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Kitchener Rangers 2023-24 Season Thread (Part 2)

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Matttheleaf said:
I looked into how many American players play in each CHL league, and it was OHL 40, WHL 34 and the Q with only 6!? That seems crazy to me that they wouldn't dip into the states more often.
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The Q doesn’t have an American footprint anymore since Lewiston left like a decade ago. Plus NCAA is huge out east. BC, BU, Providence, etc etc.
 
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Matttheleaf said:
I looked into how many American players play in each CHL league, and it was OHL 40, WHL 34 and the Q with only 6!? That seems crazy to me that they wouldn't dip into the states more often.
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They do it’s just Americans don’t report. CHL is an afterthought in Massachusetts and the far end of New York State. No teams in the league could also have an impact.
 
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Krangers08 said:
They do it’s just Americans don’t report. CHL is an afterthought in Massachusetts and the far end of New York State. No teams in the league could also have an impact.
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Always been somewhat surprised that they wouldn't want to have 2 American teams to bump the league up to 20 teams total
 
Ward Cornell said:
So are all the Ranger fans due to a much more exciting brand of hockey! 😃

Imagine, a lot of chatter was how "this Finnish coach would bring a boring brand of hockey". So much for that theory
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If anything, he seems to relish the North American game.

He wants to coach in the NHL. Here’s hoping he chooses the DeBoer route. Turn down multiple NHL asst coach offers and AHL head coach offers and wait for an NHL head coach offer.

With his experience across the pond, plus about four years here should just about do it!
 
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For those who have been around for a while, interested in your take on Seattle prospects Rehkoph vs Shane Wright?
 
Import news

2025 draft eligible Tomas Pobezal continues to deal with an injury in which has kept him out a good part of the year and will not be a consideration for the World Junior team (previously was).

Some thoughts I had on the Kiviharju situation. (Personal speculation)

Ranger drafted him with the knowledge he was a expected first round pick in this years draft and he got injured which likely makes him a 2nd
- they didn’t expect him to come unless a NHL team made him
- First round picks that are imports get on a special protect list for CHL teams and provides teams to carry the rights to another import (ie Mešár)
-Mešár coming back took him off that protected list and forced the team to go down to a 2 player protection list
- was a strategic decision by MM that didn’t work out due to injury but allows him to shift his focus to recruiting a defender in this years draft.
 
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BarberPole9 said:

Thought that I’d share a glowing report on Sens pick Matthew Andonovski.

If you guys go for it this year, you can replenish nearly all your picks between Andonovski, Rehkopf and your 19 year olds who will be OA next year in my opinion.
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The more I think about it, the more I think that MM will not sell. I get that the next month will tell the tale. But unless this team does an absolute about-face in the win loss column, his decision may have already been made.

That means he’ll try to improve this team. I feel (hope) he’ll not tear down the future, meaning the dealing of early picks from the ‘24 draft.

The only way then, to improve the team this year, is to move a 1st rounder, maybe an ‘06, and picks not from the ‘24 draft.

We have the luxury of having two 1st rounders, easing the pain of dealing a 1st.

We also have the luxury of the rest of the ‘07 draft class being, by all accounts, the best class in years. The four on the roster haven’t disappointed and the signed guys at lower levels are having pretty good seasons.

And, we have the luxury of multiple returnees next year who can be dealt for futures. Moving Rehkopf alone should replace the loss of trading a 1st this year.
 
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Krangers08 said:
Import news

2025 draft eligible Tomas Pobezal continues to deal with an injury in which has kept him out a good part of the year and will not be a consideration for the World Junior team (previously was).

Some thoughts I had on the Kiviharju situation. (Personal speculation)

Ranger drafted him with the knowledge he was a expected first round pick in this years draft and he got injured which likely makes him a 2nd
- they didn’t expect him to come unless a NHL team made him
- First round picks that are imports get on a special protect list for CHL teams and provides teams to carry the rights to another import (ie Mešár)
-Mešár coming back took him off that protected list and forced the team to go down to a 2 player protection list
- was a strategic decision by MM that didn’t work out due to injury but allows him to shift his focus to recruiting a defender in this years draft.
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So, if we are now down to a two player protection list, Mesar and Pobezal, can we add an import via trade this year and still hold Pobezal’s rights? Did the trade of Hamara allow us to keep Pobezal’s rights?

Could have some influence on how we approach the deadline.
 
I’m kinda interested to see how it turns out.
Would trading a 1st year player impact future players decisions in signing here?
Would Romano even be willing to move?
 
EvenSteven said:
So, if we are now down to a two player protection list, Mesar and Pobezal, can we add an import via trade this year and still hold Pobezal’s rights? Did the trade of Hamara allow us to keep Pobezal’s rights?

Could have some influence on how we approach the deadline.
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Yes the article surrounding the Hamara mention that McKenzie will explore current league players. I think it more to do with him not going on that 1st round protection and he probably wants to draft an import this year. Just a reminder they’re is a fee to drafting imports.
 
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Krangers08 said:
I’m kinda interested to see how it turns out.
Would trading a 1st year player impact future players decisions in signing here?
Would Romano even be willing to move?
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Yes, I see what you’re talking about. He would have to agree to a trade.

But I don’t think it would impact signing future first rounders. Many teams have traded 1sts over the years. NTC will always be there.
 
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The more I think about it, the more I feel this team needs a Mutter on the 3rd line to finish off the lineup. I can't imagine a player like that costing much, I just don't know who fits that bill.
 
Ward Cornell said:
So are all the Ranger fans due to a much more exciting brand of hockey! 😃

Imagine, a lot of chatter was how "this Finnish coach would bring a boring brand of hockey". So much for that theory
Click to expand...

Ahokas actually does not like how teams play in Finnish league (trap, very very defensive focused). His goal is to coach in NHL and he was told from multiple sources that if you wanna coach in NHL, you need experience from NA. Otherwise there is no chance to jump from Europe to NHL.

He visited couple Finnish podcasts and he really seems to enjoy his time there. You could also read between the lines how Finland should take some notes on what to focus with our junior players (skating and physicality).
 
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RangerNation said:
The more I think about it, the more I feel this team needs a Mutter on the 3rd line to finish off the lineup. I can't imagine a player like that costing much, I just don't know who fits that bill.
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Seems like Pugliese is doing a decent job filling that role. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t add another if the price is right.

I still think we need to improve that third line. It needs to be a threat to score. Going deep into the post season, we’ll run into teams with third lines that score.

We can’t overuse our top two lines every night.

If we don’t address that area, it could be the difference in the Rangers being serious championship contenders.
 
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EvenSteven said:
Seems like Pugliese is doing a decent job filling that role. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t add another if the price is right.

I still think we need to improve that third line. It needs to be a threat to score. Going deep into the post season, we’ll run into teams with third lines that score.

We can’t overuse our top two lines every night.

If we don’t address that area, it could be the difference in the Rangers being serious championship contenders.
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I think Pug is great at what he is doing, but the towering mean face that can hit in the offensive zone would do wonders for Lam and Stark/Romano on that 3rd line. Maybe Pug is that man. They'll run into teams that can score on the 3rd, unless there is that aggressive factor (that this team lacks) standing in the way.
 
Rangers top-6 forwards - 79 goals. Defense - 12 goals. Remaining forwards - 25 goals.
I'm not sure there's a team with more goals outside of their top-6. SSM is the second highest scoring team and by my count they have 22 goals from their forwards outside the top-6.
If anything, goals from the defense might be a bit weak. But the way the forwards are performing, it's not an issue.
 
rgr4life said:
Rangers top-6 forwards - 79 goals. Defense - 12 goals. Remaining forwards - 25 goals.
I'm not sure there's a team with more goals outside of their top-6. SSM is the second highest scoring team and by my count they have 22 goals from their forwards outside the top-6.
If anything, goals from the defense might be a bit weak. But the way the forwards are performing, it's not an issue.
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That’s today. Once the top contenders go all in at the deadline, they’ll have three lines that can score.

Any combination of Morey, Ellinas, Romano, Stark, Lam won’t hold up against a top contender’s likely veteran third line post trade deadline.

Imagine those guys running into a third line with two decent scoring vets who can score along with maybe a Florian Xhekaj as the third piece?

I don’t like our chances.
 
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