Confirmed with Link: Adam Fox for 2019 2nd (NYR), 2020 3rd (cond.)

[True Blue]

Add Kakko, Panarin, Fox, Kravstov, Shesty, possibly other UFA's, and improving Buch, Skjei, ADA, Shattenkirk, Georgiev, etc... and you've got hope for a non lottery team.

Let's see what we've got before making 2019-20 season predictions, eh?

Counting on prospects who have never played in the NHL and some that have never stepped a toe onto NHL ice is not something I am willing to hang my hat on. Sure, I am hoping on continued improvement, but I think that they are still lottery bound.

 

[SML2]

And on that note, who says Lundqvist can't play till he's 42 and make another couple Cup runs with our re-loaded juggernaut???

Anyone who owned a tv this season.

 

[FireGerardGallant]

I still don't see it. I feel Carolina would of accepted 58th overall and the same conditions to the 2020 pick.

If Carolina woulda accepted that you think Jg woulda traded more?? Come on think logically here

 

[TheBPA]

Take this team, with no Hayes or Zucc for an entire year, coupled with another year of depreciation on Staal, Shattenkirk, Smith, another year of age on Henke......This is a lottery team. And that is not even taking the possibility of Kreider being traded into consideration.

Goaltending will likely be close to even compared to last year. Hayes played 51 games for the Rangers; Zucc 46. Staal and Shattenkirk may depreciate, but all of DeAngelo, Buchnevich, Chytil, Howden, Andersson, Lemieux and others are on the upswing.

At worst its a wash but I think people will be surprised when next year's team is better than this past season's, even if they end up trading Kreider.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Eh, I didn’t read that tweet as Waddell and Dundon told him that he only wanted the Rangers. It’s almost two parts. The first that the 2 execs tried to convince him to sign and the second was Lebrun using the same logic we’ve been seeing around here.

I could be wrong of course, but the whole idea that they paid more than they could have just doesn’t really make a lot of sense. Like I said earlier, it’s been a month since Dundon said they would trade him. Carolina was under no urgency to move him. They could have waited another almost 2 months and still gotten a pick for this year’s draft and even then, they’d have a whole year to deal him and still get something from the 2020 draft. Even if the Rangers were the only team making offers, which I still doubt, the idea that they held all the leverage is way off base.

Oh don't get me wrong, I agree with that 100%.

I do feel as if he was ours to lose but that doesn't mean Carolina had no leverage. I'm 100% fine with the price we paid for him.

 

[Kovalev27]

I think now is the time to be aggressive on Trouba. You have picks you have prospects you have some young nhl roster Players that are movable in Vesey Pionk Namestnikov Anderson. And even a guy like Fast might be attractive to a playoff team.

Go get the guy like you did with Fox.

 

[haohmaru]

Counting on prospects who have never played in the NHL and some that have never stepped a toe onto NHL ice is not something I am willing to hang my hat on. Sure, I am hoping on continued improvement, but I think that they are still lottery bound.

I'm not counting on anything. All I'm saying is that it's too early to make "lottery team" predictions without having seen the team that's going to compete or how young players will develop.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Something else I don't believe has been mentioned (at least, I haven't seen it), you wonder if they wanted to get this done now so they have a clearer mind about what to do at the draft. While they have 1 fewer pick in this years draft, they just shored up a major weak spot in their prospect pipeline.

If they don't get this done now, maybe they make some draft decisions that end up being redundant or, they take some prospects that they feel are a safe bet, rather than the BPA/high boom bust potential.

I really wonder if that factored into us giving up our 2nd vs. holding out for Tampa's 2nd (or maybe having to trade multiple 2020 picks)

 

[True Blue]

Goaltending will likely be close to even compared to last year. Hayes played 51 games for the Rangers; Zucc 46. Staal and Shattenkirk may depreciate, but all of DeAngelo, Buchnevich, Chytil, Howden, Andersson, Lemieux and others are on the upswing.

At worst its a wash but I think people will be surprised when next year's team is better than this past season's, even if they end up trading Kreider.

You forget how in the beginning, Henke was playing. And while I have hope for Georgiev, he could just as easily regress.

Chytil, Howde, Andersson....I certainly hope that they take steps forward, but I doubt it will be enough to overtake the production of Hayes. During his games here, Hayes was an elite, two-way center for the team. And replacing the production of Hayes, Zucc (after he was done mopping) AND Kreider? I just cannot see that.

 

[True Blue]

I'm not counting on anything. All I'm saying is that it's too early to make "lottery team" predictions without having seen the team that's going to compete or how young players will develop.

Fair enough. But history has a tendency to tell you what to expect and what is more than likely not realistic

 

[mas0764]

How did the Rangers perform after they lost Hayes and Zucc? How is half of the defense (Staal, Shattenkirk, Smith) going to perform a year later?

Add Panarin and subtract Kreider to this exact team, and this still a bottom 5 team. Actually, even with Kreider and Panarin, it is a bottom 5 team. The chances of Zegras (he is not here) stepping in and playing at the NHL level next year is small, let alone playing and replacing the production of Hayes.

IMO, I think that Panarin and Trouba are just fan projections. And bringing in Trouba, a player who has had much trouble staying on the ice and giving him a worse supporting cast that he had in Winnipeg, is it's own kettle of fish.

Obviously we have no idea what else the team is going to do in free agency, the draft, etc this year, besides the obvious (Kakko).

But I would say depending on what they do, they could get back to a bubble playoff team faster than you appear to be assuming.

If we take the team we had for the majority of 2018-19, which was not a playoff team, but was more like 8th-to-10th worst, for the 2019-20 season you are subtracting the following:

- Hayes
- Zuccarello
- Kreider (potentially)
- Fred Claesson (probably)

And you are adding impacts from:

+ Kaapo Kakko (probably)
+ Brendan Lemieux (full season)
+ Artemi Panarin (potentially)
+ Adam Fox (probably at least 30 games)
+ Libor Hajek
(Anything you get from Shestyorkin and Kravtsov is probably negligible as they probably both are still developing and may be in the minors or backing up most of the season).

And you are probably getting measurable if not outright substantial improvement from:

Chytil
Andersson
Howden
DeAngelo

I mean, I just don't think you can get much worse from Shattenkirk and Smith. Staal was more steady last year than he has been in a while, so he could see a downswing, but I think that's made up for by other players.

And frankly, if the team is better, I think Henrik is better.

So I think, personally, this team, if you add Panarin, even if you subtract Kreider, is probably better than last year.

 

[Gardner McKay]

I think now is the time to be aggressive on Trouba. You have picks you have prospects you have some young nhl roster Players that are movable in Vesey Pionk Namestnikov Anderson. And even a guy like Fast might be attractive to a playoff team.

Go get the guy like you did with Fox.

Can this scenario please go away? Making a deal for Trouba (especially after the deal yesterday for Fox), would go against everything JG has done and said he is going to do.

 

[mas0764]

Anyone who owned a tv this season.

I'm an eternally sentimental optimist.

 

[Levitate]

I mean.... if Kakko can't replace Zucc relatively quickly then he's maybe not the star we are hoping for. In his last full year with us he had 53 points. This year he contributed 37 to our tanking effort.

I kinda expect Kakko to be a 40 point player like.... immediately. Hopefully more than that. No?

Well notice that I said Zucc and Hayes? Not to mention Hayes was a center and leaves a big hole in the lineup.

I think Kakko could come in and have a good year, Zibanejad, Buch, and Kreider all have good years, Chytil, Howden, Andersson all take steps forward, and this team STILL not be very good. The defense is still a mess and Lundqvist is over the hill (as much as I love him) and isn't going to bail the team out anymore.

The margin between bottom five and bottom 10 isn't that much so they could be anywhere in there I think.

It's possible they could be better, sometimes a big run during the year is all it takes, but it's also possible they're quite bad overall again.

 

[Levitate]

I think now is the time to be aggressive on Trouba. You have picks you have prospects you have some young nhl roster Players that are movable in Vesey Pionk Namestnikov Anderson. And even a guy like Fast might be attractive to a playoff team.

Go get the guy like you did with Fox.

Jets GM is notoriously stingy in trades and it might be a really hefty price if he's even willing to trade Trouba. He might not be. He might think it's best to make another run with him and deal with the possibility of losing him for nothing via UFA. Jet's are in contending mode and Trouba is arguably their best D.

If the price is doable and you can extend him to an 8 year deal or whatever then cool, go for it. He definitely would bring a very needed and missing element to the defense and that right side might suddenly look a whole lot stronger going forward. If the Jets GM is asking for Fox, Chytil, and a first round pick though? Maybe that's too much

 

[ecemleafs]

Why is that? Trouba aligns well with zibanejad. If trouba can be acquired then u have your 1st pair right d and 1st line center signed throughout their primes.

@Gardner McKay

Meant to quote u

 

[Levitate]

Why is that? Trouba aligns well with zibanejad. If trouba can be acquired then u have your 1st pair right d and 1st line center signed throughout their primes.

@Gardner McKay

Meant to quote u

Yeah I mean Trouba is 25, will be 26 when a new contract kicks in, he's definitely the kind of guy you could give a long term contract to and get a lot of excellent years out of and he'd still be that 1st pair guy when the rest of the current Rangers talent is developed. Getting him in general is a fine move, it's just the cost to do it or if it's even possible.

 

[eco's bones]

IMO, they bottom out next year. They start to rise in 2021-2022. If things go right, several years later they can be true Cup contenders. Just how I view it realistically.

I don't know what you mean by bottoming out either. Do you really think we're going to be worse next year than we were this year? The coach knowing his team now--first and second year players improving--because at least some if not most will. Kakko coming in. Kravtsov and Shestyorkin coming in. The fact that we were close in most of our games this year--the team is almost certainly going to improve some even without going outside the organization. This bottoming out idea doesn't seem at all realistic to me---not unless we get hit by tons of injuries anyway. It's not bottoming out that's more likely to happen from just standing pat--we're more likely to be in the mediocre 9 to 11 range as far as next year's draft order.

And by the way if you're looking for forwards on next year's UFA market--New Jersey is almost certainly going all out to re-sign Taylor Hall--and after a 32 year old Nicklas Backstrom it's going to get thinner. Getting Panarin this year is getting in front of a problem--not waiting for it to come your way.

 

[Kovalev27]

Can this scenario please go away? Making a deal for Trouba (especially after the deal yesterday for Fox), would go against everything JG has done and said he is going to do.

how so?

trouba is mika's age and we have no one like him in the system on the right side. and Gorts specifically said he would target good young nhl players as well as prospects not just picks. so doesn't go against what he said in the slightest

 

[effen]

You're going to have a hard time convincing anyone that Kreider is only worth moving from the low 20s to the mid-high teens

I don't think that's how a real life front office looks at it. If their #4 or #5 guy drops to 12, 13, 15, whatever, then you're trading Kreider + low 20s for the #4 or #5 guy in the draft. That's different.

Not a likely scenario, but certainly a possible one IMO.

 

[Kovalev27]

Jets GM is notoriously stingy in trades and it might be a really hefty price if he's even willing to trade Trouba. He might not be. He might think it's best to make another run with him and deal with the possibility of losing him for nothing via UFA. Jet's are in contending mode and Trouba is arguably their best D.

If the price is doable and you can extend him to an 8 year deal or whatever then cool, go for it. He definitely would bring a very needed and missing element to the defense and that right side might suddenly look a whole lot stronger going forward. If the Jets GM is asking for Fox, Chytil, and a first round pick though? Maybe that's too much

karlsson didn't get that so I doubt anyone else would. price would most likely be a first round pick, a younger nhl roster player, and a couple of b level prospects. MAYBE you have to part with an andersson. but no one expects to get a chytil or a fox in a trade like that for a guy trying to leave. also any deal for trouba would come with an extension most likely already ironed out.

 

[Gresch04]

What did the Fox say? Bye bye bye-bye bye bye-bye-bye...Pionk Pionk Pionk-Pionk Pionk Pionk Pionk-Pionk...bye bye bye-bye bye bye-bye-bye...Pionk Pionk Pionk-Pionk Pionk Pionk Pionk-Pionk!

 

[Kovalev27]

and knowing I'm getting kakko, I'd be fine giving Winnipeg back their first round pick, one of Namestnikov/Vesey/Pionk and a B prospect. maybe lindgren or gropp or a ragnarsson.

or they can have andersson instead of the first rounder plus the rest.

 

[Gresch04]

I'm an eternally sentimental optimist.

I knew there was someone to balance out my frequently jaded pessimist.

 

[BroadwayBlues]

Think they will finish about the same as last year. Give or take a a couple of points. With no major free agents added and Kreider traded.

Slight improvement (due to added talent but green) but not significant enough to be a playoff team.