Rich

http://www.thescore.com/news/699212

They must have high hopes for Lemieux giving him over $1M on his entry level. Scheifele - 833k Lowry - 925k Trouba - 833K Copp - 925K Petan - 693K Ehlers - 925K Morrrissey - 925K Schefiele and Trouba signed a few years ago now so that could simply be inflation. But he is making more then Ehlers and Morrissey. Same draft year as Ehlers. I might have heard one of the reasons Buffalo was willing to part with him is that they were having problems signing him.

Nobody is really watching the scoreboard during timeouts and commercials If I'm paying for advertising, I want it on when the majority of 30,000 pairs of eyes are on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, it is a reality of todays economics of sports.

As mentioned above, pending means your pick is in but the result of the game hasn't been put in yet.

Will O'Neill, formerly of the Ice Caps, has signed with Pittsburgh.

Not sure what that means. You would prefer they were "entrenched" in a communist system? It doesn't matter what system you are entrenched in if your people don't want to pay income taxes, and the government can't be bothered to collect them, or enforce income tax laws. It also doesn't matter what system you are in when your people decide they want everything for nothing, and think they are entitled to it. You are pretty much screwed at that point. Have a look at the Roman Empire at its peak. Why did it fail? Because everyone stopped working for a living, and just had a big party, and they became so soft that they were easy prey for other warring nations that just tore the entire empire apart. If you want some insight into the Greek mind, just look at how other countries have planned for and built infrastructure for the Olympics. They always build with a future plan to use the infrastructure, or move it somewhere else. They have a plan. Greece didn't have a plan for their 2004 Olypmics. They just built these massive stadiums with hundreds of millions of borrowed euros, and now they are all just rotting, unused. Typical Greek planning. That's why that country is so screwed. They have become the welfare case of Europe. I'm too lazy to go looking for the link - but the problem of unused and rotting Olympics infrastructure isn't unique to Greece. Nor is it unique to the Olympics. See the World Cup in Brazil.

Former Jet James Wright has signed a one year deal with the Islanders after spending some time in the KHL.

It has since come out that the Bombers offered Sears an extension at the end of last season but he wanted to look at NFL options. When those didn't pan out he came back to the club but money had already been used on other contracts and we could no longer sign him. Loved Sears play on the field. Business is business. He will be good for Hamilton.

The day the Jets run this team based on perceived fan reaction is the day we might as well stop trying.

It really depends if the cap continues to stay relatively the same or starts to rise again. This is of course highly dependant on the Canadian dollar. If the cap is up to $80M in year 3, $85M+ in year 4/5 it really isn't that bad of a contract. If the cap stays below $80M over the next 5 years, they may regret it when some of their younger players start coming up.

Petan will be better served getting top 6 minutes on the Moose then playing 4th line on the Jets. 4th line will likely be a combination of Copp & Thorburn with Halischuk / Peluso / some other players yet to be signed all rotating in.

TSN free agent tracker reporting that Justin Williams just signed with Washington .. 2 years ... no term reported yet. That ship has sailed.

That is a pretty general statement to make. Last time I checked Evander Kane was Canadian. Poison players are human nature and come in all nationalities. Lots of Russians that are not poison. For a while there has been a flight risk to the KHL, which I think was a bigger reason teams shied away from them, but with the messed up economy in Russia, the risk is less. Specific to Burmi, yes there has been rumours that he isn't great in the locker room. I think the Jets room is pretty strong though and can handle him. Even given character issues, there is no way I'd take O'Dell over Burmi. There are much better NHL players we have in our system over O'Dell.

Are you serious with this statement? Serious in the sense that Slater, Frolik and ODell were our 'depth' guys last year - all of them filled in when injuries hit I could have said no 'proven' depth... ODell was borderline but he could play. After ODell not many call-up options last year. Armia, Copp, Ehlers, Lipon... lot of question marks - be surprised if Chevy doesn't pick up one or two more, maybe even sign Slater to a 1 year O'Dell only managed 11 games with us last year and 30 the year before. Wouldn't really call that proven either and his NHL games with us was going down not up. It was pretty obvious he wasn't going to get much more of a chance here to play in the NHL. O'Dell signed a one year 2-way deal with Ottawa, his home team. To me that means they pretty much see him as a fringe NHLer at best, with maybe the feel good story of getting a home town boy into the lineup. ODell was injured for a good chunk of last year. Not saying that ODell is the key to a Stanley Cup win... just saying that Chevy is going all in with his 'draft develop' model Right now, I'd take ODell over Burmistrov... maybe he'll prove me wrong. I'd take Burmi over O'Dell every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Not even a contest. O'Dell is not a loss. He is a free agent AHLer who signed with his home town team. 25 years old and a grand total of 41 NHL games played. Like I said, ODell alone, not a big deal - Frolik, Slater, ODell not a big deal to start the season but if two starters go down... Ladd-Little-Stafford Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler Perrault-Lowry-Burmistrov Thorburn-Copp-Peluso Lipon-Armia Pretty sure Chevy signs a couple UFAs Completely agree there are more signings to come. But O'Dell is not a loss whatsoever. Never mind the comment on Burmi.... Burmi's KHL numbers are not exactly awe-inspiring... we'll see what Maurice can do His KHL numbers are meaningless when you make a statement like saying you would prefer O'Dell over Burmistrov, which would have to mean that you consider O'Dell a better player. Burmi's points per game in the NHL almost double O'Dell's. Never mind the much larger sample size or the fact that Burmi logs time on both the PK and PP while O'Dell does neither. Burmi also doubles O'Dells time on ice per game, and before you use the time on ice as an excuse for lower point numbers, don't. O'Dell didn't get more ice time for the simple fact that he is at best a 4th line plug.

Are you serious with this statement? Serious in the sense that Slater, Frolik and ODell were our 'depth' guys last year - all of them filled in when injuries hit I could have said no 'proven' depth... ODell was borderline but he could play. After ODell not many call-up options last year. Armia, Copp, Ehlers, Lipon... lot of question marks - be surprised if Chevy doesn't pick up one or two more, maybe even sign Slater to a 1 year O'Dell only managed 11 games with us last year and 30 the year before. Wouldn't really call that proven either and his NHL games with us was going down not up. It was pretty obvious he wasn't going to get much more of a chance here to play in the NHL. O'Dell signed a one year 2-way deal with Ottawa, his home team. To me that means they pretty much see him as a fringe NHLer at best, with maybe the feel good story of getting a home town boy into the lineup. ODell was injured for a good chunk of last year. Not saying that ODell is the key to a Stanley Cup win... just saying that Chevy is going all in with his 'draft develop' model Right now, I'd take ODell over Burmistrov... maybe he'll prove me wrong. I'd take Burmi over O'Dell every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Not even a contest. O'Dell is not a loss. He is a free agent AHLer who signed with his home town team. 25 years old and a grand total of 41 NHL games played. Like I said, ODell alone, not a big deal - Frolik, Slater, ODell not a big deal to start the season but if two starters go down... Ladd-Little-Stafford Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler Perrault-Lowry-Burmistrov Thorburn-Copp-Peluso Lipon-Armia Pretty sure Chevy signs a couple UFAs Completely agree there are more signings to come. But O'Dell is not a loss whatsoever. Never mind the comment on Burmi....

Are you serious with this statement? Serious in the sense that Slater, Frolik and ODell were our 'depth' guys last year - all of them filled in when injuries hit I could have said no 'proven' depth... ODell was borderline but he could play. After ODell not many call-up options last year. Armia, Copp, Ehlers, Lipon... lot of question marks - be surprised if Chevy doesn't pick up one or two more, maybe even sign Slater to a 1 year O'Dell only managed 11 games with us last year and 30 the year before. Wouldn't really call that proven either and his NHL games with us was going down not up. It was pretty obvious he wasn't going to get much more of a chance here to play in the NHL. O'Dell signed a one year 2-way deal with Ottawa, his home team. To me that means they pretty much see him as a fringe NHLer at best, with maybe the feel good story of getting a home town boy into the lineup. ODell was injured for a good chunk of last year. Not saying that ODell is the key to a Stanley Cup win... just saying that Chevy is going all in with his 'draft develop' model Right now, I'd take ODell over Burmistrov... maybe he'll prove me wrong. I'd take Burmi over O'Dell every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Not even a contest. O'Dell is not a loss. He is a free agent AHLer who signed with his home town team. 25 years old and a grand total of 41 NHL games played.

Are you serious with this statement? Serious in the sense that Slater, Frolik and ODell were our 'depth' guys last year - all of them filled in when injuries hit I could have said no 'proven' depth... ODell was borderline but he could play. After ODell not many call-up options last year. Armia, Copp, Ehlers, Lipon... lot of question marks - be surprised if Chevy doesn't pick up one or two more, maybe even sign Slater to a 1 year O'Dell only managed 11 games with us last year and 30 the year before. Wouldn't really call that proven either and his NHL games with us was going down not up. It was pretty obvious he wasn't going to get much more of a chance here to play in the NHL. O'Dell signed a one year 2-way deal with Ottawa, his home town. To me that means they pretty much see him as a fringe NHLer at best, with maybe the feel good story of getting a home town boy into the lineup.

Arizona sign Vermette for 2 years $3.75M AAV. Not a bad deal for Arizona, trade him since yo aren't in the playoffs, get a 1st round draft pick, then sign Vermette back for next season.

Are you serious with this statement?

Trade an elite, unique, 'puts bums in seats' type player in his prime for a player who probably isn't in his prime. Does not compute. Where did I say I want to trade him for a player who isn't in his prime? You are probably getting a good 3rd line forward (maybe 2nd), a prospect, and a pick. Either way we need the depth on forward more than a D-man right now. Unfortunately we also need roster players more than we need prospects right now. But you can always package up prospects in a trade. But if Buff's camp is standing pat on wanting a 6 - 7 year deal, than the Jets have a choice to make: A - Sign him to that deal and likely regret it for the last 3 - 4 years as an ageing Buff deteriorates fast. B - Trade him C - Keep him next year and lose him in free agency Given those options, I would be fine with either B or C. I would absolutely hate it if we gave Buff, a 260+ pound man with a history of not being in the best of shape and working out, a deal that would take him to 36+ years of age making 7+ million dollars (probably higher), regardless of how unique he is or how many bums he puts into a guaranteed sold out arena. I never said you personally want him traded. i was reacting to your speculation, hence the bolded part. Also, I keep reading about his fitness. I don't have the exact stats on me, but he seemed to be able to play a higher amount of minutes for us this past season. Ironically he was being criticized for taking too long of shifts. We're both guessing on which route he takes as he gets older. You assume his history will dictate that, fair enough. I assume he's a competitor and will commit to being fit at the level he needs to be a impact player. So you would be fine committing $7 - 8M annually for 7 - 8 years? Good question. If I was GM, I would try to sign him to a three to four year deal 24-32 million. Has his agent formally asked for an 7-8 year deal? If so, no I would not sign him for that long. I'd be fine with that term and dollar value as well. But there have been rumblings that he will be looking for longer. Could just be media speculation though.

Trade an elite, unique, 'puts bums in seats' type player in his prime for a player who probably isn't in his prime. Does not compute. Where did I say I want to trade him for a player who isn't in his prime? You are probably getting a good 3rd line forward (maybe 2nd), a prospect, and a pick. Either way we need the depth on forward more than a D-man right now. Unfortunately we also need roster players more than we need prospects right now. But you can always package up prospects in a trade. But if Buff's camp is standing pat on wanting a 6 - 7 year deal, than the Jets have a choice to make: A - Sign him to that deal and likely regret it for the last 3 - 4 years as an ageing Buff deteriorates fast. B - Trade him C - Keep him next year and lose him in free agency Given those options, I would be fine with either B or C. I would absolutely hate it if we gave Buff, a 260+ pound man with a history of not being in the best of shape and working out, a deal that would take him to 36+ years of age making 7+ million dollars (probably higher), regardless of how unique he is or how many bums he puts into a guaranteed sold out arena. I never said you personally want him traded. i was reacting to your speculation, hence the bolded part. Also, I keep reading about his fitness. I don't have the exact stats on me, but he seemed to be able to play a higher amount of minutes for us this past season. Ironically he was being criticized for taking too long of shifts. We're both guessing on which route he takes as he gets older. You assume his history will dictate that, fair enough. I assume he's a competitor and will commit to being fit at the level he needs to be a impact player. And he puts bums in seats in other arenas as well. And he will still do that if he plays for another team. It isn't the Jets job to fill others teams arenas. Their job is to utilize their cap and budget to play the best team they can.

Trade an elite, unique, 'puts bums in seats' type player in his prime for a player who probably isn't in his prime. Does not compute. Where did I say I want to trade him for a player who isn't in his prime? You are probably getting a good 3rd line forward (maybe 2nd), a prospect, and a pick. Either way we need the depth on forward more than a D-man right now. Unfortunately we also need roster players more than we need prospects right now. But you can always package up prospects in a trade. But if Buff's camp is standing pat on wanting a 6 - 7 year deal, than the Jets have a choice to make: A - Sign him to that deal and likely regret it for the last 3 - 4 years as an ageing Buff deteriorates fast. B - Trade him C - Keep him next year and lose him in free agency Given those options, I would be fine with either B or C. I would absolutely hate it if we gave Buff, a 260+ pound man with a history of not being in the best of shape and working out, a deal that would take him to 36+ years of age making 7+ million dollars (probably higher), regardless of how unique he is or how many bums he puts into a guaranteed sold out arena. I never said you personally want him traded. i was reacting to your speculation, hence the bolded part. Also, I keep reading about his fitness. I don't have the exact stats on me, but he seemed to be able to play a higher amount of minutes for us this past season. Ironically he was being criticized for taking too long of shifts. We're both guessing on which route he takes as he gets older. You assume his history will dictate that, fair enough. I assume he's a competitor and will commit to being fit at the level he needs to be a impact player. So you would be fine committing $7 - 8M annually for 7 - 8 years?

Reasonable deal for Beleskey. Depends how he plays. Lots of term for him. Nearly four million....and a no trade? Overpay Yeah, I thought someone was going to give him a higher AAV. It isn't a crippling amount cap wise though, especially in the later years of that deal. Given his season best of 32 points, I'm glad he didn't sign with the Jets.

Reasonable deal for Beleskey.