Why didn't we sign Prospal?

[LonghornBob]

Just curious. He was had for under 2 mill by a team that can't win with a two goal head start. Surely he'd have signed with us for less.

Yes, he's 36, but he's a consistent 50 point scorer. That'd put him in the top 5 for us. It would also have allowed us to put Sharp back on a wing with Toews and Kane.

We could have gone:

Kane - Toews - Sharp (fierce scoring line)
Brunette - Prospal - Hossa (some size and some scoring)
Bickell - Bolland - Stalberg / Carcillo (checking line I suppose)
Smith - Kruger - Frolik (speed, speed, and a little more speed)

He just wasn't that much money and he has been productive his entire career at center (other than a few injury shortened seasons, and he still produced when not hurt in those years).

He's never been a point a game guy, but he's solid and he distributes the biscuit.

Anybody have any ideas as to why we didn't go after this guy, considering how cheap he was, how injury-prone Bolland is, and how nice it ould be to move Sharp back to wing?

 

[icehogfan08]

Just curious. He was had for under 2 mill by a team that can't win with a two goal head start. Surely he'd have signed with us for less.

Yes, he's 36, but he's a consistent 50 point scorer. That'd put him in the top 5 for us. It would also have allowed us to put Sharp back on a wing with Toews and Kane.

We could have gone:

Kane - Toews - Sharp (fierce scoring line)
Brunette - Prospal - Hossa (some size and some scoring)
Bickell - Bolland - Stalberg / Carcillo (checking line I suppose)
Smith - Kruger - Frolik (speed, speed, and a little more speed)

He just wasn't that much money and he has been productive his entire career at center (other than a few injury shortened seasons, and he still produced when not hurt in those years).

He's never been a point a game guy, but he's solid and he distributes the biscuit.

Anybody have any ideas as to why we didn't go after this guy, considering how cheap he was, how injury-prone Bolland is, and how nice it ould be to move Sharp back to wing?

No room on the roster for him, he also has been playing wing for the past couple years.

 

[LonghornBob]

He's a natural center though, and as frequently as Bolland goes down, as unproven as Kruger is, and insomuch as Sharp is really a winger playing out of position I'd think we'd make room for him by sending Carcillo or Mayers to Rockford, outright waiving someone, or trading Olesz.

If nothing else, sign him for insurance and healthy scratch whoever isn't hot...

 

[Capt. Serious]

Seriously if Bolly goes down with another injury, this team is in deep shit at center.

But hey Stan thinks we're 'fine' there.

 

[icehogfan08]

He's a natural center though, and as frequently as Bolland goes down, as unproven as Kruger is, and insomuch as Sharp is really a winger playing out of position I'd think we'd make room for him by sending Carcillo or Mayers to Rockford, outright waiving someone, or trading Olesz.

If nothing else, sign him for insurance and healthy scratch whoever isn't hot...

Sure hes a natural center, but hes had injury issues, especially with his knee or leg. It could be hard on him getting up and down the ice. Bowman also said the money thats left he was going to save for a deadline move or 2. No more moves need to be made except a couple signings for Rockford

 

[tbo41fan]

dont expect anymore signings...Bowman will use this extra cash to make a move during the season if we need one

 

[southern_cross_116]

George Brett was a natural 3rd Baseman -that age converted into a 1st Baseman ... Prospal has been a winger for awhile.

Sure I thought the team could use the guy- but as Ice pointed out, he did have a big knee problem last season that limited him to 29 games. I suppose it came down to Brunette or Prospal; Quenneville having had a prior relationship with Brunette, then it seemed logical to go with Brunette.

Personally, I'm a depth guy, I would rather have taken a chance on Prospal for that alone, and let another guy sort of be the fill in guy (I also wouldn't have put him on geezer-line - would have put him with Toews/Kane ... kept Sharp at Centre (as Sharp is a Centre that has worked pretty well with Hossa) - but, well... ok, that was a move that never happened. Water under the bridge.

 

[LonghornBob]

We won our Cup with DEPTH. Our one line didn't have the effin' studs like Marlow/Heatley/Thronton, or Sedin/Sedin/Burrows, or that Malkin/Crosby experiment. Hell, there were a half dozen better first lines.

Our Cup was won because our third and fourth lines were as good as most two lines.

When we were throwing out Bolland, Bickell, Byflugien, Ladd, Versteeg, Burish, Eager, Brouwer, Kopecky, and Hoss against spares, it was church. We moved Buff from the three to the one and back again. He played D for God's sake.

I don't remember if I've ever seen a team so deep that most of the non-core guys who left were given the A or the C on their new teams.

 

[icehogfan08]

We won our Cup with DEPTH. Our one line didn't have the effin' studs like Marlow/Heatley/Thronton, or Sedin/Sedin/Burrows, or that Malkin/Crosby experiment. Hell, there were a half dozen better first lines.

Our Cup was won because our third and fourth lines were as good as most two lines.

When we were throwing out Bolland, Bickell, Byflugien, Ladd, Versteeg, Burish, Eager, Brouwer, Kopecky, and Hoss against spares, it was church. We moved Buff from the three to the one and back again. He played D for God's sake.

I don't remember if I've ever seen a team so deep that most of the non-core guys who left were given the A or the C on their new teams.

Thats the Salary cap tho, Develope within.

 

[DMelt36]

I think the answer to your question is Bowman expects to make a move for a 2nd line center during the season, and that there will be more/better options available.

Is it the best idea? No, because the trade market is very unpredictable. But he's certainly sticking to that decision.

 

[Charlie Roumeliotis]

Have to keep cap room to re-sign Patrick Sharp next season and for a possible deal at the deadline if needed... The Blackhawks learned the hard way last year when they were scrambling for a D-man without any money!

 

[Everyday I'm Byfuglien]

They didnt sign Prospal because they already filled their quota of old men this off season.

Seriously, you can only have so many old balls in the locker room. The current cba has a limit.

 

[LonghornBob]

They didnt sign Prospal because they already filled their quota of old men this off season.

Seriously, you can only have so many old balls in the locker room. The current cba has a limit.

Which means they're going to get the shit fined out of themselves in Detroit ;-)

 

[southern_cross_116]

They didnt sign Prospal because they already filled their quota of old men this off season.

Seriously, you can only have so many old balls in the locker room. The current cba has a limit.

I was going for the rotational theory, myself - which still fits into Buff's scheme - but it didn't happen ... :dunno:

 

[GrinderBall41]

He was my first choice for 2nd line C too.

I think Bowman/Q are really high on Kruger, and if he can't cut it, then Sharp. And if playing C is hurting his goal totals, then trade for a C.

Also, we all want a 2nd line C so that Sharp/Toews/Kane can play together. But I think Q wanted Brunette for the very purpose of playing him with Toews/Kane.

And for the record I have no problem with Brunette/Toews/Kane. That will be a hell of a line.

 

[southern_cross_116]

It should be noted that what Sharp dropped off in goal production while centre he more than made up for in assists -which is the exact same thing (you can't get an assist without a goal being scored).

Think team - not individual statistics.

 

[GrinderBall41]

True. But with a true goal scorer like Sharp, it's a shame to handcuff him.

You're probably right though, he'll get 60-70 pts either way.

I would love to see Kruger live up to his playmaking hype. Sharp and Hossa would have a field day with a true distributer between them.

 

[GrinderBall41]

And I was thinking team statistics. I don't know where to find this stat (I guess +/- without the minus factor), but I would guess that Sharp's lines score more goals per minute with him on the wing than at center.

Seems intuitive that the more opportunities Sharp gets to shoot, the more goals the team scores.

 

[southern_cross_116]

Seems intuitive that the more opportunities Sharp gets to shoot, the more goals the team scores.

That only holds true if he didn't more than make up the difference with assists, which means that someone else is scoring.

Edited to add: I was basing my comment upon the 2008-09 compared to the 2009-10 seasons, based upon actual stastics as posted (and presuming a fair amount of Sharp's assist were coming from Hossa's goal scoring. It all evens out, as Hossa is a great playmaker in his own right -so being a center doesn't actually negate any goal scoring opportunities -which is what seems to be getting implied.

It comes down to quality of linemates in effect. Based upon the top six on paper, it seems like there isn't any issue.