Around the League - 2022 offseason thread

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

 

[tailfins]

I think the Rangers are in a spot where they need picks. They don't really have any forward depth. They've got Othmann, Kravtsov, and maybe Cuylle? Meanwhile, Panarin turns 31 this year, Kreider is already 31, etc. They're likely to trade some of their older forwards in the next few years, but they need young kids to fill the pipe.

I do wonder about the Devils, though. Personally, I prefer Marino to a 1st. His contract and position are important for the Devils. I just object to sending a 3rd. Especially since it was somewhat of a cap dump by the Pens. Similarly, I feel the Devils didn't get enough for Zacha. There should have been a pick added, IMO. These are small issues - I'd rather the Devils make the deals they did than have stood pat. But, I don't think Fitz is maximizing value.

 

[RangerDoggo]

Boy that didn't take long.

 

[Guttersniped]

No clue what Lundkvist will do in Dallas, but I do wonder if the Rangers are able to sometimes get other teams to give them excess value the same way the Yankees have often done it in baseball: their presence as "but we're in NEW YAWK" often means their prospects and young players get overrated just by sheer exposure.

That said, no, the Rangers don't win every deal they make, and I still have questions about their player development system.

They got taken to the cleaners in Buchnevich trade, except Drury was a willing victim because he likely overvalued Blais and the market was basically set with 2nds for unsigned RFAs at the time.

The contract is being ignored here, he has this much value for Dallas because he played as a pro in the SHL, plus 25 games in the NHL, and still has 2 years on his ELC.

I was glad Fitz shipped Smith when he still had value with 1 year of his ELC left. (For the complaint that we got “scraps”, we made “hockey trades” with both Zacha and Smith.)

I don’t know how good Lundkvist is, he was paired with a very bad defenseman almost his entire time in the NHL in Nemeth. He has 2 years/2.5m left on his deal and the Rangers had to give up two picks (a 2025 2nd & a 2024 3rd or a 2026 2nd) to dump his lame ass in the desert. Dallas has way better LHD to pair him with in Lindell or Suter.

Lias Andersson had a year left on his ELC when he got a 2nd but he looked a lot worse, but he was a former 7OA. His dad also was a scout for the Kings, so they might have believed they had inside info there.

I was a bit shocked at first by this return but if a couple of teams offered 2nds then this is how you beat those offers. The Rangers might not have been interested in getting minor prospects and Dallas presumably felt the same about their better ones.

If Oettinger plays well Dallas should do fine.

I don’t know why everyone sees the Rangers as always getting better value, they’ve gotten a lot for some rentals but they paid a ton for some too. Those were the going rates.

Are people going way back?

The Canes are likely pretty happy with the Brady Skjei trade, they’re getting a lot out of him as a cost controlled defenseman.

I will be forever haunted by the Scott Gomez trade too but that 2009. The Brassard/Zib trade was 2016. They’ve made a lot of trades.

 

[Guttersniped]

Huh, I genuinely didn’t see that coming after his end of the season interview but some people called it.

 

[HBK27]

Huh, I genuinely didn’t see that coming after his end of the season interview but some people called it.

I feel like if he really, really wanted to still play he would've at least gotten a PTO somewhere and could've likely worked that into a one-year deal. But given all the media opportunities he will have and all the money he's already banked (CapFriendly has his estimated career earnings at $78.8M), it's a lot easier to walk away from likely playing for a team/city that he may not have really wanted to go to.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

It doesn't suck in terms of value, it sucks for the Rangers' window. They need to flip this pick or the player taken with it, IMO. Rangers have 3 big declining contracts and Shesterkin only has 3 more years of being this cheap. In 2025-26, the Rangers have $53 million tied up with 7 players, none of whom are Shesterkin. Maybe that's an argument to keep this pick but it's hard to see how the Rangers are significant contenders in 3 years.

Well they can easily trade the pick at the deadline for roster help if they decide their team has some hole that needs to be filled. Wouldn't be surprised if that's even the plan Drury has in mind, basically trading Lundkvist for roster help in two steps, using draft capital as currency and waiting to get more information about his team and where it needs help.

Like the trade for both sides really, especially cause Lundkvist wasn't going to report and really had no future in NY. But if Lundkvist just can't cut it in the NHL (scouts are not 100% capable yet of making this determination) will be an expensive miss for Dallas.

Edit: I remembered reading that Drury said he wanted to get roster help for Lundkvist but can't find it, removed that claim.

 

[tailfins]

IMO, the real magic with Lundkvist is that the Rangers got him to sign his first deal. If he hadn't signed last year, he'd be UFA now and could have chosen his landing spot. Either he or his agent got snookered somehow. He would have been a huge prize this off-season.

 

[MartyOwns]

chara’s finally done? lou’s going to be devastated

 

[crashline]

On the back of the Subban news, officially pouring one out for our fondly remembered 3rd pair.



It was the best of times, if was the blurst of times.

 

[britdevil]

Congratulations and happy retirement PK!

 

[NjDevsRR]

chara’s finally done? lou’s going to be devastated

Isles Staff: “Mr. Lamoriello, our average age has gone down!”

No One:

Lou:

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Is it really "retiring" if no team wants to sign a player?

Isn't that being released?

 

[NjDevsRR]

Is it really "retiring" if no team wants to sign a player?

Isn't that being released?

 

[Guttersniped]

Well they can easily trade the pick at the deadline for roster help if they decide their team has some hole that needs to be filled. Wouldn't be surprised if that's even the plan Drury has in mind, basically trading Lundkvist for roster help (which is what he claimed he wanted to do) in two steps, using draft capital as currency and waiting to get more information about his team and where it needs help.

Like the trade for both sides really, especially cause Lundkvist wasn't going to report and really had no future in NY. But if Lundkvist just can't cut it in the NHL (scouts are not 100% capable yet of making this determination) will be an expensive miss for Dallas.

I hadn’t even followed the story that much, I knew he requested a trade but was he really not going to report? Drury really can sweet talk his prospects and assuage their concerns lol.

I guess he was competing with Zac Jones, who was LHD and only had 1 year on his ELC, as well as being firmly being behind Lindgren and Miller.

Edit: Oops, been corrected, he’s RHD, so Schneider drank his milkshake.

I agree that this trade hinges on how good Lundkvist is and I don’t even have much of a guess there. I think he’ll do better in Dallas, he’s potentially the real winner here.

 

[HBK27]

I hadn’t even followed the story that much, I knew he requested a trade but was he really not going to report? Drury really can sweet talk his prospects and assuage their concerns lol.

I guess he was competing with Zac Jones, who was LHD and only had 1 year on his ELC, as well as being firmly being behind Lindgren and Miller.

I agree that this trade hinges on how good Lundkvist is and I don’t even have much of a guess there. I think he’ll do better in Dallas, he’s potentially the real winner here.

He's a right handed shot, so with Braden Schneider surpassing him and securing the 3rd pairing RD spot behind Fox and Trouba, he wasn't going to crack the lineup - thus the trade request.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I thought I remember hearing about this huge discount he was going to take because he loved winning so much?

 

[SKNJD9]

I thought I remember hearing about this huge discount he was going to take because he loved winning so much?

He took it on his second deal, every knew it would be paid back in this one

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I thought I remember hearing about this huge discount he was going to take because he loved winning so much?

he took a big discount last time

 

[FooteBahl]

I think it’s a fair contract for one of the top 5 players in the league…especIally with the cap allegedly skyrocketing in a few years

 

[Guttersniped]

He's a right handed shot, so with Braden Schneider surpassing him and securing the 3rd pairing RD spot behind Fox and Trouba, he wasn't going to crack the lineup - thus the trade request.

Whoops, forgot that.

The other issue was a pairing with Schneider and Zac Jones makes more sense in the future. Jones and Lundkvist are redundant (though I assume the Rangers would have liked to have found out who was better).

I did like how they signed Nemeth specifically for Lundkvist (he’s Swedish too!) but that fact that he sucked became a big problem.

They haven’t figured out how to get a super cheap 3rd pair veteran, which admittedly isn’t always easy, and it has blown up in their face a couple of times lately.

 

[Guttersniped]

I thought I remember hearing about this huge discount he was going to take because he loved winning so much?

No one takes a “huge discount”, but this is a fair number for 8 years for a contract starting in 2023-24.

Matthews ask in 2025-26 is presumably going to be absurd, unless he’s whole a lot less mercenary the second time around. MacKinnon wasn’t going to make millions less than him.

McDavid’s deal will only have 3 years left when this starts and he’ll get a raise too.

 

[HBK27]

I think it’s a fair contract for one of the top 5 players in the league…especIally with the cap allegedly skyrocketing in a few years

I think it's fair moreso for the fact that he was vastly underpaid for the past few seasons plus the upcoming one. This contract acknowledges that by making him the highest paid player for a season, before Matthews surpasses it in '24-'25.

Value-wise it's not great, but certainly fair.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

He took it on his second deal, every knew it would be paid back in this one

People were using quotes from him about taking a discount around the time of the Bratt negotiations to show how selfish he was being. As if a player wanting to get a fair deal is selfish.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

I hadn’t even followed the story that much, I knew he requested a trade but was he really not going to report? Drury really can sweet talk his prospects and assuage their concerns lol.

I guess he was competing with Zac Jones, who was LHD and only had 1 year on his ELC, as well as being firmly being behind Lindgren and Miller.

Edit: Oops, been corrected, he’s RHD, so Schneider drank his milkshake.

I agree that this trade hinges on how good Lundkvist is and I don’t even have much of a guess there. I think he’ll do better in Dallas, he’s potentially the real winner here.

That was the claim at least according to Claude Lemieux (his agent, but someone who should be quoted on all news stories anyway):

Nils Lundkvist will not report to NY Rangers camp and has requested trade, per agent

According to Nils Lundkvist's agent, Claude Lemieux, the 22-year-old defenseman is planning to stay home until he's traded.

www.lohud.com