Monday, July 1, 2013

Goodbye Ribeiro; Now Who's Next?

GMGM announced that he's going to to let free agent Mike Ribeiro walk on July 5, rather than pay him millions to try to re-sign him.

Bye Mike; you did great last year, and you showed us what a good 2nd-line center can do. Good luck wherever you go next year.

That being said, who should the Caps try to target? Here are some options

1. Stephen Weiss ($3.1M cap hit)
Pros: He is a solid scorer who can do it all, and is fantastic at taking face-offs (which Ribeiro struggled with). Plus, he is less expensive than Ribeiro.
Cons: He is not as old as Ribeiro, but is still 30. He could also be looking for a more costly, longer deal.

2. Nazem Kadri (810K)
Pros: He had a breakout year last year and is only 22. He will be super inexpensive.
Cons: He was atrocious at face-offs, and it's unlikely Toronto will let him walk.

3. Alexander Burmistrov (1.5M)
Pros: He is a young, inexpensive, solid point-producer.
Cons: He may not be good enough to step in as a top-6 forward.

4. Vincent Lecavalier (7.7M)
Pros: He is a smart, high-scoring forward who still has a lot of hockey in him.
Cons: He is not as young as he used to be, and is extremely costly.

5. Derek Roy (4M)
Pros: He is a proven leader with lots of experience, and can put up good numbers as well.
Cons: Like Weiss and Ribeiro, he could be looking for a long-term deal as well.

Who should the Caps target? One of the above, or someone else entirely? Put your thoughts in the comments, and stay tuned for when I (finally) start the OV Era in the WMICPH contest.

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