NEW FEATURE: Cronie's Corner

Rumours from our beloved co-founder Cronie is just around the corner! This site is blocked from work for him + he has two young children to deal with, but he's gonna do a special segment where he tosses out rumours (with his own sources).

Gonna be great to have him back!

:KKK:

Greetings all!

Nice to be back here at GMHockey, but I really, really can't be here very often. It's blocked from here to kingdom come at work and I have 2 young children that keep me very busy!

So, from now on, I'll relay any rumours I hear to you guys. Now remember, these are sources that I have, so I can't and won't be revealing them ever - and also, as with any rumour, you either take it with a grain of salt, or you set yourself up for disappointment.

Now...on to the few things I've heard recently:


So far, I am hearing about tire kicking on Mason in Columbus, but I called out this contact as I doubt Murray will take another goalie from the guy who gave us Leclaire...he seems adamant though.

Also, SJ's interest in Gonchar is legit, and talks back and forth between Wilson and Murray are friendly...no idea what Ottawa is looking for from Gonchar, but Setoguchi/McGinn + a pick sounds like it would be possible.

I'll continue to update as I hear. Nice to be back!

Good stuff, like the return for Gonchar. Seto is RFA after this year, so we could cut him loose or get him on the cheap.

C4 has a better ring to it than E4

with the impending departure of phillips, you guys think its really wise to trade away gonchar? Yeah this season was supposed to be a deep run in the playoffs, but that's not the only reason we got him. We got him to mentor our upcoming defensive prospects too, and Karlsson.

So if gonch is traded, we're probably looking at resigning phillips. If both are traded....then our veteran blue liner next season is guaranteed to be Filip Kuba....you guys really want that???

EDIt: and do you really wanna re-sign phillips while his play has been so craptacular??

Michallica wrote:with the impending departure of phillips, you guys think its really wise to trade away gonchar? Yeah this season was supposed to be a deep run in the playoffs, but that's not the only reason we got him. We got him to mentor our upcoming defensive prospects too, and Karlsson.

So if gonch is traded, we're probably looking at resigning phillips. If both are traded....then our veteran blue liner next season is guaranteed to be Filip Kuba....you guys really want that???

EDIt: and do you really wanna re-sign phillips while his play has been so craptacular??

To be brutally honest, I'd much rather keep Phillips over Gonchar and it's not even close.

We have a ton of right handed defenceman expected to be in the lineup next year (Karlsson, Runbland, Lee, Carkner) and with Karlsson emerging as a top line guy it makes Gonchar slightly redundant. I fully expect the guy to bounce back next year no matter where he is, but if he hinders development on our young guys I would rather he return to form elsewhere (this is on the hypothetical that we get fair value back).

What does right handed dmen have to do with gonch? u mean to create more of a balance with the left handed phillips as opposed to left handed gonchar? yeah I guess i can see that point, but fact is that they brought him to ottawa to be more than just a power play QB. and that +/- is improving now....

Michallica wrote:What does right handed dmen have to do with gonch? u mean to create more of a balance with the left handed phillips as opposed to left handed gonchar? yeah I guess i can see that point, but fact is that they brought him to ottawa to be more than just a power play QB. and that +/- is improving now....

There seems to be a real fixation on balancing L and R handed D men in these parts...

SeawaySensFan wrote:There seems to be a real fixation on balancing L and R handed D men in these parts...

Yeah it was quite the abomination this season....

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Michallica wrote:What does right handed dmen have to do with gonch? u mean to create more of a balance with the left handed phillips as opposed to left handed gonchar? yeah I guess i can see that point, but fact is that they brought him to ottawa to be more than just a power play QB. and that +/- is improving now....

There seems to be a real fixation on balancing L and R handed D men in these parts...

Gonchar is a leftie, though.

Nice to have you back Cronie.

I'd actually like to keep Alfie, Gonchar, Spezza and Phillips on the team as mentor figures unless someone blows us out of the water with an offer. Kelly too, actually; I really like the way his game has come around. But I'd do unspeakable things to get Kuba off the roster, and Fisher can go if there's a deal to be had.

asq2 wrote:Nice to have you back Cronie.

I'd actually like to keep Alfie, Gonchar, Spezza and Phillips on the team as mentor figures unless someone blows us out of the water with an offer. Kelly too, actually; I really like the way his game has come around. But I'd do unspeakable things to get Kuba off the roster, and Fisher can go if there's a deal to be had.

Unless someone blows BM out of the water with an offer for him, I expect Phillips to stay. Most people here underestimate his value to the club, and they certainly overestimate the kind of return he would get (Krejci + ?? ) and/or the ease with which a team can re-sign a player during the FA period after it has traded him away.

But we shall see.

rooneypoo wrote:

asq2 wrote:Nice to have you back Cronie.

I'd actually like to keep Alfie, Gonchar, Spezza and Phillips on the team as mentor figures unless someone blows us out of the water with an offer. Kelly too, actually; I really like the way his game has come around. But I'd do unspeakable things to get Kuba off the roster, and Fisher can go if there's a deal to be had.

Unless someone blows BM out of the water with an offer for him, I expect Phillips to stay. Most people here underestimate his value to the club, and they certainly overestimate the kind of return he would get (Krejci + ?? ) and/or the ease with which a team can re-sign a player during the FA period after it has traded him away.

But we shall see.

You've gone from 100% he re-signs and he's our future Captain to it's probably more then 50% that he stays here to unless BM is blown out of the water Phillips will stay here and people under estimate his value to the team.

So are we back to 100% again or is there a link here that you will explain to me to show that it all makes perfect sense and all means the exact same thing?

Trading Phillips and then re-signing him in the off-season will not be easy. It would require a verbal agreement with Melnyk (since Murray is not likely to be the GM for much longer). And even then, who knows. Would Phillips want to move his family? Probably not, but there are probably a few locales that could interest him.