder for a bubble team could be huge.

I'd rather spend $6 mil on a D we actually want and need next July -- the Pronger / JBo, etc figure we all know we're missing. But you're right to ask "will there be anything better than Kuba available?" I honestly don't know.

Ohlund.

Urkie wrote:I just don't see Kuba as somebody we should keep. He's an okay defensemen but we need somebody better. So if we're not going to keep him, we might as well trade him for something. Preferably a first round pick or 2nd round pick and a decent prospect.

There are other players I wouldn't mind seeing involved in a trade either. Players like Kelly, Smith, Picard and Schubert.

Certainly our problem is too much money on D who can't really move the puck: $3.5 mil (Phillips) + $2.5 mil (Volchenkov) + $3 mil (Kuba) + $2.6 mil (Smith) = $11.6 mil, and nowhere a legitimate puck-mover to be seen.

It seems pretty clear to me that you have to lose one of Kuba or Smith to free up space to bring in a real offensive D. Campoli looks promising, but we can't be relying on just him to carry to load next year.

I'm telling you guys, Mattias Ohlund is going to be a Senator come trainging camp next year.

Even if you can re-sign him you don't. We can't afford another 3+ million contract on the back end, we need to spend some $$, clear some contracts and get a real number one D-man.

Neely4Life wrote:I'm telling you guys, Mattias Ohlund is going to be a Senator come trainging camp next year.

If he agrees to a 5 million dollar deal, then it's basically a million more than what we'd be paying Kuba to re-sign, so it makes sense. He'd have to be down with 5 million though and it still means we're missing a legit number one.

Ohlund

I haven't watched him this year. How is he looking? Nevermind... no matter what the answer is I'm sure it's better than anyone on the Sens D-corps has looked.

Neely4Life wrote:Ohlund.

Yeah, I'd definitely be interested in him, especially for about the money Kuba is apparently asking for.

Still, doesn't feel like enough. Ohlund is a solid D, but he's not the real #1 we need. If it comes down to him or Kuba, I like Ohlund better, but no one's going to mistake him for a Pronger or JBo.

Neely4Life wrote:I'm telling you guys, Mattias Ohlund is going to be a Senator come trainging camp next year.

I can see it. OTT needs D, and VAN isn't going to be able to pay him with the Sedins and Burrows hitting UFA.

It would be a step in the right direction, too, but Ohlund is no JBo.

Nope, but Ohlund is Swedish and so are the two Karlsson's, and we will prob be drafting another one this year, IMO.

Ohlund is a warrior, a leader, can put up some decent offensive numbers, and is solid in his own zone. If you are trying to bring along some prospects and young guys in the back end... Smith, Phillips, Ohlund, you have all your bases covered.

Neely4Life wrote:Nope, but Ohlund is Swedish and so are the two Karlsson's, and we will prob be drafting another one this year, IMO.

Ohlund is a warrior, a leader, can put up some decent offensive numbers, and is solid in his own zone. If you are trying to bring along some prospects and young guys in the back end... Smith, Phillips, Ohlund, you have all your bases covered.

Agreed. Ohlund is every bit as capable as Kuba in the offensive zone, but with a better shot, and 5 times the player Kuba is in his own zone. I'd prefer Ohlund over Kuba, especially if each guy is going to command over $4 mil / yr.

Yeah I'll take Ohlund over Kuba any day. I was just looking at Cap Central, thank God Gerber's contract comes off the books next year. We have some decent cap space even if we don't move out any salary on the deadline or on draft day. Of course, I hope we still move a couple of bodies.

Neely4Life wrote:I'm telling you guys, Mattias Ohlund is going to be a Senator come training camp next year.

I hope you're right because he'd be a nice addition.