http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Ottawa/2008/11/22/7499811-sun.html
Melnyk was in LA to push for his MLSA franchise, and took the opportunity to talk with Sundin again. Seriously, with Vancouver offering $10x2, and both Montreal and Anaheim offering a better chance at the Cup, what hope does Melnyk have of landing him?
By mid-December the Sens will have played 28 games. This leaves 54 games, which is approximately $6.6M for a $10M salary pro-rated over the remainder of the season. The Senators currently have $3.23M in cap space, so they will need to clear $3.4M just to make room for Sundin this year. Waiving Gerber will give you only $2.4M (we will have already paid him for 28 games). So we will need another $1M plus the cost of a backup (not sure if Elliott has a big-league contract, but an NHL-min will cost around $300K after mid-December). So we would need to shed $1.3M, to say nothing of making oom for injuries and, perhaps some trade-deadline help.
Replacing Vermette and Schubert in the lineup with league-min players will save $1.8M -- enough to accomodate Sundin and still leave $500K for injuries. Not enough for anything in March, though.
Also let's not forget that Lee will likely be in the lineup before the year is up, and his NHL salary is significantly higher than the league minimum.
I'll be willing to say that we can make cap room for Sundin this year, if we move Gerber, Vermette and Neil's salaries, plus probably another player or two. Given that Sundin is a top-six centre, we would have to either move Spezza or Fisher, or shift Fisher to wing. I don't like the idea of moving a 25 year old almost-superstar for a 1-2 year rental. We don't have anyone in the system to replace Spezza when Sundin retires. Fisher is definitely a possibility, though.
If we move Fisher (and Vermette+Schubert) we could definitely make room for Sundin this year. Next year would still be very, very tight. I don't think we could give him 2 years, and I don't think we could give him the Cup in one.
Melnyk was in LA to push for his MLSA franchise, and took the opportunity to talk with Sundin again. Seriously, with Vancouver offering $10x2, and both Montreal and Anaheim offering a better chance at the Cup, what hope does Melnyk have of landing him?
By mid-December the Sens will have played 28 games. This leaves 54 games, which is approximately $6.6M for a $10M salary pro-rated over the remainder of the season. The Senators currently have $3.23M in cap space, so they will need to clear $3.4M just to make room for Sundin this year. Waiving Gerber will give you only $2.4M (we will have already paid him for 28 games). So we will need another $1M plus the cost of a backup (not sure if Elliott has a big-league contract, but an NHL-min will cost around $300K after mid-December). So we would need to shed $1.3M, to say nothing of making oom for injuries and, perhaps some trade-deadline help.
Replacing Vermette and Schubert in the lineup with league-min players will save $1.8M -- enough to accomodate Sundin and still leave $500K for injuries. Not enough for anything in March, though.
Also let's not forget that Lee will likely be in the lineup before the year is up, and his NHL salary is significantly higher than the league minimum.
I'll be willing to say that we can make cap room for Sundin this year, if we move Gerber, Vermette and Neil's salaries, plus probably another player or two. Given that Sundin is a top-six centre, we would have to either move Spezza or Fisher, or shift Fisher to wing. I don't like the idea of moving a 25 year old almost-superstar for a 1-2 year rental. We don't have anyone in the system to replace Spezza when Sundin retires. Fisher is definitely a possibility, though.
If we move Fisher (and Vermette+Schubert) we could definitely make room for Sundin this year. Next year would still be very, very tight. I don't think we could give him 2 years, and I don't think we could give him the Cup in one.