Kitchener Rangers 2015-16 Season Thread

[Medway Bear]

Isn't the cut down to 3 OA's the day prior to the trade deadline?
If so, then maybe wait to see who you can get for nothing?
Or at least offer a low pick to a team that needs to cut down to 3 OA's a few days prior?

I think the deadline this season to cut down OAs to 3 is Jan 8th and the trade deadline is the 11th. If you are going to get another OA then Robinson and Brosnan will have to be traded or released.

 

[Medway Bear]

I think he has no choice but to find another goaltender, at least on an interim basis. Richardson has played well, but it's not fair to him to expect that he'll make every start while Opilka is away. The division is way too tight to take a chance on goaltending, too.

Assuming Opilka leaves for training camp on the 14th and makes the team, then Richardson will have to play against:

London (x2)
Soo
Niagara
Guelph (x2)
Possibily Hamilton

A tough schedule for a young goalie at least to start. So either Carty comes back sometime during this period or another experienced goalie is needed.

 

[Jeffy3535]

I think he has no choice but to find another goaltender, at least on an interim basis. Richardson has played well, but it's not fair to him to expect that he'll make every start while Opilka is away. The division is way too tight to take a chance on goaltending, too.

I can't argue with that. It's just that the schedule isn't that bad. The only games that make me nervous with Richardson is the two London games and the one in Niagara. However, both of those teams are going to be missing key guys to the WJC as well and Richardson was pretty impressive in Niagara during pre-season at the Meridian Centre so it may be a comfortable atmosphere for him. And I don't see the home-and-home with Guelph being a problem. If Richardson gets injured we're obviously in trouble, but it might be a risk Murray is willing to take. I doubt he wants to give away more of his draft picks he's stocked up. I saw Carty in the store last night and minus the leg brace, you wouldn't know he's injured the way he's walking around. I got a hunch he may be the back-up after Xmas.

 

[EvenSteven]

Assuming Opilka leaves for training camp on the 14th and makes the team, then Richardson will have to play against:

London (x2)
Soo
Niagara
Guelph (x2)
Possibily Hamilton

I agree that this isn't all that bad a schedule. Considering the way we've played vs the lesser teams in the league, there are 4 gimme games there. And yes, the London and Niagara games are the ones that will be interesting. It also helps that we play back to back only once. That isn't that bad a work load - unless he's starting JrB games during this time.

 

[Mach85]

Didn't see it posted in here, but Matt Mistele went to Sarnia for a 2nd in '16, and two 3rds ('17, '18). Also, Nedeljkovic and Josh Wesley to Niagara. Dominoes are falling.

 

[Mayday3*]

Didn't see it posted in here, but Matt Mistele went to Sarnia for a 2nd in '16, and two 3rds ('17, '18). Also, Nedeljkovic and Josh Wesley to Niagara. Dominoes are falling.

You're a week late to the party haha

 

[bobber]

Assuming Opilka leaves for training camp on the 14th and makes the team, then Richardson will have to play against:

London (x2)
Soo
Niagara
Guelph (x2)
Possibily Hamilton

A tough schedule for a young goalie at least to start. So either Carty comes back sometime during this period or another experienced goalie is needed.

Josh Brown says the Rangers are actively seeking a back up.

 

[EvenSteven]

Josh Brown says the Rangers are actively seeking a back up.

Actively seeking a backup and dealing assets for a backup may be two different things. Any chance we can get a guy in here to just sit on the bench while Richardson plays? At what point does a backup use up a card? Does he have to come into a game to trigger a used card or if he just sits there and opens the door a card isn't used?

(Any idea how many cards we've used/have left by the way?)

I'd rather save the asset and just have a guy stand in as a backup and play only if there's an injury to Richardson than give up any asset for a two or three week stint. Or did Dawson Carty show enough to a team looking for goaltending depth down the stretch and into next year for the Rangers to be able to deal him for a healthy veteran backup. Then that guy would be Opilka's backup the rest of the way.

Carty has shown that he's a pretty good goalie and a possible OA for next year. He does have value.

 

[Mach85]

You're a week late to the party haha

Tbh I just wanted to crow about being right about Mistele's price .

 

[K2]

Unfortunately, we're in a spot where we really need to acquire a quality backup if Carty isn't ready until Jan. Richardson looked very good in the one OHL game he's played (& JrB) but we can't just find a plug somewhere to sit on the bench ... really need a G that is solid enough to probably start a game or two and be ready to go in should injury occur or relief be required. No idea where Carty's recovery stands, and I feel we owe him every chance, but we need to keep gunning for 1st or we'll quickly be fighting for 4th/5th. Hope not but perhaps some tough decisions are being considered regarding Carty/Brosnan...?

M85 - I wish we paid a Mistele price for Liberati but good additions for both teams either way.

EvenSteven - I count 28 cards used, 2 remaining but I could be missing some subtlety on arrangements/limits.

 

[EvenSteven]

Actively seeking a backup and dealing assets for a backup may be two different things. Any chance we can get a guy in here to just sit on the bench while Richardson plays? At what point does a backup use up a card? Does he have to come into a game to trigger a used card or if he just sits there and opens the door a card isn't used?

(Any idea how many cards we've used/have left by the way?)

I'd rather save the asset and just have a guy stand in as a backup and play only if there's an injury to Richardson than give up any asset for a two or three week stint. Or did Dawson Carty show enough to a team looking for goaltending depth down the stretch and into next year for the Rangers to be able to deal him for a healthy veteran backup. Then that guy would be Opilka's backup the rest of the way.

Carty has shown that he's a pretty good goalie and a possible OA for next year. He does have value.

According to Josh Brown, this is pretty much what the Rangers are aiming to do.

 

[bobber]

Brown reports they are going to ride Richardson through Christmas. They will get a third stringer if Opilka makes the US team. The team plan to use Opilka and Carty for this season. Carty will return later in January. Robinson and Hall are skating. Robinson will be back after Christmas. Robinson never got hurt in the fight. Hall will be out for a while yet.

 

[Ward Cornell]

Speaking of which...

The Kitchener Rangers announced today they have acquired goaltender Liam Devine from the Oshawa Generals. In exchange, the Generals will receive Kitchener’s 6th round pick in the 2018 OHL Priority Selection.“We found ourselves in a position where acquiring a goaltender was a necessity, but we’re happy we were able to bring in Liam as that addition,” said Rangers General Manager Murray Hiebert.


Drafted by the Generals in the ninth round, 166th overall in the 2014 OHL Priority Selection from the OMHA’s Guelph Gryphons, Devine played for both the Waterloo Wolves Midget AAA and the Guelph Hurricanes in 2014-15.


Liam has skated in three regular season games for Oshawa this season and nine games for the Elmira Sugar Kings, where he posted a 5-4-0-0 record with a 2.83 goals against average and a .919 save percentage.


Liam Devine (LEE-umm Dee-VINE)
Hometown: Guelph, ON
Birthdate: April 4, 1998
Height: 6.03
Weight: 216
Position: G
Catches: R

http://www.kitchenerrangers.com/article/kitchener-rangers-and-oshawa-generals-announce-trade

So our 16 yr old tender will be backed up by a 17 yr old with 3 games experience.
I don't mind this trade...comes with very little cost and if he gets in some games and proves himself that 6th round
pick is easily recovered.

 

[Mayday3*]

Speaking of which...

http://www.kitchenerrangers.com/article/kitchener-rangers-and-oshawa-generals-announce-trade

So our 16 yr old tender will be backed up by a 17 yr old with 3 games experience.
I don't mind this trade...comes with very little cost and if he gets in some games and proves himself that 6th round
pick is easily recovered.

He was very bad for Oshawa this year. Ended up losing his backup role after only a month

 

[K2]

Liam Devine looks OK @ the price. Looks like Josh Brown ("no rush") needs to get his ear a wee bit closer to the door

If the Devine acquisition leaves us with 1 card I suppose we're out of the 'blockbuster' trade sweepstakes or is he perhaps playing on an affiliate contract scheme?

 

[Mayday3*]

Liam Devine looks OK @ the price. Looks like Josh Brown ("no rush") needs to get his ear a wee bit closer to the door

If the Devine acquisition leaves us with 1 card I suppose we're out of the 'blockbuster' trade sweepstakes or is he perhaps playing on an affiliate contract scheme?

I could be wrong but I believe if someone is already carded with another team, it doesnt count as one of your cards. For instance if you got Dal Colle, it wouldnt cost you another card.

 

[EvenSteven]

I could be wrong but I believe if someone is already carded with another team, it doesnt count as one of your cards. For instance if you got Dal Colle, it wouldnt cost you another card.

I think you may be wrong on that. MDC would use a card. The question is will Devine use up a card if he never sees game action?

 

[Ward Cornell]

I think you may be wrong on that. MDC would use a card. The question is will Devine use up a card if he never sees game action?

I believe that Richardson has used up a card replacing Carty so Devine won't since he's filling in for Opilka when he's at the WJHC.

 

[EvenSteven]

Liam Devine looks OK @ the price. Looks like Josh Brown ("no rush") needs to get his ear a wee bit closer to the door

If the Devine acquisition leaves us with 1 card I suppose we're out of the 'blockbuster' trade sweepstakes or is he perhaps playing on an affiliate contract scheme?

Let's hope he doesn't cost us a card. Anything can happen between now and the deadline. If he does cost us a card, we can only acquire one player. What if Brosnan is out longer than expected? Our depth on defenseman will take a hit. Can we get Allen back in the fold? Has he hung up the skates or is he awaiting a trade? Seems to be if we are left with just one more card, we're restricted in how much we can actually do at the deadline.

As it stands now I believe we're better than London and on par with Erie. I hear London has three cards left. Not sure about Erie. If London fills those three cards with high end guys, they may shoot past us on paper. Of course, you still have to play the games.

 

[h10*]

I believe that Richardson has used up a card replacing Carty so Devine won't since he's filling in for Opilka when he's at the WJHC.

He may not have.. The kid is a 1999 rookie and has played 1 game. They clearly haven't been trying to play him despite his first career game being impressive. Probably because he is on a JR B card and is limited to 10 games. Likely doesn't count as a card

 

[h10*]

Let's hope he doesn't cost us a card. Anything can happen between now and the deadline. If he does cost us a card, we can only acquire one player. What if Brosnan is out longer than expected? Our depth on defenseman will take a hit. Can we get Allen back in the fold? Has he hung up the skates or is he awaiting a trade? Seems to be if we are left with just one more card, we're restricted in how much we can actually do at the deadline.

As it stands now I believe we're better than London and on par with Erie. I hear London has three cards left. Not sure about Erie. If London fills those three cards with high end guys, they may shoot past us on paper. Of course, you still have to play the games.

I think we are all clueless about the cards lol. If my math is correct then I believe that Kitchener has 5 left. London has I believe 5 and Erie has 7

But I don't know how to add these. London may only have 3 or 4 but not sure if Valentini or Gleason would count. Somehow has to get some actual info on these cards and share it with us all

 

[Ward Cornell]

He may not have.. The kid is a 1999 rookie and has played 1 game. They clearly haven't been trying to play him despite his first career game being impressive. Probably because he is on a JR B card and is limited to 10 games. Likely doesn't count as a card

He's played 1 game but was dressed for 13 additional games for a total 14 games.
I believe those 13 additional games even though not playing do count towards cards.

 

[K2]

I think Liam costs a card unless he’s somehow here on an affiliate contract out of the Sugar Kings. Not sure if BUG games count toward the AC limit since they’re not actual recorded appearances. Lets hope Richardson & Devine are both here on affiliate cards (10 games + WJC period), then MH can splurge on a trade for a couple studs & maybe persuade Greg Meireles to stay with the club at some point.

I’ll guess a minimum 27 cards have been used, with the assumption that Richardson & Devine are signed on unexceeded 10-game affiliate contracts.

Current Cards (?) = 25
Ryan MacInnis
Adam Mascherin
Mason Kohn
Gustaf Franzen
Jeremy Bracco
Brandon Robinson
Connor Bunnaman
Darby Llewellyn
Dmitrii Sergeev
Frank Hora
Brian Brosnan
Jake Henderson
Nicholas McHugh
Jacob Cascagnette
David Miller
Joseph Garreffa
Elijah Roberts
Dylan Di Perna
Nick Magyar
Miles Liberati
Mark Bzowey (-> JrB)
Doug Blaisdell
Connor Hall
Dawson Carty
Luke Opilka

Spent Cards, no longer with team (?) = 2
X Mike Davies
X Sean Allen

Affiliate Cards (?) = 3
Greg Meireles
Luke Richardson (hopefully)
Liam Devine (hopefully)

 

[h10*]

He's played 1 game but was dressed for 13 additional games for a total 14 games.
I believe those 13 additional games even though not playing do count towards cards.

Ah fair point. I don't think they would count though.
Going back to Devin Williams in his 16 year old rookie year he was putting up great numbers on a 10 win young team.. .908 save percentage, had a 61 save performance and 1 GA against Niagara, the top dogs that year. Yet Erie could only play him 9 games as he was a 5th round junior b card. And when he wasn't playing he was on the bench backing up Sadikov. So being on the bench doesn't count if looking back at the Williams situation. The way that year went I'm sure he would have played more if he could have ... Especially when he was playing good and was one of the lone bright spots

I don't think Richardson counts and my guess is either does Sean Allen as he only played 9 games and then they decided that's it.. Likely because his card would be coming into effect if he played more

 

[EvenSteven]

Ah fair point. I don't think they would count though.
Going back to Devin Williams in his 16 year old rookie year he was putting up great numbers on a 10 win young team.. .908 save percentage, had a 61 save performance and 1 GA against Niagara, the top dogs that year. Yet Erie could only play him 9 games as he was a 5th round junior b card. And when he wasn't playing he was on the bench backing up Sadikov. So being on the bench doesn't count if looking back at the Williams situation. The way that year went I'm sure he would have played more if he could have ... Especially when he was playing good and was one of the lone bright spots

I don't think Richardson counts and my guess is either does Sean Allen as he only played 9 games and then they decided that's it.. Likely because his card would be coming into effect if he played more

The Rangers didn't decide that was it, Allen and his family did. Why? Nobody's saying. But I'm of the belief that as far as the Rangers were concerned, Allen was a part of their plans this year and therefore, they wouldn't have signed him to the 10 game affiliate card. He and Hall were in the same boat this year - two second year players who played on affiliate cards last year.