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!
