GDT: Free Agent Frenzy

[Fitzy]

I think this is correct as well.

I'm still trying to figure out what his post means. It looks like he's saying that is what we will see, but that he wouldn't bet money that it is what we will see?

 

[Savant]

Strome is in a weird spot. He’s going to be looking for a pay day for last season, and even his production since coming over from Edmonton. But I don’t think there’s a league wide interest in that - especially with the economic situation.

In hindsight, the Rangers probably should have moved both Fast and Strome at the deadline.

Maybe? But at the deadline we didn’t know that they were getting Lafreniere, so I don’t think it’s fair to hold that against them (Not that you are) same with the Kreider extension in some ways. Rangers are a victim of bad timing.

 

[Avery16]

 

[PuckLuck3043]

I believe the Rangers are consistently on the lower end of the bids right now. And I think at this stage, players are looking for financial fits and family need fits.

But, just on forwards alone I know the same basic offer was on the table for Granlund, Fast and Wennberg.

Wennberg got more money in a state without income tax.

Fast got a extra year, a million more on the term of the deal, and probably felt a sense of job security he wouldn’t be changing addresses at the TDL.

Granlund is still TBD.

I suspect Johnson was a guy willing to take a 6/7 role in NY, and both sides felt more comfortable than the average candidate to fill that role. I also think the Rangers are figuring that their young players on the cusp may just end up staying put this season - be it in the AHL or on loan elsewhere.

There’s also a lot of wait and see with Strome and ADA right now.

I just think it’s a more nuanced than we’re really acknowledging right now.

Thank you for being a voice of knowledge and reason. This thread is sometimes painful to read.

 

[BBKers]

You think there will be a trade, or a signing?

Lots of ifs + buts & maybes, but I think I would answer "both". Maybe not anything major, but yeah - "There will be blood..." Too many people say that they want to be a better team this year. As I believe they will. But the process is a long and winding road with the CBA and salary cap in mind. There are deals and opportunities ahead. For sure. Looks like GMJG has saved his bullets for another day and other battles that will become tangible once the situation clears.

 

[LaffyTaffy]

This year has been so weird in so many ways. I feel that our Front Office really is trying its best to make this team better, but this has got to be one of the worse years for trying to navigate trades and the CBA.

 

[Edge]

Maybe? But at the deadline we didn’t know that they were getting Lafreniere, so I don’t think it’s fair to hold that against them (Not that you are) same with the Kreider extension in some ways. Rangers are a victim of bad timing.

I agree and you're point is spot on. It's easy to make "in hindsight" comments, but no one in their right mind was going to build a plan based around winning the lottery.

Now if we want to make a fair critcism of the Rangers, I think we can say that they had too much tied up into defenseman who didn't work out. Even taking Staal out of the equation, you still had/have money tied up in guys like Girardi, Shattenkirk and Smith. At some point there's only so many of those salaries you can mask without feeling the impact.

 

[effen]

I can only assume those with a value fetish will be thrilled the Rangers have set their price and term and aren't budging, even for sentimentality.

 

[Fitzy]

This year has been so weird in so many ways. I feel that our Front Office really is trying its best to make this team better, but this has got to be one of the worse years for trying to navigate trades and the CBA.

At the end of the day it aint just trades, we need players like Fox, Kakko, Chytil to progress and improve. Even without major moves if the kids can take steps forward it could still be an improved roster- especially with the potential for a star starting netminder this season.

 

[Raspewtin]

I believe the Rangers are consistently on the lower end of the bids right now. And I think at this stage, players are looking for financial fits and family need fits.

But, just on forwards alone I know the same basic offer was on the table for Granlund, Fast and Wennberg.

Wennberg got more money in a state without income tax.

Fast got a extra year, a million more on the term of the deal, and probably felt a sense of job security he wouldn’t be changing addresses at the TDL.

Granlund is still TBD.

I suspect Johnson was a guy willing to take a 6/7 role in NY, and both sides felt more comfortable than the average candidate to fill that role. I also think the Rangers are figuring that their young players on the cusp may just end up staying put this season - be it in the AHL or on loan elsewhere.

There’s also a lot of wait and see with Strome and ADA right now.

I just think it’s a more nuanced than we’re really acknowledging right now.

So they tried but they lowballed a lot. Fine. I don't agree with that but I get it.

Really hope they have some sort of plan for addressing our bottom 6 cause that's another ez 1st round exit without any changse.

 

[Edge]

Thank you for being a voice of knowledge and reason. This thread is sometimes painful to read.

And I am the first to admit, it does suck right now.

Nobody loves the Johnson signing.

Seeing Fast go for what is close to a million less than his original (reported) starting point is hard to swallow.

No one gets excited for AHL depth signings (though we needed them).

No one loves the fact that we still don't have a solution everyone loves at center.

I really do get it.

 

[Edge]

So they tried but they lowballed a lot. Fine. I don't agree with that but I get it.

Really hope they have some sort of plan for addressing our bottom 6 cause that's another ez 1st round exit without any changse.

But I don't know if there's really an alternative right now to lower-end offers. I mean what is really the alternative? $2.25 x 3 for Fast? Offering $2.5 for Wennberg in the hopes that it's enough to pursuade him?

Even then, I don't know if I see any sure-fire answers floating around there in the free agent pool.

And the truth is, this is going to be a transition year. Frankly, I'd consider making the playoffs a success --- even if it means a first round exit.

That's part of my whole pushback on expectations as well. Getting back into the playoffs organically is a success to me. Winning rounds is a major bonus for this roster.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

And I am the first to admit, it does suck right now.

Nobody loves the Johnson signing.

Seeing Fast go for what is close to a million less than his original (reported) starting point is hard to swallow.

No one gets excited for AHL depth signings (though we needed them).

No one loves the fact that we still don't have a solution everyone loves at center.

I really do get it.

Edge, do you see Johnson playing for the Rangers regularly barring injuries to other D?

 

[Edge]

Edge, do you see Johnson playing for the Rangers regularly barring injuries to other D?

Honestly, he could. And here's my working theory right now:

North American hockey is a bit of a mess right now, and there's a lot of uncertainty.

I think you're going to have quite a few top prospects on loan next season, and I think there's a good chance that teams proceed conservatively. In other words, unless a kid is a high proability to make the roster, they probably just leave them be or loan them out for the season. I don't think you're looking at teams really desiring to shuttle guys back and forth, or break their bubbles more than they have to.

This approach could very much impact guys like Reunanen and Miller. They're right on the cusp, and they could make the squad. But I don't think it's considered a "given" at this point. And if the Rangers even suspect that either guy might need more time to cook, they may very well just prefer to let that happen rather than forcing the issue. Otherwise, guys like Miller, Reunanen and Robertson were all guys who could've potentially gotten long looks this season.

Johnson isn't a good player at all, he's barely an NHL player at this point. But he's cheap, he's familiar to the defensive coach, and he can stay with them the entire time if need be. To me, he's Mr. Right Now.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

Looks like GMJG has saved his bullets for another day and other battles that will become tangible once the situation clears

aka Gorton came to the realization the league right now doesn't value Tony like he does, and no one was fooled by Strome's good season, plus the added pandemic issue, so they can't move him.

 

[SA16]

But I don't know if there's really an alternative right now to lower-end offers. I mean what is really the alternative? $2.25 x 3 for Fast? Offering $2.5 for Wennberg in the hopes that it's enough to pursuade him?

Even then, I don't know if I see any sure-fire answers floating around there in the free agent pool.

And the truth is, this is going to be a transition year. Frankly, I'd consider making the playoffs a success --- even if it means a first round exit.

That's part of my whole pushback on expectations as well. Getting back into the playoffs organically is a success to me. Winning rounds is a major bonus for this roster.

Well the alternative would be to offer contracts to the competent players who signed for cheap. For example, all of Forbort, Pysyk, Boyd, Koivu, Larsson, Cousins, Hinostroza, Nosek, Verhaege, Jankowski, Noesen, Rodrigues, Merrill, are competent bottom of the lineup type players. That's 13 guys all of which signed for no more than 2 years with an AAV no higher than 1.5M. I find it hard to believe if they reached out to all of them, many of which shared agents, that they would get zero of thirteen to bite. Yet we see them actively reaching out to players known to be bad like Jack Johnson and then signing borderline NHL players for league minimum. Of course if you only express interest in a few guys (say Wennberg/Fast/Granlund) who are all higher quality players than those I listed above and try to lowball them all your chances are not good.

 

[Crease]

But I don't know if there's really an alternative right now to lower-end offers. I mean what is really the alternative? $2.25 x 3 for Fast? Offering $2.5 for Wennberg in the hopes that it's enough to pursuade him?

Even then, I don't know if I see any sure-fire answers floating around there in the free agent pool.

And the truth is, this is going to be a transition year. Frankly, I'd consider making the playoffs a success --- even if it means a first round exit.

That's part of my whole pushback on expectations as well. Getting back into the playoffs organically is a success to me. Winning rounds is a major bonus for this roster.

Emphasis on this. There are young guys on the Rangers that could still go in either direction developmentally. Mix in the fact that the Rangers have $9M in buyout penalties coming off the books at the end of next season. You get the sense that the Rangers want to go into next offseason with as much flexibility as possible. Part of that is not overpaying or overcommitting to players this offseason just to be marginally better for the next 82 games.

 

[aufheben]

 

[gravey9]

I

And I am the first to admit, it does suck right now.

Nobody loves the Johnson signing.

Seeing Fast go for what is close to a million less than his original (reported) starting point is hard to swallow.

No one gets excited for AHL depth signings (though we needed them).

No one loves the fact that we still don't have a solution everyone loves at center.

I really do get it.

I also think there needs to be a shift in our understanding. Our last run was with a team constructed more like the current Islanders. A core of good to very good players with one superstar - Lundqvist. The line between our complimentary players and our core players was fairly vague. And someone like Hagelin felt HUGE. Making sure we kept Girardi and Staal locked up was a priority. And these were huge based on our team construction/stye of play.

But this new young core is totally different. Requires us as fans to re-set our thinking a bit. If things go near perfectly well, we will have identified about 8 skaters + 1 goalie as our core going forward. Within that, 2-3 superstars. The rest of the lineup will be in constant turnover. The Fasts, Hagelins, Boyles and Moores of the world will cycle through. Mainly because we won't be able to pay them very much. And we just need to be okay with losing these kinds of players while also appreciating what they bring. But it's a totally different mindset.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Honestly, he could. And here's my working theory right now:

North American hockey is a bit of a mess right now, and there's a lot of uncertainty.

I think you're going to have quite a few top prospects on loan next season, and I think there's a good chance that teams proceed conservatively. In other words, unless a kid is a high proability to make the roster, they probably just leave them be or loan them out for the season. I don't think you're looking at teams really desiring to shuttle guys back and forth, or break their bubbles more than they have to.

This approach could very much impact guys like Reunanen and Miller. They're right on the cusp, and they could make the squad. But I don't think it's considered a "given" at this point. And if the Rangers even suspect that either guy might need more time to cook, they may very well just prefer to let that happen rather than forcing the issue. Otherwise, guys like Miller, Reunanen and Robertson were all guys who could've potentially gotten long looks this season.

Johnson isn't a good player at all, he's barely an NHL player at this point. But he's cheap, he's familiar to the defensive coach, and he can stay with them the entire time if need be. To me, he's Mr. Right Now.

Do you think Martin overrates Johnson or he signed him knowing the learning curve will be lower for him than someone who hasn't played for him?

 

[Profet]

The team is going to improve by young players playing better. A ton of the roster is the age where you can reasonably expect them to improve year to year.

Seriously underrated comment.

I believe that many here are just used to 90's, 00's and 10's (that's weird to type) Rangers hockey where every year players aged, and got further along in their decline.

It's strange being on the other side of the curve where players actually get better year to year... but ladies and gentlemen... we are here.

 

[huerter]

Sort it out later?? LMAO —— how? You can’t modify contracts in the NHL after they’ve been signed. Duuuuuhhhhhh.....

Bro - just start a new account. Seriously. You keep trying to make the team look bad because you’re purposely ignoring rules that prevent you from doing what you think or want the team to do.

Why not spend 5-10min of your free time and study the current CBA? You won’t make ASININE suggestions like you knew wtf you were talking about.

If you study the current CBA, you’d probably realize how stupid your “smart” suggestions sound.

You really just made up your own story and ran with it, didn't ya bud.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

You really just made up your own story and ran with it, didn't ya bud.

Says you lol

 

[rangers1314]

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

If the Rangers are operating under the assumption the prospects on the cusp probably won't make the team this year, if anything I would expect them to be more aggressive in filling holes with cheap depth. Which it does not seem like they're doing.

But it's still early, so I'd love to be wrong on that.