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Kulemin's a great 3rd liner.. I'm not sure you can count the number of times he out muscled Lucic for the puck in that series. It was outstanding. He's the perfect 3rd line winger. Can be moved up in any situation and plays a really good two way game.
 
Ya, Kulemin had a nice bounce back season. If he can continue to play at a ~40ish point pace he's a valuable guy to have because he's also the best defensive forward on the team.

Nonis made a comment around the trade deadline that you can really gauge the value of your players by the number of times teams ask about a specific player, and Nonis said they got a lot of calls about Kulemin.

I wonder if Kulemin is becoming more valuable in a trade than he is on the ice. He's a UFA after next season and he's already making 2.8 mill. 3+ million is too pricey for a 3rd liner. They will have to make a decision on him, or risk losing him for nothing after next season.
 
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Kulemin isn't really a 3rd liner. He can't carry a line offensively, but he can chip in with 15-20 goals and 40 points with minimal PP time. Plus he can anchor a line physically and defensively and is a great pker. He can be that Hartnell/Burrows type of player that you can plug in on any line, in any situation and he'll be a valuable addition. Plus he's shown the ability to have a bigger season even if not often.

I'd keep him.
 
Yup, he's easily worth that.

My big fear is that one of these days Pittsburgh will swoop him up to grab him for Malkin's line and then Kuly goes into 35+ goal range with that beast.
 
Its not really "top 5" money. In free agency the top first liners get $8 million, good first liners get in the $6-7 range, good second liners get in the $5-6 range, and good 3rd liners get in the $3-4 range. ~$4 million is borderline second line money.
 
Just because it's the market rate in free agency doesn't mean you have to pay it. Free agency is probably the worst way to add or keep talent because you almost always overpay.

It really comes down to whether Kulemin can be replaced by a cheaper option either internally or through trade.
 
It doesn't mean you have to do anything. But that doesn't mean we should pretend like the money is more valuable than it really is.

Your right though. The question is do we have a cheaper replacement for our 15-20 goal, 40 point 6'2 220 pound winger that is our best defensive forward. Personally I don't see where it is.
 
Komarov potentially goes back to KHL next season.

In a Russian newspaper he admitted he's started negotiation with KHL teams for next season, but right now his preference is still in the NHL and he's waiting for a contract offer from the Leafs.
 
leafman101 said:
It doesn't mean you have to do anything. But that doesn't mean we should pretend like the money is more valuable than it really is.

Your right though. The question is do we have a cheaper replacement for our 15-20 goal, 40 point 6'2 220 pound winger that is our best defensive forward. Personally I don't see where it is.
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Biggs
 
Maybe Biggs. Maybe D'Amigo. Maybe Ashton. Those guys haven't shown that they are close enough yet to give up Kulemin though at this point.
 
Biggs and Ashton have shown very little to even convince me they're NHLers next season.

D'Amigo had a pretty good season and a good playoff run with the Marlies, but D'Amigo is anything but 'physical' or 'defensive'.
 
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