Speculation: Armchair GM Thread - Looking to the offseason

[Porter Stoutheart]

I think it would be a really big mistake to send Evangelista back to Milwaukee next year. It would be repeating the Tomasino mistake all over again. Just because they don't have their final physical strength yet doesn't mean they aren't ready for the NHL. If they can score anything in the range of 30-50 points in the NHL without being fully physically developed yet, at an ELC salary, that's still far better for our path forward than any player we're going to sign on the UFA market. And bodes very well for their future capability. Granlund and Niedereitter were at their physical maturity, and for $4M or $5M they aren't better than Evangelista and Tomasino, we just saw that with our own eyes.

I still like a "duos" approach --- Forsberg with Parssinen, Glass with Duchene, and Novak with Evangelista to give us 3 scoring lines. And that leaves Trenin-Sissons as a very strong 4th line duo that is going to get more minutes some nights than some of the other lines.

Forsberg - Parssinen - Tomasino
Sherwood - Novak - Evangelista
X - Glass - Duchene
Smith - Sissons - Trenin
Jankowski

We would still have to sign Sherwood. I don't know if he's ultimately the best answer for that line or not. They've had a bit of chemistry in this late season closeout, and I've liked his hustle most nights, but I don't think we can be sure that he's really going to be able to stick full-time in an NHL top-9 lineup. If he wants term, if he wants more than a 1-yr $1M contract, I would just let him walk. There are plenty of ways to fill that spot in free agency.

"X" - or Sherwood's spot - could still be Johansen too. Until we know something about his health and recovery prognosis, I'm just going to assume he starts on LTIR. For now.

Therefore, since we have ample Cap space, I'm going to try to sign TWO free agent wingers. One to compete with Sherwood, one in case Johansen can't play.

There is room, and the worst thing that can happen is we have to send Jankowski to Milwaukee, or trade a guy at the Deadline for a 2nd round pick like we did with Niederreiter. No harm in that.

And I'm also starting Afanaseyev back in Milwaukee in case anybody is wondering. He's close. But I would really like to see him break out offensively with the Ads next season, if possible. He makes a good physically mature callup option.

 

[glenngineer]

Keep in mind, if we go the top 9 route, we need 6 wingers. Tomasino and Evangelista belong. Question is does Sherwood come back in a top 9 role? If so, if he can hit the 40 point mark, I’m good with it.

I don’t think we have question marks at center. If anything I think we have great depth. From the eye test, I think Parssinen and Novak are our two best centers who play different styles. Glass is a solid third center and Sissons is the perfect 4th line center. Move Joey to wing and see what he can do.

More later.

FYI, I won my fantasy league last night without spending big bucks on an elite player. Didn’t hurt that I picked up some guys in previous years that are approaching that territory. Had a lot of good to great players at decent salaries that contributed in many categories. I know being an NHL GM is different than playing games but you can win fantasy leagues in many different ways.

 

[AintLifeGrand]

if there wasnt any question as to who our Number 1 center is … yall need to give the dude the respect he deserves

 

[herzausstein]

View attachment 688300
if there wasnt any question as to who our Number 1 center is … yall need to give the dude the respect he deserves

Hes 3 or 4 years older than the other two young players. No doubt right now he is #1 production wise. As i said a few post back hes on a 70ish point pace but his shooting % wont stay at 18-20% forever. Even then thats 60ish point pace which is still really good especially when considering he hasnt spent most of the season with our top wnd talent. Question with him is what does he want long term and how does management view him? Is he our 1C or a valuable trade chip next deadline?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

And in terms of adding two wingers, I really feel strongly that will be fairly easy to do in this summer's marketplace. The main thing will be to pick and choose amongst the options to get players on "team-friendly" contracts. Like we did with Niederreiter. I'm not looking for any big commitments to $8M "star" players. But there aren't going to be a lot of teams with Cap space this summer, and just like with Nino, we might find some strays that we don't have to make a big commitment to, but who are still good players.

And for 1- or 2-year terms, we can also consider older guys. They don't have to be guys who will be part of any long-term future. Start off with a goal of making the playoffs next season, but it's possible that won't ultimately work out, in which case they are tradeable at the deadline.

Even some bigger names on the UFA market might have trouble finding their ideal contracts this summer, and might be willing to sign for just 1-year while waiting for a higher Cap to open up their options next year.

Patrick Kane & Vladimir Tarasenko might be the biggest names. If somebody doesn't want to pony up 4- or 5-year deals on older players who might have had some injury issues, maybe we can sneak in and get them for 1-year while they bide time for a bigger market next year.

Alex Killorn, Jason Zucker, Gustav Nyquist, Michael Bunting, Tyler Bertuzzi, Tomas Tatar, JT Compher, Miles Wood, Andreas Athanasiou, Max Domi, Erik Haula, Ivan Barbashev, Pierre Engvall, Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Fast, Conor Sheary, Marcus Johansson. Lots of middling guys.

The Cap crunch might also result in a few RFAs not being qualified.

There might also be some players who are almost "freebies" on the trade market from teams trying to trim Cap. Boston (Coyle), LA (Iafallo), Vancouver (Boeser) have some names that might be on a summer "bargain trade" market while their teams try to get under the Cap.

I don't think we'll have any trouble finding 2 decent wingers to add with team-friendly contracts/acquisition cost anyway. And since we have the Cap and the roster space, I say grab those assets while you can, while the Price is Right.

 

[herzausstein]

Keep in mind, if we go the top 9 route, we need 6 wingers. Tomasino and Evangelista belong. Question is does Sherwood come back in a top 9 role? If so, if he can hit the 40 point mark, I’m good with it.

I don’t think we have question marks at center. If anything I think we have great depth. From the eye test, I think Parssinen and Novak are our two best centers who play different styles. Glass is a solid third center and Sissons is the perfect 4th line center. Move Joey to wing and see what he can do.

More later.

FYI, I won my fantasy league last night without spending big bucks on an elite player. Didn’t hurt that I picked up some guys in previous years that are approaching that territory. Had a lot of good to great players at decent salaries that contributed in many categories. I know being an NHL GM is different than playing games but you can win fantasy leagues in many different ways.

Ufa big game hunting just hasnt really worked out great for us. We just cleared out two 40-60 point wingers in Nino and Granny. It just seems odd to go right back out and get two more. Im not a gm though so who knows. I just remember from the trotz presser him mentioning our lack of that really top end center.

 

[AintLifeGrand]

Hes 3 or 4 years older than the other two young players. No doubt right now he is #1 production wise. As i said a few post back hes on a 70ish point pace but his shooting % wont stay at 18-20% forever. Even then thats 60ish point pace which is still really good especially when considering he hasnt spent most of the season with our top wnd talent. Question with him is what does he want long term and how does management view him? Is he our 1C or a valuable trade chip next deadline?

wait now hes a trade chip??

He’s 25 for Godssakes… he has at least 5 years of production left

Novak has earned being the number 1 center with parsinnen as number 2 and glass as 3rd line center- which is probably his ceiling

 

[herzausstein]

I wonder if trotz is into the redemption projects Poile always did. Puljujarvi on a cheap contract would be low risk high reward.

 

[Kat Predator]

And in terms of adding two wingers, I really feel strongly that will be fairly easy to do in this summer's marketplace. The main thing will be to pick and choose amongst the options to get players on "team-friendly" contracts. Like we did with Niederreiter. I'm not looking for any big commitments to $8M "star" players. But there aren't going to be a lot of teams with Cap space this summer, and just like with Nino, we might find some strays that we don't have to make a big commitment to, but who are still good players.

And for 1- or 2-year terms, we can also consider older guys. They don't have to be guys who will be part of any long-term future. Start off with a goal of making the playoffs next season, but it's possible that won't ultimately work out, in which case they are tradeable at the deadline.

Even some bigger names on the UFA market might have trouble finding their ideal contracts this summer, and might be willing to sign for just 1-year while waiting for a higher Cap to open up their options next year.

Patrick Kane & Vladimir Tarasenko might be the biggest names. If somebody doesn't want to pony up 4- or 5-year deals on older players who might have had some injury issues, maybe we can sneak in and get them for 1-year while they bide time for a bigger market next year.

Alex Killorn, Jason Zucker, Gustav Nyquist, Michael Bunting, Tyler Bertuzzi, Tomas Tatar, JT Compher, Miles Wood, Andreas Athanasiou, Max Domi, Erik Haula, Ivan Barbashev, Pierre Engvall, Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Fast, Conor Sheary, Marcus Johansson. Lots of middling guys.

The Cap crunch might also result in a few RFAs not being qualified.

There might also be some players who are almost "freebies" on the trade market from teams trying to trim Cap. Boston (Coyle), LA (Iafallo), Vancouver (Boeser) have some names that might be on a summer "bargain trade" market while their teams try to get under the Cap.

I don't think we'll have any trouble finding 2 decent wingers to add with team-friendly contracts/acquisition cost anyway. And since we have the Cap and the roster space, I say grab those assets while you can, while the Price is Right.
View attachment 688306

I know Smith is a fixture with Hynes as HC, but objectively speaking the guy could easily be slotted as the 13th forward or sent down to Milwaukee and brought back on loan when/if injuries. It is not that impossible to find a guy who's an upgrade to the offensive skill level and who can also play well on the PK.

 

[herzausstein]

wait now hes a trade chip??

He’s 25 for Godssakes… he has at least 5 years of production left

Novak has earned being the number 1 center with parsinnen as number 2 and glass as 3rd line center- which is probably his ceiling

If he wants more than management wants to give, yes he would be a trade chip. UFA at end of next season. Thats typically how expiring contracts work. If we are out of the playoffs and he is producing well and negotiations are going nowhere, a 50-70 point C at barely above league minimum could fetch a good return for a retooling team. I didnt mean to imply go out there and waive him around as trade bait.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I wonder if trotz is into the redemption projects Poile always did. Puljujarvi on a cheap contract would be low risk high reward.

I'm not watching his games or anything, but just occasionally reading stuff here on the boards, it sounds like he's graduating to the "low risk, no reward" category?

He's a guy where if nobody else wanted him, I could sign him for $775k, and if he can't make the team send him to Milwaukee. But I don't think he's good enough to compete with the other UFAs we should be looking at, I don't think a reclamation project is really what we need to spend time on when there are going to be actually decent players available at good prices who are pretty much known commodities.

 

[triggrman]

I like Tomasino and Evangelista but they’re not ready to carry the load they still need to be protected complimentary type players. We need Forsberg and Duchene to be what they can be.

Id also put Parssinen ahead of Novak at 5-5. Novak got a lot of freedom and performed offensively but was pretty bad defensively. He has to be more complete but I think he’ll figure it out.

 

[Kat Predator]

If he wants more than management wants to give, yes he would be a trade chip. UFA at end of next season. Thats typically how expiring contracts work. If we are out of the playoffs and he is producing well and negotiations are going nowhere, a 50-70 point C at barely above league minimum could fetch a good return for a retooling team. I didnt mean to imply go out there and waive him around as trade bait.

What about just waiving him?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I know Smith is a fixture with Hynes as HC, but objectively speaking the guy could easily be slotted as the 13th forward or sent down to Milwaukee and brought back on loan when/if injuries. It is not that impossible to find a guy who's an upgrade to the offensive skill level and who can also play well on the PK.

I don't see any problem with Smith on a 4th line. As a checker/PKer already re-signed on a league-minimum contract, and presumably with good leadership/intangibles, I don't see any reason to try to replace him.

My problem with him was earlier on when they were bumping him up on other lines or pushing other young guys into the pressbox in favor of him. But looking to next season, in the context of him as a permanent checking line fixture, I am good with him.

 

[herzausstein]

I'm not watching his games or anything, but just occasionally reading stuff here on the boards, it sounds like he's graduating to the "low risk, no reward" category?

He's a guy where if nobody else wanted him, I could sign him for $775k, and if he can't make the team send him to Milwaukee. But I don't think he's good enough to compete with the other UFAs we should be looking at, I don't think a reclamation project is really what we need to spend time on when there are going to be actually decent players available at good prices who are pretty much known commodities.

Ive always liked the player but his confidence seems to completely shot. Wonder if a sports psychologist could help there. Playing with McDavid and Draisaitl and failing to produce could reek havoc on your mental state or maybe he is just a complete bust. Edmonton has done that a time or two with high 1st round picks. Poile used to give out 1M x 1 year contracts to redemption projects. You are likely right about better candidates though with the cap as is.

 

[herzausstein]

I don't see any problem with Smith on a 4th line. As a checker/PKer already re-signed on a league-minimum contract, and presumably with good leadership/intangibles, I don't see any reason to try to replace him.

My problem with him was earlier on when they were bumping him up on other lines or pushing other young guys into the pressbox in favor of him. But looking to next season, in the context of him as a permanent checking line fixture, I am good with him.

17 points for a mainly 4th liner. If we keep him on the 4th line, im good with him tbh. I dont see anyone in MIL that id put into a checking 4th line over him.

Anyone have a strong opinion on Asplund? I keep meaning to try and pay attention to him in the games but i forget about him completely. He was supposed to be a good checking line forward as well.

 

[Predsanddead24]

I don't see any problem with Smith on a 4th line. As a checker/PKer already re-signed on a league-minimum contract, and presumably with good leadership/intangibles, I don't see any reason to try to replace him.

My problem with him was earlier on when they were bumping him up on other lines or pushing other young guys into the pressbox in favor of him. But looking to next season, in the context of him as a permanent checking line fixture, I am good with him.

Personally I'd rather see Jankowski in Smith's place. Jankowski is a better PKer and is better offensively. The only thing Smith has the edge in is physicality which I imagine is why he's managed to stay ahead of Jankowski on the depth chart. Very marginal move but still something I'd like to see.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Anyone have a strong opinion on Asplund? I keep meaning to try and pay attention to him in the games but i forget about him completely. He was supposed to be a good checking line forward as well.

He's a tough player to notice, IMO. And I don't mean that as a subtle compliment. Based on the descriptions of him from Buffalo fans when we first got him, I was optimistic. He had 27 pts the year before and they were talking like he was a really good defensive player, just snakebit and caught in a numbers game this year. I thought maybe we had found a guy ready to bounce back with this change of scenery.

But now... I don't see it. I don't even put him in my plans anymore, I wouldn't bother qualifying him. I guess he wanted to come here because his fiancee is here or something? Well, he didn't make any kind of case for sticking around afaic. He has given us absolutely nothing in 18 games. The random filler guys we call up from the AHL do more than he does.

 

[Predsanddead24]

It's tough to truly know what the best plan of action for this team is since we haven't really seen our current roster in action due to all the injuries. I pretty much have no expectations for next year except wanting to continue to get the young guys NHL action. If we do that and miss the playoffs so be it, but I'll be incredibly disappointed if Parsinnen, Tomasino, and/or Evangelista get relegated to 10-12 minutes a night or the AHL.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

17 points for a mainly 4th liner. If we keep him on the 4th line, im good with him tbh. I dont see anyone in MIL that id put into a checking 4th line over him.

Anyone have a strong opinion on Asplund? I keep meaning to try and pay attention to him in the games but i forget about him completely. He was supposed to be a good checking line forward as well.

He's a tough player to notice, IMO. And I don't mean that as a subtle compliment. Based on the descriptions of him from Buffalo fans when we first got him, I was optimistic. He had 27 pts the year before and they were talking like he was a really good defensive player, just snakebit and caught in a numbers game this year. I thought maybe we had found a guy ready to bounce back with this change of scenery.

But now... I don't see it. I don't even put him in my plans anymore, I wouldn't bother qualifying him. I guess he wanted to come here because his fiancee is here or something? Well, he didn't make any kind of case for sticking around afaic. He has given us absolutely nothing in 18 games. The random filler guys we call up from the AHL do more than he does.

This is basically what I was going to say. He does nothing on the ice and is basically invisible. I bet if you put an iso-cam on him you'd see a player that is floating around almost avoiding the puck most of the time.

 

[Kat Predator]

Personally I'd rather see Jankowski in Smith's place. Jankowski is a better PKer and is better offensively. The only thing Smith has the edge in is physicality which I imagine is why he's managed to stay ahead of Jankowski on the depth chart. Very marginal move but still something I'd like to see.

Yeah, I'm with you here. Jankowski is a better two-way player and can play PK. He's not as big, but he's quicker and can play C and W. I don't have a problem with Smith. I'd like to keep him around, in fact. I think he has his uses. But as the "12th forward" we shouldn't be scared to death of replacing him or having him in the press box for stretches either.

PS: If you're going to keep Trenin and Sissons together, you have a line that has plenty of grit and hitting already. Why would you not want to put someone with some ability to finish with them? That was what Jeannot had before he went over the waterfall in the barrel...

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

It's tough to truly know what the best plan of action for this team is since we haven't really seen our current roster in action due to all the injuries. I pretty much have no expectations for next year except wanting to continue to get the young guys NHL action. If we do that and miss the playoffs so be it, but I'll be incredibly disappointed if Parsinnen, Tomasino, and/or Evangelista get relegated to 10-12 minutes a night or the AHL.

Yeah, I went into 2022-23 EXPECTING us to make the playoffs. And from watching things unfold during the season, I believe today that was a very fair expectation and that we indeed SHOULD have made the playoffs.

For 2023-24, I don't have any such expectations. It's hard to truly know what we'll see when this whole team is put together. I would like to think that all the young players will continue to develop and perform well, and that we'll add a couple decent free agents and MIGHT be able to make the playoffs. But I won't go into the season EXPECTING to. Depending on how things unfold, that outlook could certainly change mid-season. But in terms of a pre-season outlook, I could see us ending up with a lottery pick, or being 1st in our division, and just about anything in between.

 

[Kat Predator]

Making the playoffs next year doesn't seem that crazy. Figure there will be ~8 teams who are chasing the unicorn and a few that implode. That leaves ~20 really in the hunt. So as long as you finish above the bottom 4-ish, you get in the playoffs. That doesn't sound like an insanely high bar.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

This is basically what I was going to say. He does nothing on the ice and is basically invisible. I bet if you put an iso-cam on him you'd see a player that is floating around almost avoiding the puck most of the time.

I actually saw him with possession like 4 times last night. He does exist!

 

[nullednumbed]

Making the playoffs next year doesn't seem that crazy. Figure there will be ~8 teams who are chasing the unicorn and a few that implode. That leaves ~20 really in the hunt. So as long as you finish above the bottom 4-ish, you get in the playoffs. That doesn't sound like an insanely high bar.

If Saros stays healthy and on the team all season, no reason why this team won't be competing for a wild card spot again. It's not like half the league makes the playoffs anyway