Fletcher
on the day: We were able to add a couple of quality NHL forwards, and we've added a couple of quality players for Iowa that will provide great depth for us. It's been a good day. Obviously having the shopping period you're able to speak with agents and players for several days before today, so it's changed the nature of July 1st so now you have a pretty good idea of what's happening. You have a pretty good idea of who has interest in you, and who doesn't, and the type of term they may be looking for. You still have to wait until today to talk specific figures, so there's always some risk, but coming into today we had a pretty good idea of what we accomplished was able to be accomplished.
Eric Staal the same Eric Staal: Time will tell. As players get older, let's be honest, when you're 32 years old you're not the same player as when you're 25, 26. But we think this is a good situation with Eric, and obviously, he felt the same way. We have some quality players he can play with. We certainly have an important role he can fill. And the most important thing about the deal is he was able to give us a cap number that works for us, and will allow us to fill in some players around him as well. He was willing to work with us. He's a quality centermen, has skill, good on faceoffs, can play 200 feet, and along with Mikko and Haula we now have three guys through the middle of the ice who can defend well, and also contribute offensively.
Granlund and Coyle at wing: I thought Granlund played really well on the wing, even through the World Championship. He looked very comfortable there. There's obviously a lot less responsibility defensively on the wing. That allows him to focus a lot more offensively. He's such a diligent player. When he defended as a center iceman, he never cheated, he played hard, and that maybe compromised his ability to get up the ice and contribute offensively all the time. This should lead to a much more productive season for him.
Same thing with Charlie. He's a big body. I know the coaches were certainly comfortable playing him at center, but Charlie likes both positions. Certainly he's a premier power forward on the wing, and he's a very good power center at center. With Staal and Koivu, that's tremendous size through the middle, and now we can get Charlie on the wing, and along with Nino, and now Stewart in particular, we have three really big bodies on the wing. Our team is much bigger, we're much more experienced, we're much deeper, and I like our group. The fact that we didn't have to sacrifice any of our young defensemen to fill these holes is important. Certainly strength of our team remains the strength of our defense corps.
Wanted to get bigger? More physical, maybe, but bigger, (to) control the walls better, and be able to establish better offensive zone play. We had a stat that our folks came up with. We were one of the worst teams in the league last year on puck recoveries. Does that speak to size? Possibly. We've added a bit more size up front, and allowing Charlie to play the wing more often will certainly allow us to recover more pucks, and that's a big part of the game. We didn't' seem to have as much offensive zone play last year. Clearly we need to shoot the puck a little bit more often, but if you can't get the puck, it's hard to shoot it. This was a big part of fixing that problem in terms of generating more offense, generating more shots. We'll be able to recover pucks a little bit better than last year.
Stewart: I'm a big fan, personally. He fit very well with our team; great chemistry. I know Bruce really enjoyed him last year in Anaheim. Again, he had a tough injury. Broke his jaw and missed a lot of time, but he was on pace for about an 11-goal season again playing about 11 minutes a night only in Anaheim. He's a guy we think can contribute 10-plus goals and potentially 30 points depending on where he plays. He had good chemistry with Mikko when he was here, but he's also a guy who can play on the third or fourth line. It gives you a lot of flexibility, and that size is important. When we went on the road when he was here we were a much more confident team.
Staal other interest: You'd have to ask him. I can't speak to what he was offered. I just know that by buying out Vanek we created some cap space, and actually, if you look at the dollars we spent on Staal and Stewart, plus the Vanek buyouy, it almost adds up to what Thomas made last year. We basically allocated all of those dollars for two players. That's really what we felt what we had. We want to have a little bit of space here going forward, and we have enough space that depending on how the next few days go, we might find a situation where we have a player that's very interested in playing for us at a very good cap rate. We haven't had that luxury the last couple of years. We're excited that we can still potentially add somebody here and still have a bit of flexibility going forward. You'll have to speak to Eric, but I know he made it very clear to us that he wanted to come here. Money is always a bit of a factor, but the cap number, the salary he took was way down his list of considerations. We're the beneficiaries of that, and very fortunate for that.
Stewart bring lightheartedness to room: Going 1-14-2 led to that a little bit. I mentioned this at the end of the year that the things about our room were a little bit overstated. When you're winning, usually your room is great. When you're in a tough stretch you're certainly more tense, and guys aren't as happy with each other, or happy with the coach, or happy with the manager. It's just the way it goes. Adding both these guys, they're veteran guys, they've played in the league. Staal has won a Stanley Cup, Stewart is familiar with our group. He got along with everybody when he was here. Any time you add veteran guys that have been through the ups and downs it will help your room. And our younger guys again, they're not that young anymore, but now they've had a lot of experiences. Guys like Charlie in Granlund I challenged at the end of the year. 'You guys have to step up, and it's time for you guys to grab some leadership here, and start to assert yourself too, within the room, and within the group.' Hopefully last year will make us stronger this year, and certainly we're deeper, bigger, and I believe more skilled than we were last year. We just have to learn for last year.
who you going after?: We'll get the best player we can get. Whether it's a big guy, or a skilled player, it doesn't have to be a fourth line player. As the days go on, prices come down dramatically, and hopefully we can be shopping in an environment where we have some options to look at. We'll see what happens. Maybe something happens tonight; maybe it's a week or two from now. I like the flexibility that we have.
Trades done?: You can never say that. Trades are a two-way street and we certainly, I don't think I've ever spoken to more managers more often than I have the past few weeks. We were very well aware of what was available, and what wasn't. We made the right move with the information that we had right now. But going forward we'll see how things play out. I know Scott Stevens in particular and obviously Bruce really wanted to get to know our young defensemen. I believe it's the strength of our team. We have great depth. Going forward we'll see how that works out, but it's a nice luxury to have. It certainly gives us options down the road.
who was overpaid? I would say almost all of them (laughs). But again, good for them. That's the nature of it, and we've certainly been a part of the free agent market before. You typically have to pay bigger dollars, or add a couple extra years of term. The players have worked hard to get that right. That's their CBA right, and it's an opportunity to acquire a player without making a trade or giving up an asset. But cap space is still an asset, and I'd like to think the deals we signed today were certainly very easy to justify on a production basis.
Stalock: Alex had a great attitude, and he's very excited about getting down to Des Moine and playing. When you're a backup goalie sometimes for a few years you don't get a lot of starts, and you're game can slip. He really wants to get in and play games, and get his game back to the level it can be. He's a competitive guy, and to have Dubnyk, Kuemper, and Stalock, that's the best depth by far we've had since I've been here. You combine that with our defense where we have great depth, and now up front we have a lot of depth, and still have guys like Schroeder, and Dalpe, and Tuch, and Anas, and Downing, and a lot of young talent that's pushing through. It's going to be a highly competitive camp, and it's going to be a pretty good hockey team.
