Does Kennedy Signing Complete Roster?

While I wouldn’t mind adding a Stempniak, right now I wouldn’t do it. Too much money for too much risk. If you get the Yotesniak then hell yes, sign him right this second. But if you sign him right now and get the Leafsniak then you done messed up.

If training camp comes around and he’s still not signed I’d kick the tires on a hometown discount and see what happens.

There’s SO much flexibility on this team up front it’s futile to attempt a prediction.

The top 6 is pretty well defined I’d say with the exception of stafford/ennis. I watched a bit of game 5 against Boston the other day on NHLN and was very re-impressed with Ennis. The guy has glue on his stick and the hands of a young connolly. If you give him time to build a rapport with 2 guys I think they’ll click quite well. Now the question is which two guys?

Hecht is mobile in my eyes between 2nd or 3rd line. I like how he plays with Connolly so that may be a forgone conclusion at #2.

Stafford is generally considered a 2nd line player but maybe adding some offensive punch to a line with Kaleta and Goose isn’t such a bad idea?

Grier should not be relied on for putting up points but do you relegate him to a purely checking role?

Kennedy is hard to peg as well. The center experiment failed so he’ll be a winger all year. His stature limits his checking ability on a 4th line yet for $1M he best be putting up more than 26 points. He’s the enigma I guess.

The defense is coming together nicely. I really like the Leopold signing to be the another stable veteran on a pairing. The way it’s shaking down you’ll see a vet and a youngster on each line. The race between Butler/Sekera/Weber will be interesting in camp. I really want to give Weber a chance this year, but the path is pretty well blocked assuming no injuries.

This is where a trade might make sense. We have a crowded defensive house with the current NHLers and the bevy of prospects we’ve drafted the past few years. I could see Darcy swinging for a high level center/wing prospect for one of these almost NHL ready d-men and 2md/3rd round pick. There’s a point where too much depth hampers the development for your future. (Though the 2006 ECF tells a different tale).

Should be some exciting camp battles nonetheless

As far as a straight up FA signing, I can’t see it happening without moving someone out first.

I think the #7 defensemen slot (well, #6 because Rivet is injured for training camp at least) will be Weber, as evidenced by my signature.

Other than that, we are pretty full on players, so if we acquire anyone, we’d have to trade some other player for a pick or a prospect.

Also, i think you reversed the order of our defensive parings (not that it matters)

I too have noticed that we are 2 or 3 million under budget and wonder if there is a trade of some sort on the backburner.

Stafford deserves another chance and will get one. I hope it’s a short, short leash this year though. I saw on Twitter that he’s been training with Parise and Okposo so that’s a good sign I guess. He could be using his time for his band or something, maybe he understands that he can’t take his NHL career for granted.

Everyone seems angry that we didn’t get a PP quarterback but don’t forget that Myers could fill that role. I’m expecting general improvement in Myers’ game for his sophomore season. I trust in his maturity.

I’m excited about Ennis, Gerbe, and Weber. Ennis is awesome and I’m really looking forward to see what he’s capable of. Gerbe seemed to be finding a way to be really effective in the NHL at the end of last season and the playoffs. Weber will help to bring some more toughness and grit and could serve as a nice partner for a more offensively inclined partner.

It will be a competitive training camp and season, I’m sure.

I seem to think that we have too many forwards in our organization that can play at the NHL level. I honestly like all of them on the list above, but I don’t see the point of having an Ennis or Gerbe playing in the NHL while a Stafford or another forward would be scratched. Therefore, I will expect to see a trade before the preseason starts in September; I honestly really can’t guess who can go, but I would not be against any big surprises that could change the dynamic on our team (maybe a new top six forward for a top six and 3rd liners on our team?).

On the other hand, we could just have a big competition going into the season, which can also be very healthy for players who had let us down at the end of last season.

I was really hoping they would acquire someone to play with Roy and Vanek that could elevate that line to 100+ goal mark. With Stafford that line struggles to get to 80 goals.

I’m also concerned that there’s no one who can play with Myers to form a true shutdown pair. Of the LHD that might play with Myers (Leopold,Sekera,Weber) none of them are 1st pair material IMO. I’m afraid Myers will be spending more time covering for his partner’s mistakes then rushing up the ice creating scoring chances.

At the post season press conference Regier made it sound like there would be significant changes. I like Leopold and Niedermayer but they’re not going to take this team to the next level.
Overall I’m pretty disappointed in this offseason (so far).

This team still desperately desires a PP-QB, like Tomas Kaberle or Sheldon Souray, and a RW to replace Stafford, who’s simply way, way too inconsistent to be counted on; he’s proven that over the last three years. There are three guys in free agency that comes to my mind:

1) Lee Stempniak (Scored 28 goals last year and absolutely lit it up with the Coyotes. Is a very promising player, though he has had consistency issues and isn’t overly big)

2) Paul Kariya (Kariya can still score 25+ goals imo. and has tremendous experience which could teach guys like Tim Kennedy and Tyler Ennis a lot)

3) Bill Guerin (Guerin, a lot like Kariya, can still get it done, though he is not exactly young anymore. You can expect 20+ goals from him, a tremendous leader in the locker room and a guy that could really teach the young guys valid lessons about playing in the NFL for a long time)