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

[OnlyUpFromHere]

For those interested, here are the dates of the trade announcements for the previous 7 defected players (in order of trade date), not including Will Moore last year since that was in January and London did not get a 1st round compensatory pick for him:

Will Cuylle (2018): 8/31
Sam Dickinson (2022): 8/31
Henry Brzustewicz (2023): 9/1
Aidan Castle (2021): 9/10
Adam Fantilli (2021): 9/13
Michael Hage (2022): 9/15
Nick Moldenhauer (2021): 9/15

 

[LostRangers]

Romano had one of the best playoffs a 16 year old could have. The last 1/3 of the regular season he was very solid. Did you actually watch any games? His improvement from the beginning of season to the end was ridiculous.

Couldn’t stay up late enough to watch complete games, but the one thing I did notice was Romano’s speed. Consistently one of the fastest skaters out there, against top end talent. Looking forward to seeing him use that to his advantage this season. With Rekhopf gone….more ice for the young guys to develop.

 

[frontsfan67]

Couldn’t stay up late enough to watch complete games, but the one thing I did notice was Romano’s speed. Consistently one of the fastest skaters out there, against top end talent. Looking forward to seeing him use that to his advantage this season. With Rekhopf gone….more ice for the young guys to develop.

I’ve watched all the games so far and Romano has been one of the best players in my opinion. Keep in mind this is with guys like Mckenna, desnoyers, guite, reschny, obrien, Martin, etc. very impressed with him.

 

[bobber]

Keep icing that thing #26, end of game, up by 1...I'd bench him faster than he ran out of his interview last night! No discipline. Can't wait to see how that turns out this season.

No wonder they boo the ref. These players were scouted by real actual scouts and hockey coaches. They weren't picked by someone sitting in their basement making negative comments. Most people on here couldn't carry an OHL players jock never mind being able to skate.

 

[I Mac 80]

I’m hoping with a younger roster that we actually see a competitive training camp as I’m sure there will be ice time along with roster spots up for grabs. Not just ice time but hopefully quality ice time to help develop the younger players. I’ve seen it too much in the past that the team is basically picked before anyone shows up for camp and I don’t think that’s a good way to start the season. Competition for places makes everyone have to be better which I believe can only help development and the team. On Romano I was on the fence about him after the first half of last season but he improved so much as the second half went on and was extremely good as a 16yr old in the playoffs. It looked like his skating and speed got better as the season went on and he’s looked very good playing for Canada and is one of the best skaters on the team.

 

[Squirrel88]

Couldn’t stay up late enough to watch complete games, but the one thing I did notice was Romano’s speed. Consistently one of the fastest skaters out there, against top end talent. Looking forward to seeing him use that to his advantage this season. With Rekhopf gone….more ice for the young guys to develop.

Good point on the ice time for the younger players this fall. Razor would have soaked up 18-20 minutes a night that are now there for other players to take advantage of. The '07s are going to be up against some pretty good '05 and '06 players on other teams on a regular basis. It won't be pretty all the time, but the experience will pay off in the long run.

 

[Gondrex]

Speaking of Rehkopf, I just had a look at the stats of the Brampton returnees for this coming season. I was aware that they were in good shape, but viewing it once again really impressed me on how fun it will be for those Brampton fans this year. Glad the Rangers only play them twice . The Rehkopf deal obviously removes some risk for this team, and maybe other teams are now forced to take a "wait and see" approach - especially in the East.

Getting a sizable return to fill the cupboard was an absolute must for Kitchener in my opinion - and they've locked that in. Now, how about, say Owen Sound, North Bay, ???? (Barlow and Romani, ???). I can't speak for them, but I'm guessing they weren't in quite the same "desperate situation"....or maybe they don't plan to trade them at all (?)

 

[Matttheleaf]

I know that trading Ando to Brantford (Bulldogs) was already mentioned but I jus looked through the database and they have 10 2nd round picks from 2025-2028 and 8 3rd round picks in that same window, which is way more then the next closest teams. If the rangers can swing a deal with them, especially cause their owner is the owner is Sens who have Ando's rights I think it would be a no brainer in my eyes. If we want a quality younger player back I'm not sure who we would target though.

 

[Matttheleaf]

I know that trading Ando to Brantford (Bulldogs) was already mentioned but I jus looked through the database and they have 10 2nd round picks from 2025-2028 and 8 3rd round picks in that same window, which is way more then the next closest teams. If the rangers can swing a deal with them, especially cause their owner is the owner is Sens who have Ando's rights I think it would be a no brainer in my eyes. If we want a quality younger player back I'm not sure who we would target though.

The ultimate get from them would be Jake O'Brien, but I put the odds of that at near 0 since he scored 64 points as a rookie and would probably be a key pieces of a Brantford team this year if they go for it, and if they don't hell surly be around next year of they hold off selling the farm.

 

[Matttheleaf]

The ultimate get from them would be Jake O'Brien, but I put the odds of that at near 0 since he scored 64 points as a rookie and would probably be a key pieces of a Brantford team this year if they go for it, and if they don't hell surly be around next year of they hold off selling the farm.

Should have probably put all my info together before posting 3 straight times but oh well. Maybe a more realistic get would be trading for their first round pick from this past year in Aiden O'Donnell. He had 46 points in 31 games in a u18 league for Dartmouth this past season, he's just shy of 6'1" and a left shot centre.

 

[Gondrex]

The ultimate get from them would be Jake O'Brien, but I put the odds of that at near 0 since he scored 64 points as a rookie and would probably be a key pieces of a Brantford team this year if they go for it, and if they don't hell surly be around next year of they hold off selling the farm.

Yeah, at this point Brantford appears to be the odds-on favourite if one were to bet. As you already mentioned, O'Brien is highly unlikely to be in any Bulldog trade. I think he is just too important to that team. Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but from the games that I'd seen last season, I think he was a regular on the PPG1 - even as a rookie.

 

[EvenSteven]

Getting a sizable return to fill the cupboard was an absolute must for Kitchener in my opinion - and they've locked that in. Now, how about, say Owen Sound, North Bay, ???? (Barlow and Romani, ???). I can't speak for them, but I'm guessing they weren't in quite the same "desperate situation"....or maybe they don't plan to trade them at all (?)

Another reason that it was probably a very good decision to move Rehkopf now, is if we’d have waited til closer to the deadline, and found ourselves trying to move him for top return while at the same time North Bay and Owen Sound are trying to move Romani and Barlow for top return, we could have been the team who couldn’t find a chair when the music stopped.

Then all of a sudden we find ourselves having to move him at a discount. Much like Owen Sound moving Nick Suzuki and company to Guelph at a discount.

 

[Matttheleaf]

Yeah, at this point Brantford appears to be the odds-on favourite if one were to bet. As you already mentioned, O'Brien is highly unlikely to be in any Bulldog trade. I think he is just too important to that team. Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but from the games that I'd seen last season, I think he was a regular on the PPG1 - even as a rookie.

The more I thought about it the less likely I felt it was going to be that he would be traded. If Kitchener just wants picks galore to use on other players they want then Brantford seems to be the place, but if they want a young player and a few picks then maybe finding another team would be better, unless they really like O'Donnell. (edit - put O'Brien instead of O'Donnell).

 

[SFC]

Wow, did not expect to see Rehkopf dealt pre-season.

Feels a touch light--if MM's theory that he wanted to make a trade before teams used up all of their assets is true, shouldn't he have gotten more assets? Mintyukov was an import and available for only half a season.

To me this confirms that teams put fairly little value on points before the trade deadline, which makes sense given that everyone and their Jr B team gets into the playoffs.

Valentini "for" Andonovski... actually seems reasonable. (Del Mastro-Martone would be a rough comparable here.)

 

[Gondrex]

The more I thought about it the less likely I felt it was going to be that he would be traded. If Kitchener just wants picks galore to use on other players they want then Brantford seems to be the place, but if they want a young player and a few picks then maybe finding another team would be better, unless they really like O'Brien.

..or as you had pointed out, Aiden O'Donnell. I think that he has been already mentioned on here before as a possibility. Although I suppose a lot of hockey has to be played before we see whether or not O'Donnell would be considered in any trade talk.

 

[Gondrex]

Wow, did not expect to see Rehkopf dealt pre-season.

Feels a touch light--if MM's theory that he wanted to make a trade before teams used up all of their assets is true, shouldn't he have gotten more assets? Mintyukov was an import and available for only half a season.

To me this confirms that teams put fairly little value on points before the trade deadline, which makes sense given that everyone and their Jr B team gets into the playoffs.

Valentini "for" Andonovski... actually seems reasonable. (Del Mastro-Martone would be a rough comparable here.)

You could certainly make a case for labelling it as being light. But I think that the circumstances mentioned here in previous posts have to be considered. There is a price to be paid for limiting risk, and having the absolute assurance that an almost fully depleted draft cupboard would be restocked IMO.

 

[OHL4Life]

Another reason that it was probably a very good decision to move Rehkopf now, is if we’d have waited til closer to the deadline, and found ourselves trying to move him for top return while at the same time North Bay and Owen Sound are trying to move Romani and Barlow for top return, we could have been the team who couldn’t find a chair when the music stopped.

Then all of a sudden we find ourselves having to move him at a discount. Much like Owen Sound moving Nick Suzuki and company to Guelph at a discount.

only reason Suzuki went for a bit less was Owen sound let him pick his spot and durzi had to go with him. limited the options

 

[EvenSteven]

I don’t think there’s any way Brantford moves O’Brien. That would be right up there with us moving second year Richards for veteran help in 03.

I’m not comparing O’Brien to Richards, but I am comparing his probable contribution this year to the Bulldogs that Richards’ contribution was to the Rangers. O’Brien should play in their top six this year as Richards did for us in 03.

O’Donnell is the more likely target if we are looking at a skater from Brantford. But, that deal couldn’t happen until January. It wouldn’t surprise me if MM used the same logic in dealing Andonovski that he did in dealing Rehkopf. Make the deal early, get the most you can for the same reasons he cited moving Rehkopf.

MM talking about bringing in a young player in the next month or so, leaves me to believe that he could have Valentini or Cali in his sights as defected players. If that’s the case, it would not surprise me to see Andonovski traded before then in an effort to fill the draft cupboard even more to allow him the assets to make that sort of deal. Or maybe complete the two parter I mentioned in an earlier post that ends up with Valentini here and Andonovski there.

 

[Krangers08]

Michigan has been getting a couple of the top Forward recruits. Not everyone will be happy with ice time, Worth the risk.
Andonovski feels like a Oshawa pickup to me.

 

[rangersblues]

Wow, did not expect to see Rehkopf dealt pre-season.

Feels a touch light--if MM's theory that he wanted to make a trade before teams used up all of their assets is true, shouldn't he have gotten more assets? Mintyukov was an import and available for only half a season.

To me this confirms that teams put fairly little value on points before the trade deadline, which makes sense given that everyone and their Jr B team gets into the playoffs.

Valentini "for" Andonovski... actually seems reasonable. (Del Mastro-Martone would be a rough comparable here.)

If we had held on to Rehkopf longer, we may have gotten a little more or a little less depending on the how things went. But dealing him before the season takes the disastrous injury situation out of play. We 100% could not afford that. It would have set us back 5 years. I'm more than fine taking a little less (possibly) when you take that into account.

 

[SFC]

If we had held on to Rehkopf longer, we may have gotten a little more or a little less depending on the how things went. But dealing him before the season takes the disastrous injury situation out of play. We 100% could not afford that. It would have set us back 5 years. I'm more than fine taking a little less (possibly) when you take that into account.

Yes, fair point. It's extremely unusual, though. OHL teams just don't trade 19-year-olds of this calibre in August. Of course they also don't typically go all-in from eighth place either.

I guess this puts to bed any speculation that Rehkopf might make Seattle this year (always a long shot but I recall it coming up a couple times).

 

[rangersblues]

Yes, fair point. It's extremely unusual, though. OHL teams just don't trade 19-year-olds of this calibre in August. Of course they also don't typically go all-in from eighth place either.

I guess this puts to bed any speculation that Rehkopf might make Seattle this year (always a long shot but I recall it coming up a couple times).

I agree. But like I said if something unfortunate would have happened we'd have been in dire straits. Likely would have meant no Memorial Cup bid.

 

[rve24]

only reason Suzuki went for a bit less was Owen sound let him pick his spot and durzi had to go with him. limited the options

Agreed, other teams were definitely interested in one (and maybe the other, I don't know that) but word was it was both or no go.
Guelph did a great job that year both selling earlier and buying. Really flipped that squad n it paid off.

 

[Rangers True Blue]

In regards to the trash talk about Romano.........

SPORTSNET

Scout's Analysis: Canada's captain, goalie among early standouts at Hlinka Gretzky Cup Jason Bukala August 9, 2024, 10:46 AM​

(from the article)
ON THE RISE
— Canada forward Luca Romano (Kitchener, OHL) is a player who continues to leave a positive impression. The five-foot-11, 173-pound, right-shot forward plays the game the right way. He’s been a threat off the rush at times, generally above the play when his group doesn’t have clean possession in the offensive zone, and produced two goals and two assists in Canada’s first three games. Romano can be trusted in a variety of roles and slot into any line on the roster effectively.

 

[Krangers08]

Brock Otten’s write up on Cam Reid

I’ve said this a few times, on social media and in written work; Cameron Reid might just have the highest upside of any defender available from Ontario in 2025, Matt Schaefer included. He’s not as consistent with the puck as Matt Schaefer currently. He’s not as strong defensively as Cameron currently. However, he has projectable skills at both ends that could make him the OHL’s top rated defender for the draft when all is said and done.

It all starts with Reid’s strong skating ability. He’s an effortless and fluid four-way mover. He builds speed quickly to help him escape the forecheck and lead the rush. But he’s also strong on his edges, allowing him to escape pressure on the point in the offensive zone. Reid’s strong mobility also makes him an excellent transitional defender. His gap control and stick improved a lot over the course of his rookie season. You’d like him to be a bit bigger/longer, but he shows well defending pace.

Reid is also a high skill guy who IMO does possess a higher offensive floor than Schaefer because he’s a more natural powerplay quarterback. It seems likely that we’ll get a chance to see Reid QB the Rangers top powerplay unit this year with Brzustewicz and Motew graduating. While there’s definitely a chance that Kitchener retools (trading guys like Rehkopf), there should still be a fair amount of talent surrounding him to help him put up points as a sophomore.

Similar to Schaefer, Reid needed to get stronger this offseason to be more difficult to play against. We saw his defensive reads improve a ton over his rookie year, but he still struggled at times defending those higher traffic areas. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles the increased workload on a team that might struggle at times.

Overall, what we’re looking at is a defender who showed tremendous growth as a U17 player, emerging as a top four defender on the Rangers in the second half and down the stretch. If that growth can continue into this season, I have no doubt that Reid will be a first-round selection

2025 NHL DRAFT: Summer of 25' - Introducing you to Ontario

McKeen's Director of Scouting, Brock Otten, profiles an early top ten prospects for the 2025 NHL Draft from Ontario.

www.mckeenshockey.com