Vancouver & Chicago

[Gilly]

Vancouver Rec's

G Niklas Backstrom, $5.0m (2016-2017)
C Brad Richards, $7.3m (2014-2015)

= $12.3m


Chicago Rec's

G Antti Niemi, $3.8m (2014-2015)
C Mike Fisher, $4m (2014-2015)
D John Moore, $0.2m (P-13/14)
LW Pierre-Marc Bouchard, $0.9m (2013-2014)

= $8.9m

I wanted this deal for Back's....I had Niemi and that gets me 3/4 of the starts for San Jose, but with Back's I get all the Wild starts as I have back up boy Harding...If Thomas signs with a team with the combination of all the Wild starts things will be looking nice for Vancouver.   I got over payed Richards, but I have faith in his skills and that he will have a sweet season this year, he joins Henrik on my center line and that sounds alright to me

Thanks Anthony for the quick deal bud!!

Gilly

[Anthony]

The goalie situation only makes sense for both of us. I get a personal favorite in Niemi, he has every start in Minnesota with 2 very good goalies. I save a little cap and get some players back for Richards who produces, just not for the money I am paying him.

Good dealing Gilly

[Tyler]

Me oh my Gilly lol

I don't see how trading the #1 Goalie in the league last year who carry's a 3.8M cap hit along with great role players is worth a vastly overpaid Richards who barely out produced Fisher who is in the same deal... and the goalie going back the other way is a 30+ goalie who is on the severe decline to pair with an MS ridden goalie who may or may not play due to his condition....

I dunno abt this one

[Eric]

I agree with Tyler on this one. I would much rather have Neimi and Backstrom. Yeah Richards is expensive, but you could maybe get at least a bit more in return for the best goalie.

[Gilly]

lollol is all i have to say, yeah 82 for sure starts is bad, lol

[norrya66]

The #1 player at the #1 position in the league demands more than this.  Sorry guys...

 

[Tyler]

lollol is all i have to say, yeah 82 for sure starts is bad, lol

Who's guaranteeing 82 starts? Harding played like 2 games last year and Backstrom coming off an injury that kept him out entire playoffs. Darcy Kuemper played more than Harding last year alone!

And Niemi in SJ plays 85% of the games and is much younger and was best fantasy goalie in the league last yr

[Drew]

Can't approve this, not getting the production back for the top goalie last year

[Gilly]

We are re-working, cheers!!

[Rob]

To me in the "very short term" the aggregate fantasy points are pretty close.  I expect Backstrom and Niemi to put up similar point totals.  I expect Richards to bounce back with new management and be far more productive than Fisher.  Bouchard is a nice depth piece and makes up for the difference between Fisher and Richards. 

As a GM who regularly trades youth for immediate production, I can see Gilly's logic to an extent.

However...

Niemi is 6 years younger than Backstrom and Richards has question marks after being buried in the lineup in the playoffs when he wasn't watching from a luxury box.  A lot of that was Tortorella and I do believe he will bounce back under Vigneault, but I wouldn't hedge my bets too heavily on him, especially with a $7.3m cap hit for 2 more years. Also he's no spring chicken.....

The "very short term" I mentioned earlier is really 1-2 years.  I see this as a crippling deal for Vancouver to make after that.  Especially when you consider the market for goalies in this league.  I've been in talks with many teams about goalies and that asking prices are ridiculous.  Niemi is worth Backstrom + a really nice piece.  I might consider Niemi for Backstrom + Richards fair IF Chicago were to eat a good chunk of Richards' salary cap.  But even still, if I were Vancouver I wouldn't make that deal. 

 

Sorry Mike.  You have to try harder to get more value in your trades.  Many of your deals are fair enough to pass but don't improve your team.  You could get a much better return for a guy like Niemi.  If you're not getting offers that make sense just wait it out.  At some point a GM will go nuts for a goalie and send you a nice haul.  Look at that LA/EDM trade for example.