Blake for Emery vs. Blake for Late 1st Rounder

[Leatherface]

You have two options.

Rob Blake for Ray Emery, straight up.

Emery has two more years at a cap hit of 3mil per year. He's a SCF goaltender who, while he isnt the most talented goalie in the world, is more talented, more fiery and more of a winner than anyone the Kings have had in recent memory. He's capable of a couple of things that JLB isnt; the big, athletic save when the game is on the line, and rebound control.

08-09: Your goaltending tandem for next year is Emery and JLB. the Kings' D still may suck, but Emery is "the man" and keeps the team competitive. Flat out, the team does not continue to give up the most goals in the league.
09-10: Emery and Bernier or another young prospect (hey, lets be frank here, we have no idea if Bernier will pan out). The team is better all around, ideally. Just emerging as being competitive. (edit: for an 8th seed)

If Emery can keep his cool and sort of disappear in Los Angeles, he may be able to handle his business for a couple of years here and play well. His taste in cars and clothes will fit in fine. Ottawa is a boring town and this may be a better fit for him in terms of being comfortable. It could also go the other way; late nights, more road rage issues, etc. It's hard to say.


Your other option is:

to DET: Rob Blake
to LAK: late, late 1st rounder, and Justin Abdelkader.

That would give the Kings three first rounders and a possible third line, 40pt scoring, perennial leader type in the mold of a scoring and more talented Derek Armstrong. I've seen Abdelkader play a lot at Mich State and he probably tops out as a solid third line contributor, I can see why the Wings are high on him as he could be seen as a replacement for Draper or Maltby. Keep in mind he is still merely a prospect.

However, this leaves you with JLB again for another rebuilding season (which as even I've acknowledged, 08-09 is probably going to suck as well, maybe some modest improvement) and then no definite goaltending for 09-10 which is when this team should be turning the corner.

And dont give me any **** about Bernier starting and carrying a 65-70 game load in 09-10. At this point, Emery is a legit #1 goaltender in the NHL, and Bernier is not.


Im not going to make my case here for which I prefer until later in the thread. For now, which do you prefer, option A or option B? and why?

[The Natural]

All on-ice qualities aside, something tells me Emery is not the kind of guy that DL would be thrilled to have...

[JJ289]

Enough about Emery. He is a cancer, and his contract would be an albatross for antoher 3 years. Yeah, he played in the finals, mainly because he was on an incredibly talented team. Dwayne Rolosson played in the finals too! If Emery, who is making good money on a great team is unhappy now, how do you think he will behave in LA? I'm thinking Avery X 10.

No to Emery.

[Leatherface]

Originally Posted by JJ289

Enough about Emery. He is a cancer, and his contract would be an albatross for antoher 3 years. Yeah, he played in the finals, mainly because he was on an incredibly talented team. Dwayne Rolosson played in the finals too! If Emery, who is making good money on a great team is unhappy now, how do you think he will behave in LA? I'm thinking Avery X 10.

No to Emery.

is he really a cancer, or can he just not mesh with John Paddock? He had little trouble getting along well with MushMouth.

[CUP4LA]

Apparently he has trouble getting to practice. Pass on Emery and go with the late first rounder...and a prospect.

[TonySCV]

They talked about Emery on XM at length yesterday - the unanimous consensus was the guy is damaged goods and no team *should* want him. If Ottawa can somehow unload him, it'll be a huge coup for Murray. The guy is a 9 million dollar albatross at this point.

[Len-Det64]

Emery is a time bomb ready to explode. I would prefer a #1 and and almost ready big, tough stay at home defensive prospect. Ottawa has a rich defensive pool. Detroit not so much but they might have 1 or 2 defensive players that could be dealt.

[Wolvie]

I'd take the late 1st (in a deep draft) and Abdelkader, a prospect I like a lot. Abdelkader has the makings of the next "grind-line" player for Detroit. He gets around the ice and demonstrated a desire to check at the college level.

[Hipcheck]

Just say no to Emery- Labarbara hasnt played that poorly and Bernier is on the way. Trading an asset for a question mark for a position that arguably wont be a problem in 2 years is poor asset mgmt IMO.

Getting a Dman and a #1st rder is a much better use of Blake as a trading chip.

Besides its Emery-if you were talking about a young Hasek or Kiprosoff it would be a no brainer but w/Emery there way too many questions about character.

[Dr. Naysay]

If the goalie isn't the first piece... then it should probably be the last.

[evilgeek]

Why would anyone want Emery? Waaaaaaay overrated and seems to be a bit of a handful. Overpaid as well IMO. His stats are mainly the results of playing behind a great team.

LaBerbera has been a respectable #1 this season. The Kings just need a suitable backup for Jason in case he gets injured or needs a rest. Aubin has not been very good, although it may be a result of his injuries. LaBarbera has played behind a terrible defensive team (and streaky offensive) and still posted good numbers.

If the Sens find anyone to take Emery for anything more than a bag of used jocks, I will be amazed. Realistically, it would probably be an exchange of one problem player for another in hopes of each player benefiting from a change of scenery if Emery were moved. He may even move through waivers if Ottawa wants to unload him that badly.