Dynasty Building XXXVII: Improving On A Cup Winning Team

[Brock Anton]

Nikishin for 9 would be absolutely awful. I wouldn’t even do it for 2 but could at least stomach that

I genuinely do not see what you see in him.

Absolutely nothing he showed this year screams “potential #1 D” to me.

 

[User13452]

Nikishin for 9 would be absolutely awful. I wouldn’t even do it for 2 but could at least stomach that

Nikishin for 2 is a no brainer. Do that deal every day of the week

 

[Buenos Necas]

We just saw the big returns Nemec and Byram got yesterday, it's something you have to explore.

I'm fine if they do extend Nikishin. I like the physical element he brings and he's in his prime years, but his skating does concern me long-term in this system. And the fact we haven't extended him yet, his iffy play during the playoffs, Key really establishing himself, and the big market for young D makes it a potentially perfect exit ramp.

A hockey trade makes a lot of sense if you can get a top-end cost-controlled player in return (Larkin, Knies, etc.) and save some of the futures. You can give CAL/Nystrom a chance to start the year on the right side, then if you need to add during the season we still have some futures banked.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

I genuinely do not see what you see in him.

Absolutely nothing he showed this year screams “potential #1 D” to me.

His offensive upside is absolutely top pair caliber, when he was briefly on PP1 the unit dominated and his shot is a legitimate weapon at all strengths that we don’t have on the team.

Defensively all his flaws this year to me can easily be explained by adjusting to NA, Rod’s system and the English language. He would get lost and not know where his teammates were or where he should be but these are things that can be corrected and are to be expected from someone in his situation. Other than that he showed great ability in board battles, in front of the net, with his stick, etc. He takes a bit of time to get up to speed, not surprising for a big guy, but is fast as hell for his size once he gets going and he’s absolutely capable of recovering and getting back into the play.

We didn’t see it much this year but his physicality is absolutely an elite trait that is rare to find these days (I suspect Rod coached him to play passively while learning the system and would still be willing to unleash him in that aspect once he’s settled in).

He also just fits our timeline to extend our contention window extremely well.

I’m no hockey scout or X’s and O’s expert and this is just my opinion. But I’d find it awfully difficult to watch this dude fulfill his potential anywhere else after we drafted him and have stuck with him this long. If we get something legitimately amazing in return, ok I get it, gotta give to get. But draft picks or mid-tier players are not that.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

He also got a concussion in the 1st round, so his play for the rest of the playoffs that year should be judged with that in mind

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

I trust their internal evaluation of the player, whatever that is. They know what they’re doing when it comes to defensemen.

 

[User13452]

Something around Nikishin, KK for Knies +? Toronto lacks centre depth and young d.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

Something around Nikishin, KK for Knies +? Toronto lacks centre depth and young d.

Boom is a better asset than Knies

 

[WreckingCrew]

Something around Nikishin, KK for Knies +? Toronto lacks centre depth and young d.

Boom is a better asset than Knies

Not to mention, where the f*** do you fit Knies in?

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I trust their internal evaluation of the player, whatever that is. They know what they’re doing when it comes to defensemen.

Most of the time, but they've had some misses as well.

They missed out on Forsling (regardless of the depth at the time). They were wrong on Gardiner, Orlov, Bear, and Bean (in terms of protection in expansion draft and keeping him over Forsling).

Hamilton, Burns, Skjei, DeAngelo, Chatfield, Ghost, KAM, and Walker have all been very solid acquisitions.

I'm sure I missed a few others on both sides of it.

 

[User13452]

Not to mention, where the f*** do you fit Knies in?

Second line. Hall isn’t getting any younger eventually he will need to slide down to a third line role

 

[Blueline Bomber]

We traded Ned when it seemed like a bad idea. Maybe this same situation will happen

 

[WreckingCrew]

Second line. Hall isn’t getting any younger eventually he will need to slide down to a third line role

Then move up poor Ehlers lol dude is too good to be stuck on the 3rd line

 

[Borsig]

Then move up poor Ehlers lol dude is too good to be stuck on the 3rd line

I know right? I mean, Imagine being stuck with A conn smythe winner. eesh.

 

[Ole Gil]

The problem with Nikishin is he still has some developing to do. If he's looking for 8x8, but still hasn't jumped Sean Walker on the depth chart, it's a big risk.

Kind of has a Necas feel to it too. Where he might be better suited for a different style of play. Protect the net and block shots. Not chasing wingers out to the point.

I bet the trade return would be real nice though, whatever it is.

 

[DaveG]

Yeah that's where I am with Nikishin as well. He's a physical specimen, so of course you'd love to have him on your team, Canes included. But he made a lot of bad reads with his decision-making. He'll be 25 in October. He's "NHL young" but he has had a lot of professional experience.

Compounding matters is the fact that CAL and Nystrom both look totally NHL ready to me. In particular, I think Legault needs to be on our roster next year. The way I see it, the downgrade from Nikishin to CAL doesn't seem significant at this point in time, but as little as a year ago we were ready to slot Nikishin in as a surefire top 4, quite possibly #1 defenseman.

I could see the Borg looking to add a big time player like Larkin at the cost of Nikishin. Or, if the Werenski rumor is true, that'd be an even better add. I'd go Nikishin + 2026 1st + Nadeau for Werenski.

Werenski would make a ton of sense for how we operate and I don't think Don would have much issue trading with us. It would take something big like that to consider it though, like I know a lot of people on the mains are mentioning San Jose but I just don't see anything that can be built that both sides would realistically like, shy of it being a 3-way where we get Larkin, San Jose gets Niki and KK, and Detroit gets the 9 and whatever futures pieces from San Jose

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Not to mention, where the f*** do you fit Knies in?

We just won the Cup so we don’t want to mess with the roster, but we’ve got 3 4th line wingers in the lineup (Martinook Robinson Carrier). One of them can rotate sitting.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Wouldn't Werenski be the same situation as Nikishin, where he'd either be playing behind Slavin and Miller or playing on his offside?

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Wouldn't Werenski be the same situation as Nikishin, where he'd either be playing behind Slavin and Miller or playing on his offside?

Behind?

 

[Ole Gil]

We just won the Cup so we don’t want to mess with the roster, but we’ve got 3 4th line wingers in the lineup (Martinook Robinson Carrier). One of them can rotate sitting.

Yup. Martinook is definitely the spot easiest to upgrade in the top 9. And when people get hurt, he can slide right back in.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Werenski would likely drop Slavin to second-pair and Miller to 3rd-pair.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

We just won the Cup so we don’t want to mess with the roster, but we’ve got 3 4th line wingers in the lineup (Martinook Robinson Carrier). One of them can rotate sitting.

Calling Martinook a 4th line winger is a stretch. He would be on the vast majority of teams' third lines.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

Most of the time, but they've had some misses as well.

They missed out on Forsling (regardless of the depth at the time). They were wrong on Gardiner, Orlov, Bear, and Bean (in terms of protection in expansion draft and keeping him over Forsling).

Hamilton, Burns, Skjei, DeAngelo, Chatfield, Ghost, KAM, and Walker have all been very solid acquisitions.

I'm sure I missed a few others on both sides of it.

Not to say that they’re infallible; replace Bean, who was left unprotected and traded afterwards (good call), with de Haan. To have won with the group they did, the culmination of pro scouting heavy choices, particularly when it came to not making long-term commitments to certain guys, earns them deference, imo.

 

[Nikishin al Gaib]

Then move up poor Ehlers lol dude is too good to be stuck on the 3rd line

Our lines are basically a 1b, 1b, 2a, and 4th. I honestly don't think we have a true 3rd line, especially when we threw Jarvis with Staal and Ehlers.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]