I'm not criticizing him but you are right, I know nothing about him. Probably have never seen him play. But I'm curious seeing he's only played in the NHL for 1.5 years how you know so much about him. From one full NHL season you consider him a solid 2nd pairing? Albeit, according to his stats he may have done well in Columbus last year but that's playing for Hitch and his Defense game. Put him in a Philly jersey and the results may be quite different.

at least knuble would be out west where we wouldnt have to worry about him killing us

+1

I wouold hate to see him go but we have the depth to replace certain aspects of his game. Hopefully he was working with young guys about his tricks at the net

Just because he's only played 120 games in the NHL doesn't mean that's all the hockey he's played. He's played a number of years in Czech leagues and Russian leagues. So, it's not like he's an unknown. Just because you don't know anything about the guy doesn't mean everybody doesn't know anything about him. He hasn't only shown his defensive capabilities with Hitchcock.

never change a winning team!!!
my vote is knuble absolut

Last time I checked, the czech league wasn't quite what the NHL is. A decent player in that league doesn't mean chit in the NHL. Totally different game. I didn't say that no one knows anything about this guy, I said I was curious as to how someone knows so much. One full season in the NHL is not much to go on if you're saying this guy is a top 2nd pair dman.

Uh, yeah...you're only increasingly showing your ignorance by making a statement like that. First, the Czech Extraliga is a VERY competitve league with some very good teams in it. HC Slavia Praha is a part of that league. Second, the Russian Super League was one of the best leagues in Russia before it was replaced by the Kontinental Hockey League. HC CSKA was a part of that league when Hejda played with them.

I find it funny how all the CBJ fans think the trade is in our favor and all the Flyers fans think the trade is in their favor.



I'd trade Knuble for this guy. He sounds like a very solid D-Man. Knuble is definitely getting older, and the guy's only got one year left on his contract. Although we would probably miss him sorely in the playoffs next year.

I don't doubt that those leagues are competitive. But when the best players in the world play in one league and the rest of the players in different leagues scattered throughout the world, how can you tell me that they are on the same level? (don't answer that).
By the way, thanks for the ignorance comment.

The only way I would want to see Knuble traded to Columbus is if we got RJ back in return. Not happening so I do not want this to happen

I'll answer it, because it's exactly where your ignorance is showing. What you state regarding the level of hockey in some of these European leagues was the case in hockey in the 80's and early 90's. But now, it's just not the case. There are MANY very talented players staying in Europe to play hockey instead of coming to North America and deal with the NHL and it's politics. MANY talented players much more than capable of having solid and successful careers in the NHL if they chose to come here. Czech leagues, Russian leagues, Finnish leagues, Swedish leagues, etc. Hence, my "ignorance comment." Sorry, but maybe you shouldn't make comments about what you don't seem to know if you don't want comments like that made.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

So are you stating that other leagues are AS COMPETITIVE AS the NHL, because that is what his initial statement........stated. If you are saying that, cool. I have a lot to learn. But really? I have a hard time believing that the NHL ISN'T the elite hockey league throughout the world.

i really want this deal to happen, i think that Hedja will really help us on the back end

Hejda looks like he could be a solid defenseman and showing he has some assists and a +20 last season, he is a smart player.

No, actually, his initial statement regarding the Czech league was this...

And stating a decent player in that league doesn't mean squat simply isn't true. No, these European leagues aren't quite up to the caliber of the NHL. But they certainly aren't as far away from the NHL caliber as they were in the 80's and early 90's. It's changed immensely in the last few years alone.

First, there's MUCH more talent, and better talent coming out of these leagues. And as I said, there are a large number of players who simply don't want to deal with the politics that exist in the NHL, and chose to stay in Europe to advance their careers. So, stating decent players in these leagues don't mean a thing when it comes to how they'll do in the NHL is simply a statement made out of ignorance. It all depends on the player himself. And Hejda showed he's a solid defensive defenseman in those leagues. And he's continued to show that in the short time he's been in the NHL(and most of it being on a mediocre team, at best). So he's just one example that proves that decent players in these leagues do mean something when it comes to the NHL. And he's not the only example proving that.

I think his point is that success in one league does not translate to success in another league. It's the same thing for all 4 major sports. A truly good player will excel no matter where he is, but there are a plethora of players who tend to have more success in different types of situations than others. Personally, I don't know anything about hockey other than the NHL, and I have no embarrassment in admitting that.

I'm not going to get involved in this argument, because I don't know anything about this defenseman from Columbus and I won't pretend otherwise. What I want to know is this: When do peopl ehere have time to watch all 30 teams frequently enoughto know who is good and who isn't, who is improving and who's declining, etc, and then, on tp of that, know a lot about players in other leagues as well. Unless one is a professional scout, there has to be a lot more speculating going on than anything else.

I watched him in Edmonton . Hejda was very solid and during his short time in Edmonton just like he was for Columbus. Scott Howson was very impressed with him from his time in Edmonton that he signed him in Columbus when he took the job in Columbus (Howson was Edmonton's assistant GM). I do not believe Hejda is some sort of fluke. This guy is a very solid dman. I would be more comfortable with him on our second pairing than anyone on our roster not named Timonen and Coburn. I would certainly take him over Eminger and Jones.

^^^^
+1

(I think he might make a good partner for Jones. He's got size and he's more stay at home D-man. I think Hejda can play either side but not 100% sure - I can't remember back 2 seasons ago -- oh wait, I intentionally forgot that season )

To end.... this is a rumour from Kypreos.... and as I said in another thread, he's 2nd only to Eklund for dumbness and idiocy in my books. So take this as what it is, a rumour.

OK sounds good. I take it in your opinion that his 2mil contract is a bargain then? I'm not much of a fan of rating a player according to stats,(without knowing the player) but it's hard not to notice his +20 rating last year. I do though have a hard time swallowing the Jones comment. I guess I'm one of the few Jones fans on this board.

Thanks for the explanation.

Dude, relax. It's not exactly an over the top, completely unfair, out of left field comment to say a guy whose 30 with under 2 years of NHL experience is a little unknown.

If we end up with this Hejda character what does everyone think the defensive pairings would be? Aren't they going to have to trade a defender to make room?

kimmo-coburn
hejda-jones
vanaanen-eminger

who am i missing? keep 1 as a healthy scratch and send the rest to the phantoms

I think the first two pairings would probably be:

Timonen - Coburn
Hejda - Jones

From there, who knows? It all depends on what happens at camp and with Hatcher. No matter what moves they make, there will be lots of question marks with the d until opening day. A good situation would be if Eminger and Parent blew everyone away and our d looked like this:

Timonen - Coburn
Hejda - Eminger
Parent - Jones

Vaananen

Jan would be great to have here for Knuble though, thats bitter sweet.

How about a three way?

Hejda to florida - knuble to Columbus - bouwmeester to Philadelphia - philly draft pick/prospect to Florida

Sounds good to me, but I think more players would need to be involved. Florida would want more than Hejda and Philly would need to clear more salary.

its appears to me that kukkonen would be the odd man out here, along with hatcher, as you would have 9 NHL defenseman. The seventh defender would either be parent or eminger.

Timonen Coburn

Hedja Jones

Vaananen Parent/Eminger

Yeah, according to a post in the Off-Season thread, they're suggesting 3 players and a pick for Bouwmeester!!

I totally agree that Kypreos is a big time idiot. But amazingly enough, I think there are some people in the hockey world that don't think that (it's hard to believe) and I think he actually may have some reliable sources. I'm not saying that what he says has any merit, but a rumor coming from him could be believable. His thought or opinions though are another story.

What do you do with Hatcher though? Which guy do you think is the 7th?

So Parent and Kuku go to the Phantoms. What about Hatcher?

if they make this trade i think that hatcher has to be put on the LTIR or let go (unlikely) but to answer your question i believe that parent will be the odd man out in this situation and they will give eminger that 6th spot

LTI, or have him replace vaananen and use vaananen as the 7th.

vaananen is more proven then parent and eminger i see him having a top 6 spot all year

I'm ok with doing a player, a pick, and a prospect but I sort of got the feeling that, in that article about the trade suggestion, it was based as much on dumping salary appropriately as it was on making an enticing offer.

Hypothetical situation: Does Briere become more expendable if Giroux knocks our socks off like we think he will? I like Briere but let's just play this scenario out for a minute...

Briere could fill some of the hole left by Jokinen. Would trading him with Jones and a pick/prospect do it? (I think they'd want Parent over Jones but, for this scenario, I am going to say Jones.) His salary is high but they've got plenty of cap space. So, moving Briere would bump Richards up to the first line (Gagne - Richard - Knuble?) and Carter up to the second (Hartnell - Carter - Giroux?) and then we would have to sign a third line center or re-sign Dowd. Moving Briere and Jones and putting Hatch on LTIR would put us $5.15 mil under the cap. That would be enough to add a solid vet or two like Shanahan or Murray for a year or two until JvR was ready to come up. Does this make sense/sound worthwhile/sound possible?

he seems alot like hatcher which is why i had hatcher replace him. the more i look at it i dunno how hatch fits into the picture

and briere is not expendable, he has a no movement clause

vaananen is a much better skater then hatcher

Isn't the team having trouble with the whole LTIR thing?

well yeah, so am i

what do you mean by trouble? i havent heard or read anything about this

how so?

If they get rid of Knuble, they'd better be darn well sure that they have someone else who is willing and able to play down low on the PP in front of the net. I know Hartnell was eventually supposed to grow into that role, but I'm not sure he's ready to do it yet.

Don't you have to prove a player is physically unable to perform in order to get him on the LTIR? I can't remember exactly where I heard it, whether it was here, another board, an article I really don't remember, but I heard speculation they might have some issues proving he LTIR worthy vs just injured.

I hear what you are saying, but honestly goals aren't a problem right now. The salary cap and defense is.

That's pretty much right on. It is not a cut and dry thing, and until it is resolved, trades, signings and what the roster will look like are pretty much to be determined.

I don't know much about it, but I do know you can't just say "Hey so and so is hurt really bad. So much so that he's LTIR worthy." You have to prove it to the league and what not. Which could be hard to do being that he played in the playoffs.

Absolutely. Our doctors have to confirm him unfit to play for a long period of time, and to be a risk to his own long-term health if he does play. Then the league assigns their own doctors (they have the option to, and I assume they would) to go over the teams assertions and test them. Then the league makes a decision.

That's the process in simple form.