Kitchener Rangers 2022-23 Off-Season Thread (Part 5)

[GeoBlue]

I'm hoping the new coach is more like a Deboer type coach. One that will put a great defensive system in place. Then make sure his assistant coaches adhere to his agenda. Deboer had his nose all over the ice at practice watching for screw ups. He didn't require a micro phone. You could hear him on Ottawa Street if a player was out of position.

One can only hope.

 

[K2]

Ranger 2022-23 financials:

Highlights:
- $4Mil ticket revenues
- $737,000 overal surplus (down $203,000 from last year)
- $302,000 playoff revenue
- $441,000 Ranger merch sales (+ 54%)
- $3.3Mil emergency (covid) bank loan quickly reduced to $1Mil, balance to be paid through 2031

Lowlights:
- $15,000 regular season loss
- $200,000 to honour Chis Dennis’ contract
- $5Mil+ still owed to CofK (of $9.6Mil) for 2011 Aud expansion, now extended to 2032

Other:
- $1.5 million in scholarship obligations
- COO Joe 'happy' with progress

 

[bobber]

Ranger 2022-23 financials:

Highlights:
- $4Mil ticket revenues
- $737,000 overal surplus (down $203,000 from last year)
- $302,000 playoff revenue
- $441,000 Ranger merch sales (+ 54%)
- $3.3Mil emergency (covid) bank loan quickly reduced to $1Mil, balance to be paid through 2031

Lowlights:
- $15,000 regular season loss
- $200,000 to honour Chis Dennis’ contract
- $5Mil+ still owed to CofK (of $9.6Mil) for 2011 Aud expansion, now extended to 2032

Other:
- $1.5 million in scholarship obligations
- COO Joe 'happy' with progress

Still of the opinion some ones head should of rolled for the waste of money going to Dennis. 200 grand is nothing to scoff at these days unless your name is Elon Musk.

 

[OHL4Life]

Still of the opinion some ones head should of rolled for the waste of money going to Dennis. 200 grand is nothing to scoff at these days unless your name is Elon Musk.

joe birch was one of the very pro dennis people in the organization,

 

[bobber]

joe birch was one of the very pro dennis people in the organization,

Most die hard Ranger fans especially the STH that actually pay the freight are hoping for a new direction going forward. The new coach has a reputation for winning big games. If the coaching staff can start to properly develop young players and turn them into decent pro prosects that's all you can ask for in the OHL.

 

[OHL4Life]

Most die hard Ranger fans especially the STH that actually pay the freight are hoping for a new direction going forward. The new coach has a reputation for winning big games. If the coaching staff can start to properly develop young players and turn them into decent pro prosects that's all you can ask for in the OHL.

dont see a negative with the current head coach, dont love the new associate coach but hes in a new envirnment so maybe that changes.

 

[bobber]

Rangers drafted some talented prospects in the past draft. They will be the face of the organization going forward. Call it a reload or rebuild this season. Still like to see a couple of these rookies make a statement this year. When the Rangers had real competitive teams in the past they usually had a couple of rookies that were a able to score goals and were a threat to opposing teams.

 

[EvenSteven]

Rangers drafted some talented prospects in the past draft. They will be the face of the organization going forward. Call it a reload or rebuild this season. Still like to see a couple of these rookies make a statement this year. When the Rangers had real competitive teams in the past they usually had a couple of rookies that were a able to score goals and were a threat to opposing teams.

Agree. But we won’t be reloading, it’ll be a rebuild and we’ll be bad, period. But yes, opportunity is there for the the young core to step up and entertain.

Derek Roy and Jeff Skinner rookie seasons come to mind.

 

[Matttheleaf]

Do people think that the average fan will know the Rangers are planning to be (and hopefully will be) bad this year?
I also wonder if you see strong attendance numbers at the start of the year, and then a drop off as the season goes on.

 

[Matttheleaf]

A little clearer on our OA situation this year now.

 

[EvenSteven]

A little clearer on our OA situation this year now.

Unfortunate. I looked forward to a full season of him up front. No doubt we would have / will be shopping our OA’s and Hollett would have been a good option to remain here for the rebuild.

 

[RangerNation]

Do people think that the average fan will know the Rangers are planning to be (and hopefully will be) bad this year?
I also wonder if you see strong attendance numbers at the start of the year, and then a drop off as the season goes on.

The average fan has no idea what is happening. If Rehkopf is traded, a look at the Facebook comments will tell you everything you need to know.

 

[Gondrex]

Training camp announced.......

Kitchener Rangers 2023 Training Camp Details Announced - Kitchener Rangers

Looking forward to seeing Hlacar and Akimov vs the vets to see where they stand.

.....and Brandt Dubey? Seems like an interesting invite.

 

[Tim Wallach]

Love seeing Hlacar get an invite. Had completely forgot about Runco. Some jobs to be had.

By the sheer number of 05 invites, I'd guess they're looking to sign one.

 

[OhSheilaa]

Josh Brown's story in the Record says Wideman has moved on. No mention of where. Josh says a replacement assistant coach could be announced as soon as Tuesday

 

[bobber]

Fairly sure I saw Gleb Akimov a free agent in the rookie camp games. He seemed to stand out when he took his shifts.

 

[Gondrex]

Fairly sure I saw Gleb Akimov a free agent in the rookie camp games. He seemed to stand out when he took his shifts.

Yeah, he is an ‘05, but could be an upgrade on another ‘05 forward from last year’s squad. Time will tell. I like the fact that he’s right hand shot. After Martin, the right side seems drop off a bit. Bottineau, Pugliese, and Lam appear to be the other RW’s if I’m recalling correctly.

 

[Gondrex]

Love seeing Hlacar get an invite. Had completely forgot about Runco. Some jobs to be had.

By the sheer number of 05 invites, I'd guess they're looking to sign one.

On the subject of Runco (05), I see him, Scott (05), and Terrance (06) battling it out for two available positions on defence. That is of course if one were to assume these guys are locks:

Brzustewicz
Andonovski
Motew
Reid
Hamara

I have no idea what this Brandt Dubey (06) brings to the table, but I hope it’s a lot to make things interesting on who makes the cut for those two positions.

By the way, did anyone else notice that Swick is now listed at 6’-07”?

 

[EvenSteven]

Yeah, he is an ‘05, but could be an upgrade on another ‘05 forward from last year’s squad. Time will tell. I like the fact that he’s right hand shot. After Martin, the right side seems drop off a bit. Bottineau, Pugliese, and Lam appear to be the other RW’s if I’m recalling correctly.

We are short on the right side. But Martin is a LW and Bottineau is a Center who played the wing when he got into the lineup in the post season.

We are loaded with centers so no doubt some will be tried on the wing.

 

[Gondrex]

We are short on the right side. But Martin is a LW and Bottineau is a Center who played the wing when he got into the lineup in the post season.

We are loaded with centers so no doubt some will be tried on the wing.

My bad ES. You're right, of course Martin is LW....and yes Bottineau is a center. Who knows, maybe he centers the 3rd line instead of playing the wing this year.

 

[EvenSteven]

My bad ES. You're right, of course Martin is LW....and yes Bottineau is a center. Who knows, maybe he centers the 3rd line instead of playing the wing this year.

No worries! The only returning RW is Pugilese and maybe Mesar (not holding my breath). So if no RWers in camp make the team, no doubt there’ll be centers moved to the right side.

Bottineau and Mercer I think are our only returning right shot centers

I wouldn’t be surprised if one of Stark or Romano is asked to play wing either.

 

[GeoBlue]

By the way, did anyone else notice that Swick is now listed at 6’-07”?

I wish he would grow a bit more horizontally rather than vertically.

 

[Habsrule]

I’m not sure that those are the official heights and weights to the players.

On ice practices start 8 days from now. I doubt that the Rangers have everyone in town now and have measured each of them yet.

 

[Habsrule]

Maybe this question would be better to post for teams more league wide to see and not just us Rangers fans.

My suspicion is that Hamara will be the only import on the team. Mesar seems to be going to the AHL, Probezal is staying back home for the year and Kiviharju is a long shot at best.

Are there any teams with three Euros going to camp and one will need to be traded off? I can’t see a huge trade market for that player but they could be a depth player for Kitchener.

 

[EvenSteven]

Maybe this question would be better to post for teams more league wide to see and not just us Rangers fans.

My suspicion is that Hamara will be the only import on the team. Mesar seems to be going to the AHL, Probezal is staying back home for the year and Kiviharju is a long shot at best.

Are there any teams with three Euros going to camp and one will need to be traded off? I can’t see a huge trade market for that player but they could be a depth player for Kitchener.

I think we’d have to release the rights to one of our imports to bring in a fifth import. I can’t see that happening.

Mesar will start the season in Laval but there’s no guarantee he stays there. I’d hate to release his rights only to have him turn up in this league on another team without being compensated.