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

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EvenSteven

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Just confirms you build a contender through the draft, player development and coaching. You never do through trades to cover up whats lacking in those three talking points.

Best of luck in the finals!
And because Knights did it this way, they're a year early contending and that’s the reason they’ll be strong again next year.

They have a strong returning group and they didn’t have to piss away every high pick in their draft cupboard this year.
 

Gondrex

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Apr 10, 2017
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Strange season wasnt it? On opening day I had the Rangers top 4 in the West, Knights about 6th.

It's why you play out the season. While Im tickled about the Knights, Im dumbfounded what happened in Rangerland. Just doesnt fit... 🤔

Preseason, I saw a number of predictions on the forum having the Knights in about 6th or 7th. At the time maybe a case could have been made, but still, in a responding post I said that seeing the Knights that low in the standings just wouldn't look right. Well my hunch ended up being correct, but my prediction of the Rangers finishing 5th at worst, as at turned out, was wishful thinking. Lesson learned.....no more predictions from me.

The only thing slightly numbing the pain was the first round upset of the Spits. Other than that, the roller coaster ride of a season was just too much for me to stomach.
 

GeoBlue

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Oct 21, 2017
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Just confirms you build a contender through the draft, player development and coaching. You never do through trades to cover up whats lacking in those three talking points.

Best of luck in the finals!
I agree. Actually, I always personally thought that you need 3 solid final year players and OA's before you consider "going for it" via trade, usually developed within the organization. That is why I was sort of hesitant even with that 2017-18 team. So we built around Bunnaman, Mascherin and...........Connor Hall? Gentles? And our OA's were mostly traded for that year. I know, I know, there are other factors and our "supporting lines" looked pretty good. And we did okay but we gave up a lot of picks for a "chance".

The only thing slightly numbing the pain was the first round upset of the Spits.
Here, here!
 

EvenSteven

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I also remember grandson Griffin Luce who we drafted a while back. Went the college route instead. Never NHL drafted. Maybe he should have come to Kitchener?

At least he got his education I suppose.
 
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rangersblues

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I also remember grandson Griffin Luce who we drafted a while back. Went the college route instead. Never NHL drafted. Maybe he should have come to Kitchener?

At least he got his education I suppose.
For most players getting the education is the most important part.
 

rangersblues

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I now want Dallas Eakins in Kitchener. I loved his comment in the first intermission about the scrum at the end of the period. He said Edmonton was lucky that Vegas players all went after Kane after he cross checked Pietrangelo and didn't engage with either McDavid or Draisaitl who were also on the ice. That's the attitude the Rangers need.
 

EvenSteven

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For most players getting the education is the most important part.
I suppose you’re right. Once you look at his father’s success, or lack thereof, going the OHL route, you can understand why the family may have steered Griffin south of the border to go NCAA.

Scott Luce’s hockey career sort of fizzled in Guelph and later Sudbury.

Playing career that is. He’s made a nice career as a scout.

I now want Dallas Eakins in Kitchener. I loved his comment in the first intermission about the scrum at the end of the period. He said Edmonton was lucky that Vegas players all went after Kane after he cross checked Pietrangelo and didn't engage with either McDavid or Draisaitl who were also on the ice. That's the attitude the Rangers need.
He’d be nice. But he’s been a pro coach from day one, never having coached at this level. I see him staying at the pro level.
 
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rangersblues

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I suppose you’re right. Once you look at his father’s success, or lack thereof, going the OHL route, you can understand why the family may have steered Griffin south of the border to go NCAA.

Scott Luce’s hockey career sort of fizzled in Guelph and later Sudbury.

Playing career that is. He’s made a nice career as a scout.


He’d be nice. But he’s been a pro coach from day one, never having coached at this level. I see him staying at the pro level.
I definitely wouldn't say Don Luce had an unsuccessful career in the NHL. He didn't put up big time numbers but was a very good second line centre and penalty killer for the Buffalo Sabres for 10+ years. He centred Danny Gare for 50 goal seasons and played an integral part in the Sabres going to the Stanley Cup finals.

Eakins has an unsuccessful record as an NHL coach. Three teams, three losing records. I'm not sure he'd get another head coach job in the NHL. Very successful in the AHL though. I think for the right contract he'd consider Junior.
 
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EvenSteven

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I definitely wouldn't say Don Luce had an unsuccessful career in the NHL. He didn't put up big time numbers but was a very good second line centre and penalty killer for the Buffalo Sabres for 10+ years. He centred Danny Gare for 50 goal seasons and played an integral part in the Sabres going to the Stanley Cup finals.

Eakins has an unsuccessful record as an NHL coach. Three teams, three losing records. I'm not sure he'd get another head coach job in the NHL. Very successful in the AHL though. I think for the right contract he'd consider Junior.
You’re right about Don Luce, but I was talking about his son, and Griffin’s father, Scott. The goalie.

 
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bobber

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I’m hoping for dead last. Get 1st overall pick.
Only if the Rangers win the lottery. Hopefully they are not like the guy that bought a field full of pumpkins and they cancelled Halloween. MM did say one time he retools not rebuilds or something along this line. Fans still need some sort of spark going forward to keep the interest up. The Knights are competitive every year. This is what the Rangers should be trying to achieve. The Hallowed Halls of the Aud are a myth otherwise.
 

rangersblues

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Only if the Rangers win the lottery. Hopefully they are not like the guy that bought a field full of pumpkins and they cancelled Halloween. MM did say one time he retools not rebuilds or something along this line. Fans still need some sort of spark going forward to keep the interest up. The Knights are competitive every year. This is what the Rangers should be trying to achieve. The Hallowed Halls of the Aud are a myth otherwise.
The Knights also have a coaching staff that developes the entire team most seasons. You can watch their team get better and better as the season rolls on and if they're in a position to compete for a championship they supplement that team via trades. If not they sell.

Kitchener on the other hand tries to build championship teams via the trade. We've been retooling for about 12 years. We're not London.
 

bobber

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The Knights also have a coaching staff that developes the entire team most seasons. You can watch their team get better and better as the season rolls on and if they're in a position to compete for a championship they supplement that team via trades. If not they sell.

Kitchener on the other hand tries to build championship teams via the trade. We've been retooling for about 12 years. We're not London.
Rangers were not a top team coming into last season. Defense was weak to say the least and scoring was going to be spotty. Then Dennis happened. They screwed the pooch at the draft but it gave them two 1st. It was the perfect scenario to trade off some assets and build from there. Hopefully they learn from their mistakes. Bring in a coach that can develop OHL caliber players and finally give the fans something to cheer for going forward.
 

Tim Wallach

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Oct 9, 2007
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The Knights also have a coaching staff that developes the entire team most seasons. You can watch their team get better and better as the season rolls on and if they're in a position to compete for a championship they supplement that team via trades. If not they sell.

Kitchener on the other hand tries to build championship teams via the trade. We've been retooling for about 12 years. We're not London.
You have two sources of building a good team. Internal drafting and development and acquiring external assets. The first needs to be the main source. Without it, you're a one-legged dog.
 

EvenSteven

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The draft is over. Nothing on the docket, except the rookie camp, until the trade window reopens in June. Cameron Reid and Luca Romano just signed. Love to see Lam and Stark sign in the next little while as well.

So to kill some time, I thought I’d play GM and try to kick off the rebuild.

(This is going to be very long. I apologize. But to do it right, I have to get specific if I want to explain these moves properly. The Reformatted Draft Pick Database was used as a resource for this exercise).

So here we go. Enjoy!

Let me start by saying that at some point, sooner than later, a new coach needs to be hired. The right coach. No cheaping out here. It doesn’t matter that Dennis is still on the payroll. This team can more than afford to pay him and pay big bucks to hire a big time coach. This coach can’t be someone without experience at this level who’s so happy to have the job that he won’t care what the salary is. This coach must be experienced at the CHL level and maybe experienced at the pro level as well. A coach like this should command a substantial salary and we should be only happy to pay it. Don’t restrict the search to this league. Teams have gone to the other CHL leagues and beyond for experienced coaches in the past. Kris Knoblauch in Erie, Ryan McGill in Owen Sound and Derek Laxdal in Oshawa come to mind. Let’s get this guy hired ASAP. We have to show the prospects who we are trying to sign that we have a solid coach in place.


The roster.
Probable returnees from 22-23:

Sop. Rehkopf. Mesar
Martin. Mercer. Hollett.
Swick. Bottineau. Miseljevic.
Pugliese. Morey.

Andonovski. Hamara.
Motew. Scott.

Parsons
Vandenberg
DiFelice

I’m not convinced Mesar plays pro next year as an underager. He didn’t dominate as expected here (if he did, different story) so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Habs returned him here with possible direction that we attempt to move him to a contender at the deadline. The Habs have a deep depth chart. Placing Mesar here, delaying the start of his entry level deal, would make more sense than a bottom six spot in the AHL. He’d get a ton more minutes here, in all situations, than he’d get in Laval. Mesar may want to play pro for $$ next year in Europe if there isn’t a spot for him in the AHL. If there’s a tug of war on this between the Habs and Mesar, I’d expect the Habs to win.

Same with Hamara I’d think. Why play these guys in the AHL when they’d get absolute max minutes here at this level on a Ranger team whose roster is hit hard by graduation? Neither dominated here though Hamara showed good improvement as the season went on. But I don’t believe either is ready for the next level. Just because you weren’t drafted out of the CHL doesn’t mean you’re automatically ready for AHL hockey as an underager.


To begin, in the off season, I make the following three deals in order to build up the draft cupboard. (I may be off a little on value so I’m sure I’ll be corrected. You may adjust accordingly. Lol).

Mitch Martin to Sudbury for:
2nd (‘24 Kit)
3rd (‘26 Nia)
3rd(‘26 Sud).
OA D- Djibril Tourre.

Martin welcomes a trade home to finish out his OHL career on a team that should be all in to contend. We give OA Tourre a landing spot. He’ll help Hollett and Andonovski provide protection to our younger players.

Simon Motew to Missy for 2nd (‘25 Pete)
3rd (‘26 Lon).

Arguably our steadiest D last year and got even better in the post season. Led the team in +/-. A regular season +26, on an 8th place team? That’s more than very good. He’d be a very good OA option on D for a team looking to contend.

Hunter Brzustewicz to Saginaw for
2nd (‘25 Soo)
2nd (‘26 OS)
3rd (‘27 Sag)
4th (‘25 Ott)
5th (‘27 Sag)

Comparable trade, Christian Kyrou. The difference? No player coming back in lieu of the pre draft deal and that Brz may be viewed a little lesser D than Kyrou. But Saginaw will get him for a whole year. This is the second part of the deal that began with the pre draft trade for that 2nd rounder. Recognizing the pre draft trade, after the dust settles, the entire deal becomes:
To Saginaw:
Brzustewicz
4th ‘25
4th ‘26
5th ‘23
To Kitchener:
2nd ‘23
2nd ‘25
2nd ‘26
3rd ‘27
4th ‘25
5th ‘27


Including our own ‘27 picks, here are the 2nd and 3rd round picks in the draft cupboard now available to be traded after making these three deals:

2nd-‘24 (Kit)
2nd-‘25 (Pete)
2nd-‘25 (Soo)
2nd-‘26 (OS)
2nd-‘27

3rd-‘26 (Sud)
3rd-‘26 (Nia)
3rd-‘26 (Lon)
3rd-‘27 (Sag)
3rd-27


Next:
During the September trade window for defective players, should Brady Martin be designated defective, we do the following deal that is standard for a defective player his calibre:

To Kitchener:
Brady Martin

To Soo:
2nd ‘24 (Kit)
2nd ‘25 (Soo)
2nd ‘26 (OS)
3rd ‘26 (Lon)
3rd ‘26 (Nia)
3rd ‘27 (Kit)
4th ‘25 (Ott)

Martin’s other two preferable destinations, Owen Sound and Guelph, are likely to go all in next year so they’ll want to use their draft cupboards to acquire vets. Unless they make some deals for high picks, they don’t have the assets to get involved in a Brady Martin deal and go all in this year. That leaves the Rangers as the likely destination. With the above off season trades, MM has acquired the necessary picks to close this deal - that’s IF Martin becomes a defective player. The Soo would love him to sign. But they’re all in this year and they could use all those picks. The comp pick next year would be appealing as well.

Picks in the cupboard remaining after the possible Brady Martin deal:
2nd ‘25 (Pete)
2nd ‘27 (Kit)
3rd ‘26 (Sud)
3rd ‘27 (Kit).


Waaay out on a limb here, but:

The jury may still be out on whether Micheal Hage wants to return to play in the USHL next year or follow up on his earlier statement where he said he wanted to play in the OHL as a 17 year old. If he still has that desire to play in the OHL, let’s say he’ll only report to Kitchener, just an hour from his home in Missy. If so, in October:

To Kitchener:
Micheal Hage

To Sudbury:
2nd ‘25 (Pete)
2nd ‘27 (Kit)
3rd ‘26 (Sud)
3rd ‘27 (Kit)

Once the dust settles, for all intents and purposes (the plan all along?), this has become a two part deal. The Ranger’s will have gained the comp 1st rounder + Hage. Sudbury, for their troubles, for merely holding Hage’s rights for 13+ months, gain the above picks, plus the return of the conditional picks from the original deal. That’s 3x2nds, 3x3rds and a 4th they would not have had available to them to use as tradable assets this year, if Hage returns to the USHL next year. This would mean that Sudbury’s movable high picks after this deal would be 9x2nds and 9x3rds.
That’s massive and surely the deepest cupboard league wide.

The Kitchener / Barrie Tortora back and forth is the comparable here. Barrie gained the comp 1st plus regained Tortora’s rights. Kitchener gained 2 x 2nds and a 3rd for holding Tortora’s rights plus the conditionals from the original deal went back to the Rangers.

For those who scoffed last fall when I suggested there could be a possibility that Hage comes back to the Ranger’s in a two part deal, there are no rules broken here. No possibility for sanctions etc. Could it look fishy? Maybe. All two-ways do. But to my knowledge, there’s no rule against it happening as long as the deal happens 13 months or more past the original deal. Is it likely? Probably not. More wishful thinking than anything. But it can’t hurt to keep the phone lines open with Sudbury on the possibility.


We aren’t going to contend in the next two years. So I think it makes sense to move Rehkopf at the next deadline to maximize return. So:

In January, the best destination for Rehkopf:

To Guelph:
Rehkopf

To Kitchener:
RD- Quinn Beauchesne
C- Hunter McKenzie
2nd ‘25
2nd ‘27
3rd ‘24 (Nia)
3rd ‘24 (Osh)
3rd ‘27

There may be other possible destinations. Rehkopf may prefer Saginaw as they’re the host. But a Guelph deal would work best for the Rangers as they’d be adding another 16 year old D in the deal. If we’ve already brought in forward Martin to go with Romano, Lam, and Stark, we’d like to even things out by adding D-man Beauchesne to go with Reid in that age group.

The comparable for this trade is the Owen Beck deal. 1.5 years for a player of this calibre (Rehkopf should be on his way to a 40+ goal season by the deadline) demands this level of return. Period.


If Cole Longacre has a change of heart, (fingers crossed), our 06 / 07 age groups going forward would be promising to say the least:
06’s:
Hage. Longacre. MacKenzie. Bottineau. DiFelice.
07’s:
Reid. Martin. Romano. Lam. Stark. Beauchesne.


Trying to move an import is always tough. Who was the last import we traded for value? Radek Faksa? There may be a market for Mesar and maybe Hamara and I’d listen to offers. But I’m not holding my breath and if both are returned to us for the 23-24 season, I’d wager one if not both finish the season in Kitchener. If not, then I’m sure we’ll be selecting a couple players in the next import draft who could come in and take up roster spots.

I listen to offers for Sop but I’d be surprised if we didn’t hang onto him. We need some vets of note to finish out the season. Being a hometown kid and all, I can see staying to finish his career as a Ranger.

Same goes for Parsons I think. I don’t expect a market for him early in the season, so I go with him and DiFelice and we find a landing spot for Vandenberg. Provided he’s healthy, Parsons is our best option and if we’re selling off a ton of quality vets, we’ll need a quality netminder to keep us in games. (see Parker Van Buskirk). Not to mention he’d be a very good OA possibility for 24-25.


Possible post trade deadline depth chart (there may be other minor deals), by age group:

OA’s
Sop. Hollett. Tourre.

04’s
Mesar. Hamara. Parsons. Swick. Miseljevic. Pugliese.

05’s
Mercer. Andonovski.

06’s
Hage. Longacre. Bottineau. MacKenzie. DiFelice.

07’s
Reid. Martin. Romano. Lam. Stark. Beauchesne.

The rookie camp is coming up. Someone from the 21 or 22 drafts could make some noise. There also could be a FA find or two that could open eyes.


The following would be our higher draft picks in the cupboard after the trade deadline. (2nds, 3rds, and 4ths):

2 x 2nds (‘25, ‘27)
3 x 3rds (‘24, ‘24, ‘27)
3 x 4ths (‘24, ‘26, ‘27)

Not fully stocked, but not bad. The quality of our 06’s and 07’s would make up for it.

With no 2nd in the ‘24 draft, we should look to acquire one at some point. If everything were to develop as I’ve laid out in this exercise, we’d try and make another draft week trade. If we’re unsuccessful, as least we have 2 x 3rds in that draft to go along with what should be a very early 1st rounder. But if we’re going all in to host in 26-27, we’ll need a strong ‘08 group. Acquiring a 2nd for the ‘24 draft should be a priority.


To conclude:

I understand I’m reaching quite a bit on Micheal Hage. I also understand I’m reaching somewhat on Brady Martin.

I’d be surprised if the Hage thing went down, or even if he ever plays in this league. The odds of the Brady Martin thing happening is better, and I’d be mildly surprised if it came to pass.

Everything else though, is doable. The vets we’d be trading away could be dealt to different teams but I figured I’d pick some teams who would try to contend next year, had needs to fill, and who had the assets to comfortably complete the deals.

Assuming the Brzustewicz to Saginaw happens in the off season, moving both OA’s Martin and Motew wouldn’t need to happen to set us up to have the assets to acquire Brady Martin should he become available in September. Their value would likely be higher closer to the deadline. But if Brady Martin does happen AND Hage is a possibility, we’ll need the assets early on to close both deals.

With a high end core of 16 and 17 year olds next year, we could be a year early getting back into contention. In 24-25, the 06’s would be 18 and the 07’s would be in their NHL draft year. We wouldn’t be a post season favourite. But we’d make some noise while gaining good playoff experience on route to a couple solid all in years in 25-26 and 26-27.

I understand that this whole excercise, from top to bottom, sounds like something out of Kevin Costner’s movie “Draft Day”.

Maybe so. But it could happen.

Mike McKenzie.
You’re on the clock!
 

Gondrex

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Apr 10, 2017
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Thanks ES for taking the time to put this all together. A lot of thought put into it. Certainly a lot of things are possible, but I do think you're right that there could be a very good possibility that Martin and Brzustewicz are likely traded prior to the start of the season assuming no special trade clauses.

I likely alluded to it before, but I do personally like Hollet up front per your line-up proposal. I think he, or someone, will be needed there to allow the young forward talent do their thing.
 

EvenSteven

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Sep 3, 2009
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No doubt Hunter B has a NTC. Martin maybe but not likely. But I feel both would accept deals to contending teams. Especially since this would be their last season in the league.

Rehkopf is the one who may not want to waive his NTC depending on the destination since he has two years of eligibility remaining.
 

rangersblues

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Mar 21, 2010
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No doubt Hunter B has a NTC. Martin maybe but not likely. But I feel both would accept deals to contending teams. Especially since this would be their last season in the league.

Rehkopf is the one who may not want to waive his NTC depending on the destination since he has two years of eligibility remaining.
In 7 weeks Rehkopf will be drafted by an NHL team. I would guess they will strongly recommend he agrees to a trade to an acceptable contender to further his development.
 

bobber

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Jan 21, 2013
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Kitchener Ontario
You have two sources of building a good team. Internal drafting and development and acquiring external assets. The first needs to be the main source. Without it, you're a one-legged dog.
One legged dog? Got to be a joke there some where. Like the one legged waitress at IHOP. :naughty:
 
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