Armchair GM Thread

[glenngineer]

This team is going to need a major rebuild. Very few quality pieces moving forward. No real blue chip prospects to speak of. Coaching and development are below par. It’s amazing we can look decent for a part of a game and have one goal to show for it and then get lit up in less than 20 minutes. It’s comical at this point.

 

[Scoresberg]

My seven-step plan getting this team back on track as soon as next year:

1) Draft one of Hagens, Misa or Frondell. If Schaefer's a realistic option then draft him.

2) Acquire Nic Hague from Vegas and sign him long-term

To NSH: Hague
To VGK: 2025 1st (latest of our three 1st rounders) + Tampa's 2025 2nd + Nick Blankenburg

3) Acquire a young top-six center

Options include:

Trevor Zegras
Cole Sillinger
Marco Rossi

Use a package of a veteran, a prospect and a pick. Preferably Stamkos but one of Bunting and Marchessault will do.

4) Move out Sissons and Smith to free up cap

5) Re-sign Evangelista (2 years x $1.5 mil)

6) Sign Marner from FA (7 years x $13 mil)

7) Bring up Molendyk to the NHL roster

Head into next year:

Forsberg (8.5) - ROR (4.5) - Marner (13)
Stamkos (8) - Young Center (5) - Marchessault/Bunting (4.5-5)
L'Heureux (0.863) - Svechkov (0.925) - Evangelista (1.5)
Bellows (0.775) - McCarron (0.925) - X (0.775)
X (0.925)

Josi (9.059) - Hague (4.5)
Skjei (7) - Barron (1.15)
Molendyk (0.925) - Lauzon (2)
Wilsby (0.775)

Saros (7.74)
Annunen (0.837)

Dead cap: 8.8 mil

Cap hit: 94.22 mil
Salary cap: 95.50 mil

 

[glenngineer]

My seven-step plan getting this team back on track as soon as next year:

1) Draft one of Hagens, Misa or Frondell. If Schaefer's a realistic option then draft him.

2) Acquire Nic Hague from Vegas and sign him long-term

To NSH: Hague
To VGK: 2025 1st (latest of our three 1st rounders) + Tampa's 2025 2nd + Nick Blankenburg

3) Acquire a young top-six center

Options include:

Trevor Zegras
Cole Sillinger
Marco Rossi

Use a package of a veteran, a prospect and a pick. Preferably Stamkos but one of Bunting and Marchessault will do.

4) Move out Sissons and Smith to free up cap

5) Re-sign Evangelista (2 years x $1.5 mil)

6) Sign Marner from FA (7 years x $13 mil)

7) Bring up Molendyk to the NHL roster

Head into next year:

Forsberg (8.5) - ROR (4.5) - Marner (13)
Stamkos (8) - Young Center (5) - Marchessault/Bunting (4.5-5)
L'Heureux (0.863) - Svechkov (0.925) - Evangelista (1.5)
Bellows (0.775) - McCarron (0.925) - X (0.775)
X (0.925)

Josi (9.059) - Hague (4.5)
Skjei (7) - Barron (1.15)
Molendyk (0.925) - Lauzon (2)
Wilsby (0.775)

Saros (7.74)
Annunen (0.837)

Dead cap: 8.8 mil

Cap hit: 94.22 mil
Salary cap: 95.50 mil

I like some of this.

Not sure about Hague as we’d have a massive surplus of LHD and no RHD that are competent. I think we need to address the right side. This is also dependent on Josi coming back.

I don’t think we need to acquire a young 2C. We have Svechkov, Edstrom and Surin in the pipeline. I say let the three of them fight it out.

I’d keep Sissons and move out McCarron instead.

I like the Vange, Marner and Molendyk ideas.

I’d add to this by moving Saros.

You also don’t have the high draft pick this year slotted into the lineup. I’d put them on line 1, move ROR to 2C for the time being and give 3C to Svechkov.

 

[LeighDx59]

Hell, I'd move Sissons and McCarron out. Grab a 4th line center out of free agency if you have too, imo Glendening would be perfect if he's availble.

 

[herzausstein]

Looks like Philly is sealin the deal tonight and we will have a top 5 pick. Hopefully we move up to 2nd and Sharks stay 1st overall

 

[Scoresberg]

I like some of this.

Not sure about Hague as we’d have a massive surplus of LHD and no RHD that are competent. I think we need to address the right side. This is also dependent on Josi coming back.

I don’t think we need to acquire a young 2C. We have Svechkov, Edstrom and Surin in the pipeline. I say let the three of them fight it out.

I’d keep Sissons and move out McCarron instead.

I like the Vange, Marner and Molendyk ideas.

I’d add to this by moving Saros.

You also don’t have the high draft pick this year slotted into the lineup. I’d put them on line 1, move ROR to 2C for the time being and give 3C to Svechkov.

I didn’t have our 1st rounder in there as I don’t think that any one of those top picks are ready to make the jump already next year. Well, maybe Misa, but that's about it.

Also, with regards to the acquiring a young top-six center; I do believe that Svechkov probably tops out as a high-end 3C at the NHL level. If we get one of Hagens, Misa or Frondell then we'll have one young top-six center for the future. Having a guy like Zegras or Rossi in there as well would give us a pretty good center core for the future considering Edström will also make the jump in a few years. Surin's probably a winger in the end.

I agree with your take on having a surplus of LHD while being light on RHD. I just don't know if there's a similar RHD like Hague available. I also do think that LHD-LHD pairs can work (see McNabb-Theodore in Vegas and Hedman-Moser in Tampa). It is a matter that would need to be addressed at some point in the future, however.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

My 5 step plan for next year two years

Trade Saros before the contract extension kicks in.

Anaheim, Philly, Edmonton, Detroit all would be good options here. You won't get the value you would've last year but you can get something. More importantly, you get out of that contract.

You trade ROR to whatever team gives you the most
I don't care if he goes back to Buffalo and is depressed the rest of his career if they offered Benson. Whoever offers the best package, it's a business. Get an agent that can negotiate a better contract.

Tell the vets the plan and ask if they want to be part of it.
Our target date to compete again is 2027. If you don't want to see yourself in the bottom of the standings for the next three years, please waive your movement clause now or be prepared to next year at the trade deadline.

Stop the bleeding on the right side with Savard, Ekblad or Petry

Even though the our competitive window is slammed close, we can't get shelled every night.

Fire Brunnette

Don't think I need to expand on this one. Hire someone who plays the kids and will develop them.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I find it difficult to get too enthusiastic about making off-season plans, when I'm pretty confident that Trotz has totally different ideas in store for us.

 

[herzausstein]

My offseason plan is basically:

Trade Saros. He isn't doing great. Yes that may be a system and defense issue but that isn't getting fixed overnight so get out of the contract before things get worse.

Hire vet goalie on short term contract. Don't matter who.

Poke around for a legit young 2C trade. If that fails, poke around the more questionable players like Norris. He is a good player but gets broken often.

If we get someone, trade RoR in the offseason. If we don't get someone, trade RoR at the deadline.

Try to get a vet RHD that isnt buns or a vet LHD like Gavrikov that might mesh well with Josi being a RHD/W.

Start of season see what the market is for Sissons, McCarron, Smith, Blankenburg, and any other UFA to be. If there is value there to do a trade now, pull the trigger. If not, wait for the deadline and get what you can.

Fire the coach

Spread the remaining veteran leadership around the lineup and focus on getting development opportunities for the young players like Evangelista, Svechkov, L’Heureux, Wood, Kemell, etc. Yes, they might not turn out to be top 6 quality BUT jamming them into the bottom 6 together with grinders isn't going to turn them into top 6 players. So give em the opportunity and see what happens.

Draft top 5 next season as well barring a complete miracle.

My 5 step plan for next year two years

Trade Saros before the contract extension kicks in.

Anaheim, Philly, Edmonton, Detroit all would be good options here. You won't get the value you would've last year but you can get something. More importantly, you get out of that contract.

You trade ROR to whatever team gives you the most
I don't care if he goes back to Buffalo and is depressed the rest of his career if they offered Benson. Whoever offers the best package, it's a business. Get an agent that can negotiate a better contract.

Tell the vets the plan and ask if they want to be part of it.
Our target date to compete again is 2027. If you don't want to see yourself in the bottom of the standings for the next three years, please waive your movement clause now or be prepared to next year at the trade deadline.

Stop the bleeding on the right side with Savard, Ekblad or Petry

Even though the our competitive window is slammed close, we can't get shelled every night.

Fire Brunnette

Don't think I need to expand on this one. Hire someone who plays the kids and will develop them.

Feel like telling the vets that we have that we are going to suck and take a trade now if they want out runs counter to the idea of getting ekblad. Savard or Petry might take something. Money does talk though. I just think this season is going to impact our ability to get players this offseason.

We don't need to stop the bleeding on the right side and we really don't have any near term prospects that can do it (or long term either... the right side is really weak).

 

[hido]

Fire the coach

Nothing else matters (insert Metallica gif) until this happens.

 

[Scoresberg]

I wonder if we could be in on Isaac Howard from Tampa. Just won the Hobey Baker and has lit up the NCAA. Didn't sign with Tampa as they didn't have cap space / room for him so he'll be going to back to college.

He's a winger on the smaller side, but extremely crafty, skilled and fast. Don't think we have anyone quite like him in our roster or even in our pipeline.

I wouldn't pay much for him but I wonder if Tampa would be up for a prospect-for-prospect type of a swap. Maybe Kemell with a small add from our side?

 

[Flgatorguy87]

My plan is pretty well fire Bruno and if Trotz won't then fire both. Single most important thing we can do before adding a top 5 pick.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I wonder if we could be in on Isaac Howard from Tampa. Just won the Hobey Baker and has lit up the NCAA. Didn't sign with Tampa as they didn't have cap space / room for him so he'll be going to back to college.

He's a winger on the smaller side, but extremely crafty, skilled and fast. Don't think we have anyone quite like him in our roster or even in our pipeline.

I wouldn't pay much for him but I wonder if Tampa would be up for a prospect-for-prospect type of a swap. Maybe Kemell with a small add from our side?

I would probably steer clear unless there is time to get him under contract right now and burn that ELC year. Because otherwise, if his stated intent is to play out next season to become a free agent, well then I definitely don't want to have traded something good for him and then just watch him walk.

I guess TB will get a compensatory 2nd round pick if that happens, but I'm just really surprised they stuck to their guns on this one. I know they always have Cap issues, and maybe there was also something in bonus structure/tagging that bothered them in addition to just fitting in Howard for the last few games? But that's a weird way to deal with the guy who is probably your best prospect? Or WAS...

I was also surprised to hear how much NCAA hockey players can make from the NIL these days. It sounds like Howard expects to earn around $100k, in addition to his housing/tuition, etc. More than his AHL salary would be on an ELC. Maybe not as much as that salary + signing bonus? But still, just being in the ballpark is an interesting new twist for these formerly "amateur" NCAA players.

 

[Armourboy]

I would probably steer clear unless there is time to get him under contract right now and burn that ELC year. Because otherwise, if his stated intent is to play out next season to become a free agent, well then I definitely don't want to have traded something good for him and then just watch him walk.

I guess TB will get a compensatory 2nd round pick if that happens, but I'm just really surprised they stuck to their guns on this one. I know they always have Cap issues, and maybe there was also something in bonus structure/tagging that bothered them in addition to just fitting in Howard for the last few games? But that's a weird way to deal with the guy who is probably your best prospect? Or WAS...

I was also surprised to hear how much NCAA hockey players can make from the NIL these days. It sounds like Howard expects to earn around $100k, in addition to his housing/tuition, etc. More than his AHL salary would be on an ELC. Maybe not as much as that salary + signing bonus? But still, just being in the ballpark is an interesting new twist for these formerly "amateur" NCAA players.

I mean if you can get a degree and get paid I'd take that over getting beat around in the AHL any day of the week. Being able to do it and come out as an UFA too is all bonus.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I mean if you can get a degree and get paid I'd take that over getting beat around in the AHL any day of the week. Being able to do it and come out as an UFA too is all bonus.

Yeah, we're going to have to keep an eye on that situation down the road... big changes in the NCAA landscape now that players get paid from NIL, and also now that players graduating from the CHL can play in the NCAA. That is going to have a double whammy effect in terms of making it a stronger league than ever before, with potentially more guys staying longer (and potentially leveraging free agency like Howard), on top of more good players coming in after junior. All of which will add up to more players wanting to go to the NCAA in the first place, not just staying longer.

There is already talk of some of the top CHL players and prospects jumping ship to NCAA even before they finish junior. E.g. Misa or McKenna... they just wrecked junior hockey with their scoring exploits this year as 17 year olds. Why hang around? Why not go play in the much stronger NCAA next year.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

ESPN's take on what the Preds need to do:

Projected cap space: $17.26 million
2025 draft picks: 1st, 1st (TB), 1st (VGK), 2nd, 2nd (TB), 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th (COL)

What went right? Their prospects. Of note, Matthew Wood averaged more than a point per game at the University of Minnesota before signing a professional contract. Joey Willis went from scoring 29 goals in his first two OHL seasons combined to having 27 goals this season. At the NHL level, Justin Barron, Zachary L'Heureux and Fedor Svechkov had expanded ice time.

What went wrong? Everything else. They went from being a playoff team that spent big in free agency to get Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Brady Skjei and Luke Schenn to having the third-worst record in the NHL. They were consistently disconnected. They are sixth in shots per game, but last in goals per game. They have one of the top 10 penalty kills yet gave up the seventh-most goals per game.

Keys to the offseason: With three first-round picks and more than $17 million in cap space, the Preds have options -- especially if their first-round pick becomes the No. 1 pick via the draft lottery. But the Predators are trying to find a way that allows them to win now and in the future. It's why they began shifting course toward playing young players after a poor start to the season. Now it's all about strengthening that plan as they seek to recover from one of the more trying seasons in franchise history.

Realistic expectations for 2025-26: The Preds can go in a number of directions. They entered the 2023-24 season as a team on the rise and made the playoffs. They entered 2024-25 as a team that could be in the conference finals discussion before ending up in the lottery. If they aren't in the playoff mix next spring, there will be some big questions for the front office to answer.


Nothing about coaching or Trotz

 

[glenngineer]

ESPN's take on what the Preds need to do:

Projected cap space: $17.26 million
2025 draft picks: 1st, 1st (TB), 1st (VGK), 2nd, 2nd (TB), 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th (COL)

What went right? Their prospects. Of note, Matthew Wood averaged more than a point per game at the University of Minnesota before signing a professional contract. Joey Willis went from scoring 29 goals in his first two OHL seasons combined to having 27 goals this season. At the NHL level, Justin Barron, Zachary L'Heureux and Fedor Svechkov had expanded ice time.

What went wrong? Everything else. They went from being a playoff team that spent big in free agency to get Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Brady Skjei and Luke Schenn to having the third-worst record in the NHL. They were consistently disconnected. They are sixth in shots per game, but last in goals per game. They have one of the top 10 penalty kills yet gave up the seventh-most goals per game.

Keys to the offseason: With three first-round picks and more than $17 million in cap space, the Preds have options -- especially if their first-round pick becomes the No. 1 pick via the draft lottery. But the Predators are trying to find a way that allows them to win now and in the future. It's why they began shifting course toward playing young players after a poor start to the season. Now it's all about strengthening that plan as they seek to recover from one of the more trying seasons in franchise history.

Realistic expectations for 2025-26: The Preds can go in a number of directions. They entered the 2023-24 season as a team on the rise and made the playoffs. They entered 2024-25 as a team that could be in the conference finals discussion before ending up in the lottery. If they aren't in the playoff mix next spring, there will be some big questions for the front office to answer.


Nothing about coaching or Trotz

I don't take this seriously as there are many flaws. We didn't go out and sign Schenn this past offseason. We didn't hardly play our younger players like this implies.

I also agree about your comment that they made no mention of the shitty coaching job and poor decisions made by the GM. Call it out.

 

[jumb0]

That seems like an AI generated report

 

[herzausstein]

L’Heureux and Svechkov have the lowest TOI/GP of any regular roster player. Maybe it looks good compared to Wood and Vrana but they're still treated to bottom of the lineup minutes.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

L’Heureux and Svechkov have the lowest TOI/GP of any regular roster player. Maybe it looks good compared to Wood and Vrana but they're still treated to bottom of the lineup minutes.

Not to mention the whole circus of Tomasino/Parssinen/Novak/Fabbro elimination cycle before this.

 

[herzausstein]

Not to mention the whole circus of Tomasino/Parssinen/Novak/Fabbro elimination cycle before this.

Right. The only forwards with lower TOI/game are ones that are no longer with the team (Hinostroza, Jankowski, Parssinen, Tomasino), AHL players/prospects (Wood, Kemell, Lucchini, Bellows, Weissblatt). Novak with about a shift extra a game over L’Heureux and Svechkov prior to his departure. We don't have a single young up and coming player in the top 6 TOI/game for the whole season. Evangelista has managed to get his way up to the 6 spot after the deadline though.

 

[Armourboy]

I don't take anything from ESPN very seriously when it comes to hockey. Yall around here know more than they do, especially when it comes to the Preds.