You should replace Gaborik with someone who is actually functional. We no need men with chronical groin injury…

S. Koivu to Ducks….

I’m not paying huge attention to the top-tier free agents this summer, as Ducks are in the running, but if I had to guess about the likely dollar amounts that each Marian is likely to fetch — maybe I’m crazy, but I think I’d prefer signing Gaborik to signing Hossa. I’d guess he comes cheaper and I’m not as scared about injuries, I guess.

Again, though, it’s not really anything I anticipate the Ducks getting themselves into.

A couple days ago, it said on ESPN’s bottom line that Ken Holland (Wings GM) wasn’t optimistic about re-signing Hossa. The Kings have the money, cap space, and the need to sign a guy like Hossa. As far as I’m concerned, there are only two things that can get in the way of him coming to LA: Lombardi being stubborn to go after a big-name free agent because of his preference of developing in-house talent, and does Hossa want to move to Los Angeles?

If the Kings are gonna consider trading Frolov, Johnson, a prospect (and maybe a 1st round pick) for Heatley, I’d rather just hold off, get Hossa, re-sign Johnson, keep the prospect and draft pick. They’d only lose Frolov, but still have him for this season.

Please, DL, get this guy.

As for an alternative, I’ve heard Martin Havlat’s name thrown out there. He had a successful season last year while being on the same team as Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Sharp. He’d cost at least $2M per season less than Hossa, and he’s a good offensive player himself.

While I’d be happy if the Kings could sign Hossa, Havlat, or Gaborik for a couple seasons, I’d also be satisfied with more plan “B” guys like Sturm and Ohlund. Save the big play for next year.

The Ducks have tons of cap space, by the way. This isn’t last year. They’re going budget-conscious, though, so I suspect (as I’ve noted) that they’ll be silent among the big names.

And even more cap space after the Pronger trade. I like this trade for a couple reasons. First, I thought they were gonna trade Pronger at the deadline last season, so the timing was a surprise to me. But they have Lupul for four seasons, huge considering that this may be Selanne’s last season and the question mark surrounding Rob Niedermayer for this season, let alone next.

They also acquired another defenseman, a young 19-year old defenseman who was the 3rd-best prospect in the Flyers’ organization behind vanRiemsdyk and Giroux, two great prospects. So that’ll kinda replace Pronger, whether he plays this season or in 2011.

And, they freed up a little bit more than $1M in salary, and as of right now, they have over $20M in cap space and 15 players committed. There’s also the possibility they’ll move Giguere and his remaining contract ($6M this season, $7M next) due to the emergence of Hiller as a reliable goaltender, especially in this past postseason. With all the Anaheim connections in Toronto (GM Burke, goaltender coach Allaire), and the unpredictability of Toskala and expiring contracts of Gerber, Joseph, and Kolzig, and the fact that the Leafs and Canadiens always seem to be interested in every player on an NHL roster, I wonder if they’ll try to make something happen. Maybe Anaheim could try to get Kaberle in return.