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Kitchener Rangers 2023-24 Off-Season Thread (Part 2)

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RB76 said:
I agree Reid has displayed some early characteristics of leadership potential and might be a good candidate to wear an “A” this year.

I also believe if Jussi wants this team to play his way and compete with the likes of London and challenge for a memorial cup in 26/27, the Organization needs to set clear expectations and demand accountability from the players.
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In my view, in a rebuilding season, I don’t think we need younger players wearing letters to add to the weight a rebuilding season can bring. Leave that extra responsibility to veterans. As far as I’m concerned, you let all the vets wear the letters and then after the deadline, when a few of those guys are dealt, maybe a guy like Reid gets an A. Maybe.

C- Andonovski
A- Rehkopf
A- Swick
A- Pugliese

That’s my leadership group on opening night. This means I’ve moved on from Miseljevic as being one of our three OA. I can see him dealt during the first half of the season after his play hopefully boosts his draft stock.

Once the deadline rolls around, and two or three of the above leadership group are dealt, then we promote younger guys into the leadership group. If Andonovski, Rehkopf and Swick are all dealt, perhaps our leadership group looks like this:

C- Pugliese.
A- Ellinas.
A- Mercer.
A- Reid.

I can see Pugliese as captain post deadline. Veteran player. Had to work his ass off the make the team and make himself relevant thereafter. Sticks up for teammates and plays a workaholic style.

Earlier on, I had Mercer as a bubble player this year meaning I would try to move on from him to make room for some youth. But, upon further review, I am more in favour of letting our younger players develop at the junior B level. Maybe only one or two play here regularly.

If we do that, we would need bodies in the lineup. And since we’re moving on from a lot of our veterans at the deadline, we’re gonna need vets to play out the rest of the season. That’s where I believe Mercer has value to the Rangers. He’d have more value to the Rangers in that respect than on the open market.

I’d expect an incoming castoff OA D at the deadline to replace Swick’s OA spot. I’d give Reid the last A unless this OA D is of leadership quality.
 
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EvenSteven said:
In my view, in a rebuilding season, I don’t think we need younger players wearing letters to add to the weight a rebuilding season can bring. Leave that extra responsibility to veterans. As far as I’m concerned, you let all the vets wear the letters and then after the deadline, when a few of those guys are dealt, maybe a guy like Reid gets an A. Maybe.

C- Andonovski
A- Rehkopf
A- Swick
A- Pugliese

That’s my leadership group on opening night. This means I’ve moved on from Miseljevic as being one of our three OA. I can see him dealt during the first half of the season after his play hopefully boosts his draft stock.

Once the deadline rolls around, and two or three of the above leadership group are dealt, then we promote younger guys into the leadership group. If Andonovski, Rehkopf and Swick are all dealt, perhaps our leadership group looks like this:

C- Pugliese.
A- Ellinas.
A- Mercer.
A- Reid.

I can see Pugliese as captain post deadline. Veteran player. Had to work his ass off the make the team and make himself relevant thereafter. Sticks up for teammates and plays a workaholic style.

Earlier on, I had Mercer as a bubble player this year meaning I would try to move on from him to make room for some youth. But, upon further review, I am more in favour of letting our younger players develop at the junior B level. Maybe only one or two play here regularly.

If we do that, we would need bodies in the lineup. And since we’re moving on from a lot of our veterans at the deadline, we’re gonna need vets to play out the rest of the season. That’s where I believe Mercer has value to the Rangers. He’d have more value to the Rangers in that respect than on the open market.

I’d expect an incoming castoff OA D at the deadline to replace Swick’s OA spot. I’d give Reid the last A unless this OA D is of leadership quality.
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I agree with some of what you’re saying Even but you have also spoken out against last years rookies frequently while the coaching staff continued to give them more and more ice time, showing they look at things different than you do. I don’t think Jussi and McKenzie view things based off age and will continue to give opportunity and leadership roles to who they think deserve it based on play and other intangibles. Jussi has been quoted saying he thinks Reid is the best D in the world at his age and because of things like this I wouldn’t be surprised if he names him as a part of his leadership group.

I would also consider things like “The European” way of hockey that he grew up with, which traditionally doesn’t lean in to grittier guys like you are all talking about and because of that I would be surprised if they gave a letter to someone like Pug, even though he is absolutely a leader on the ice. He just doesn’t fit what I think of when I try to think what Finnish leaders usually look like.
 
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digicamo said:
I agree with some of what you’re saying Even but you have also spoken out against last years rookies frequently while the coaching staff continued to give them more and more ice time, showing they look at things different than you do. I don’t think Jussi and McKenzie view things based off age and will continue to give opportunity and leadership roles to who they think deserve it based on play and other intangibles. Jussi has been quoted saying he thinks Reid is the best D in the world at his age and because of things like this I wouldn’t be surprised if he names him as a part of his leadership group.

I would also consider things like “The European” way of hockey that he grew up with, which traditionally doesn’t lean in to grittier guys like you are all talking about and because of that I would be surprised if they gave a letter to someone like Pug, even though he is absolutely a leader on the ice. He just doesn’t fit what I think of when I try to think what Finnish leaders usually look like.
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I didn’t speak out against our 07 rookies last year because I didn’t like them or anything like that. I spoke out against thrusting them into roles, on a team that consensus had them supposing to contend, that would normally have been filled by vets.

For example: a third pairing on a contending team that would feature Reid would be a very strong to elite D, 1 through 6. Easily stronger than the D we iced last spring. That’s not a rip on Reid in my opinion.

Sure Jussi and Finnish hockey etc etc, but his goal is to coach in the NHL one day so how the game is played, coached, and constructed in Finland shouldn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.

And MM has gone on record that things need to change here in Kitchener. He’s implied that we need to go into a direction where this team needs a mix of skill and physicality. The lack of physicality over the last couple years was seriously evident in the post season. His signing guys like LaBrash and Hlacar solidifies his intentions.
 
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digicamo said:
I agree with some of what you’re saying Even but you have also spoken out against last years rookies frequently while the coaching staff continued to give them more and more ice time, showing they look at things different than you do. I don’t think Jussi and McKenzie view things based off age and will continue to give opportunity and leadership roles to who they think deserve it based on play and other intangibles. Jussi has been quoted saying he thinks Reid is the best D in the world at his age and because of things like this I wouldn’t be surprised if he names him as a part of his leadership group.

I would also consider things like “The European” way of hockey that he grew up with, which traditionally doesn’t lean in to grittier guys like you are all talking about and because of that I would be surprised if they gave a letter to someone like Pug, even though he is absolutely a leader on the ice. He just doesn’t fit what I think of when I try to think what Finnish leaders usually look like.
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Barkov, the first Finnish captain to hoist the Stanley Cup and best 2 way centre in the game isn't gritty 🤔.

Pugs should 100% be getting a letter.
 
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rangersblues said:
Barkov, the first Finnish captain to hoist the Stanley Cup and best 2 way centre in the game isn't gritty 🤔.

Pugs should 100% be getting a letter.
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Barkov is an incredibly talented two-way centreman but he's averaging .6 hits per game across his career. I wouldn't consider that gritty, personally.

I also believe guys like Ando and Pug should wear a letter 100% I was just pointing out a different perspective that should be considered when guessing wear letters will land next year. There are some good options on the team for sure, even if the roster will have a number of holes.
 
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Tomáš Chrenko is playing in Slovakia this year but seems to be open to joining Kitchener next year.

"I was happy to be drafted by Kitchener, but we'll see how it goes. I would like to stay in Nitra. Depending on what space I have here, also in the I. League and junior, I will decide accordingly. More like next year."
 
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EvenSteven said:
I didn’t speak out against our 07 rookies last year because I didn’t like them or anything like that. I spoke out against thrusting them into roles, on a team that consensus had them supposing to contend, that would normally have been filled by vets.

For example: a third pairing on a contending team that would feature Reid would be a very strong to elite D, 1 through 6. Easily stronger than the D we iced last spring. That’s not a rip on Reid in my opinion.

Sure Jussi and Finnish hockey etc etc, but his goal is to coach in the NHL one day so how the game is played, coached, and constructed in Finland shouldn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.

And MM has gone on record that things need to change here in Kitchener. He’s implied that we need to go into a direction where this team needs a mix of skill and physicality. The lack of physicality over the last couple years was seriously evident in the post season. His signing guys like LaBrash and Hlacar solidifies his intentions.
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Let's add the fact the Jussi exclaimed in an interview after a game where Ranger players were being targeted (enough for anyone to see green....) "They're trying to hurt my players." He was absolutely astounded that this would happen and was an eye opener for sure. As noted, Hlacar and LaBrash were signed for this season.
 
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Krangers08 said:
Tomáš Chrenko is playing in Slovakia next year but seems to be open to joining Kitchener next year.

"I was happy to be drafted by Kitchener, but we'll see how it goes. I would like to stay in Nitra. Depending on what space I have here, also in the I. League and junior, I will decide accordingly. More like next year."
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Kos seems to be heading in the same direction but I still think the Blues will have something to say about that.
 
Game 2 of the Under 17 National camp......Black vs. White.......Headrick gets an assist:

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and Bilecki x 3. The other two were interference and holding.

1721739302637.png
 
Is anyone else concerned about size? Especially regarding 07s and 08. Height specifically? Weight eventually.
 
How do you manage a lineup with Arquette, Headrick, Lam, Romano? Not being negative. But I don't think you can.
 
How do you routinely mitigate the risks of having 4 players that average 5.8 inches tall? Ranked 12th last year in height, 15th in weight. And that's with Swick, Rehkopf, Schmidt and Martin in the calculations.
 
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Ref Hannah said:
Is anyone else concerned about size? Especially regarding 07s and 08. Height specifically? Weight eventually.
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Height....6' and over

...LaBrash 6'5" Hlachar 6'3" Antis 6' (new) Cameron 6'2" Bilecki 6'1"

Stark 6' Romano 5' 11" (could be 6' now) Reid 6' MacNeil 6'2"

Unders Arquette 5'8" Lam 5'8" Hendrick 5'8"

Ref Hannah said:
How do you routinely mitigate the risks of having 4 players that average 5.8 inches tall? Ranked 12th last year in height, 15th in weight. And that's with Swick, Rehkopf, Schmidt and Martin in the calculations.
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Just posted on height. Weight should come along.
 
As long as Lam, Headrick, and Arquette are surrounded with size, we should be ok.

Headrick and Arquette may not get the minutes to affect the issue anyway. We’ll see.
 
Again, not being negative. Optimistically just trying to get on board with the Battle Built theme. Struggling when my eyes tell me something more like Battle Bots. Hopefully they exploded this summer. I guess we'll see next month.
 
Smaller players can survive in hockey today. Where they might not stand out is in the playoffs where it won't matter next season. Most of them will fill out in a year or two when it should be time to contend.
 
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Ref Hannah said:
Again, not being negative. Optimistically just trying to get on board with the Battle Built theme. Struggling when my eyes tell me something more like Battle Bots. Hopefully they exploded this summer. I guess we'll see next month.
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I consider the Knights the gold standard and both Cowan (5’11) and Barkey (5’8) did just fine last year surrounded by bigger players.
 
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