Will Meszaros sit out?

Cap'n' Clutch wrote:
I just don't know if he sees playing in the KHL as cake though. It's a lot more comfortable in NA from what I've heard and the accomadations, travel etc.. is all nicer isn't it? Also he knows for sure he'll get a pay cheque if he stays where as he may be wondering if they're promising him money in the KHL but he may have trouble collecting it from the owners?

The money's there, and plenty of it. I don't think he has to worry about a one-year arrangement. As far as living conditions, they're not likely staying at 5-star hotels when they travel, but when they are in town (assuming a large one) then they can afford to live in five-star hotel.

I just don't know where the KHL has teams, but at least in the RSL, a city like Moscow will have several teams (back in my day there was Spartak, Dinamo and the Central Red Army, so at least three). Which means that even a lot of the "away" games would still be in-town.

Hold that. I just looked it up, and apparently the KHL will incorporate all 20 of the RSL teams plus four others. I even found this nifty google map showing the team locations . As you can see, there are 7 teams in the Moscow region within a radius of less than 100 km. Of course their divisions don't seem to be based on geographical areas (the three mid-town Moscow teams are all in different divisions), and I have no idea about their inter/intra division schedule split. However it would seem reasonable to assume that much of the travel will be not too bad. Of course there *is* that one team that is over 5000 kn away (Amur Khabarovsk).

Now, that's one team I wouldn't want to play for. Can you imagine the traveling involved?

Anyhow, back on point. If he makes $3M here he gives away half of it to taxes and his agent. Over there he gets to keep pretty much all of it. And living conditions (for the players) are pretty good. It all depends on which team is interested, but even in the worst case, he young, he's got no family and he can tough it out for a few months.

I find the conflicting rumours (hee, hee) interesting. If Murray offered a one-year $2.4M contract, and I was Meszaros, I'd grab it right away. Put up decent numbers and you're pretty much guaranteed $4M+ the next year. Guaranteed contract are nice (a one year contract and a sever injury could be bad) but I would not expect a young buck like Mezzie (who hasn't missed a game yet) to be worried about that. So if that was the offer and he didn't jump at it I'm surprised.

On the other hand, I could very easily see Murray not wanting to give away a 4-year term, especially at over $3M per year, given that this guy has had two mediocre years (including his contract year).

wprager wrote:

Thing is, he can have his cake (just a little later) and eat it, too, right now. If he can get even $2.5M in Russia, it's only 50 games and it's tax free. Ottawa isn't about to make the finals and I doubt he gets traded to much of a contender.

Ottawa does have a shot at the finals this year. They aren't a lock, but I would say the way the teams stand now, they are certainly a possibility.

Philly Montreal Pittsburgh... are not locks to take the east by any means
NYR, New Jersey... might even be weaker than last year
Washington, Buffalo, Boston... could surprise, but they aren't finalists yet
Tampa Bay, Carolina... seem to be mediocre teams
Toronto, NYI, Florida, Atlanta... should probably battle for last place

... I see Ottawa with a chance and I see Meszaros signing before the season starts, probably before training camp.

Aetherial wrote:
Ottawa does have a shot at the finals this year. They aren't a lock, but I would say the way the teams stand now, they are certainly a possibility.

Philly Montreal Pittsburgh... are not locks to take the east by any means
NYR, New Jersey... might even be weaker than last year
Washington, Buffalo, Boston... could surprise, but they aren't finalists yet
Tampa Bay, Carolina... seem to be mediocre teams
Toronto, NYI, Florida, Atlanta... should probably battle for last place

... I see Ottawa with a chance and I see Meszaros signing before the season starts, probably before training camp.

Fair-enough. I can't disagree with that. But it's still fair to say that Ottawa has a lot of question marks following last season. They lost key players (Stillman, Emery, Redden, Commodore) and are going in with several rookie/sophomores and an almost-rookie coach (no NHL experience in the recent past). I'd say their chances at making the finals, while better than some teams, are nowhere near Pittsburgh, Montreal and Philly. They still *could* make the finals, of course, but it is not a likely scenario.

Anyhow, I still hope (and think) that Meszaros will sign here, but I just don't buy some of the comments "guaranteeing" that Meszaros won't play in Russia.

By the way, a good article on Emery by Burnside on ESPN.com. Could be just PR, but it seems fairly genuine. He quotes Commodore:

Former teammate Mike Commodore's seat was next to Emery's in the Sens' dressing room after the team acquired the defenseman from Carolina before the February trade deadline. He went out with Emery a couple of times and noticed how people watched him closely.

"He's tattooed up. Everybody knows who he is. He couldn't get away from it," Commodore said. "Everybody's eyes were all over him."

Commodore went through a period early in his career when he was seen as a party boy, and even if it wasn't true, he said it took a long time to dissuade people from that line of thinking. Since then, he's been to the Stanley Cup finals with Calgary in 2004 and won it all with Carolina in 2006. This offseason, he signed a five-year deal with an emerging Columbus club.

He said the stories about Emery are wildly exaggerated.

"Honestly, I like Ray," Commodore said. "Ray Emery's a good guy. And it went right around the room. I wasn't the only guy that liked him. He wasn't a distraction at all."

Read the rest of the article here .

CooCooKaChoo wrote:

Cap'n' Clutch wrote:Hey all,

Since Ottawa has had experience with hold outs before - See Yashin and more recently Havlat, how do you think this standoff plays out with Meszaros?

From what I've heard Muray has offered max 3.1mil of 2-4 years. Personally, I think he's worth 3.5mil / 4years. He's got way too much upside and he showed it his rookie year. Yes he was with Chuckles, but after that, he was with Redden. Letting this guy go is a mistake. I think he signs 3.1 2years, shortly before camp.


Thanks for starting this Fourum guys, my god I'm tired of Ek's bs and KLee's anger/lack of updates!

Woohoo, someone used my secret banned word.

Cap'n' Clutch wrote:

CooCooKaChoo wrote:

Cap'n' Clutch wrote:Hey all,

Since Ottawa has had experience with hold outs before - See Yashin and more recently Havlat, how do you think this standoff plays out with Meszaros?

From what I've heard Muray has offered max 3.1mil of 2-4 years. Personally, I think he's worth 3.5mil / 4years. He's got way too much upside and he showed it his rookie year. Yes he was with Chuckles, but after that, he was with Redden. Letting this guy go is a mistake. I think he signs 3.1 2years, shortly before camp.


Thanks for starting this Fourum guys, my god I'm tired of Ek's bs and KLee's anger/lack of updates!

Woohoo, someone used my secret banned word.

Nicely done, I didn't even notice

wprager wrote:
....
Fair-enough. I can't disagree with that. But it's still fair to say that Ottawa has a lot of question marks following last season. They lost key players (Stillman, Emery, Redden, Commodore) and are going in with several rookie/sophomores and an almost-rookie coach (no NHL experience in the recent past)....

I don't know if I agree with 'key' players. Stillman was nice alongside Vermette but Emery was horrible, Redden was awful and Commodore just didn't fit. I like Smith as a replacement for Commie, Auld as a replacement for Emery (as a back-up) and Redden of last year could be replaced by anyone pretty much. Stillman just wasn't in the long term plans I think because he was a nice top 6 player if only a little too un-physical.

MurderOnIce wrote:

wprager wrote:
....
Fair-enough. I can't disagree with that. But it's still fair to say that Ottawa has a lot of question marks following last season. They lost key players (Stillman, Emery, Redden, Commodore) and are going in with several rookie/sophomores and an almost-rookie coach (no NHL experience in the recent past)....

I don't know if I agree with 'key' players. Stillman was nice alongside Vermette but Emery was horrible, Redden was awful and Commodore just didn't fit. I like Smith as a replacement for Commie, Auld as a replacement for Emery (as a back-up) and Redden of last year could be replaced by anyone pretty much. Stillman just wasn't in the long term plans I think because he was a nice top 6 player if only a little too un-physical.

I think of recent key losses as being guys like Preissing, Comrie, Corvo (only because of the void left not because I think we should have kept him because he didn't want to be here), Stillman (Again only due to the void left in the top six)