[ames7]

You know, during the season, I was right there with you, I thought we should let Syd go. I think he improved his value in the playoffs. I think you're right, this is somewhere they need to look at for clearing cap room, b/c I don't think he's going to take that big of a pay cut. You're already paying Norstrom so much, I don't think you can commit more than $2mil to Sydor. I also don't think it should be more than a year. However, I don't think Syd is a 7th D...if he's still, he'll be in the same role as he was this year.

Without Syd, the D looks like this: Zubov, Boucher, Norstrom, Robi, Daley, Grossman, Baumgardener. If you want to have another veteran, maybe you even look at keeping Klemmer instead (at the much cheaper rate, obviously).

(Side note: looking at that list, you know who I wouldn't mind shopping? Daley. That dude...sometimes you see the flashes of brilliance, but so much more often, he's getting burned. He's also young, you'd think there'd be a market for him. You're more likely to move him than Norstrom's contract.)

I have to disagree about Stu(uuu). I know we all look at him with our rose-colored glasses of adoration, but if you really watch him play every game, you have to see his value. He's so good. I think he's our single best penalty killer. (Yeah. Better than Lehts.) I think that line with Lundqvist & Halpern has the potential for a truly great shutdown line for several years. You can see Tipp thinks so too, b/c how often do you see him keep a line together for so long? I think you have to have players like Stu Barnes. I also think he's at a point in his career that he's not looking for the big pay day. He wants to stay & try to win the Cup. I think he'll stay for an extremely reasonable price.